Gluten Free Soba (100% Buckwheat) - Osaka, Japan (Namba Parks)

 Travelling to a different country can be a delightful experience especially when exploring for new eating venues.  Osaka has a wealth of selection and looking for a restaurant to satisfy your hunger is as easy as closing your eyes and pointing to a particular direction.

Noodles are almost staple in most Eastern Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and China.  For the most part, noodles are wheat derived since this type of flour is the most mass produced making it cheaper for consumer consumption.

In Japan, you will find many little noodle shops and restaurants serving Udon, Ramen, and Soba.  Udon and Ramen both contain gluten, but Soba can be made gluten free because it is comprised of primarly Buckwheat flour. 

A word of caution though, many shops serving soba indeed layer some regular flour to contain texture, so you will have to ask the server whether it is 100% buckwheat.

Yesterday, I went to a restaurant that serves 100% buckwheat Soba right next to Namba Parks.  Go to the ground level and you will see a skateboard shop, surf shop, and even a gym along a path way that surrounds Namba Parks.  You will have to check out the menu display in front of the restaurant to see if they are serving soba.  I believe there is only one restaurant in that section.  So you will know it when you see it.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Soba is commonly served with Tempura.  Tempura is a sort of deep fried vegetable or meat that is battered with regular flour.  You can opt out of eating this item or you can see if the restaurant will supplement it with something else.

I have found that most restaurants are more than willing to meet your requests.  Japan is very accomodating in this sense.