[Gifu] What is the specialty gourmet dish "Chilled Tanuki"? Sarashina, a long-established soba restaurant founded 97 years ago

2025.08.19

We introduce Sarashina, a long-established soba restaurant where you can enjoy the specialty gourmet dish "hiyatanuki" in Gifu City. "Hiyatanuki" is a Gifu local food that continues to be loved by locals, combining cold soba noodles with sweet and spicy broth and tempura flakes. Established over 90 years ago, the restaurant's appeal lies in the flavor created by Gifu's high-quality water.

Hotel Resol Gifu

Located a 5-minute walk from both JR and Meitetsu Gifu Station, the spacious lobby welcomes you with Risor's original aromas.

You can relax in the spacious guest rooms with your shoes off.

• Table of Contents
• The history of Sarashina
• Committed to Gifu water
• The second floor of the shop is homemade noodles.
• summary

The history of Sarashina

Approximately 80% of customers order chilled tanuki, and the amount of fried tofu and tempura flakes can be increased upon request.

Sarashina was originally established in Showa by its first owner, Mizuno Kamajiro, in Yanagase Shopping Street, Gifu most bustling shopping district. It began by serving Shina soba, then adding tempura soba, and became a popular soba restaurant for its affordable and delicious dishes. However, in the Gifu air raids of 1945, Yanagase and the rest of the city center were almost completely burned down, and Sarashina was destroyed as well. The restaurant later reopened in Kyomachi near City Hall, and the second-generation owner, while training in Osaka and elsewhere, learned about cold, sweet and spicy broth and, incorporating customer requests, created the chilled tanuki. This was the beginning of the now-common practice of adding toppings to customer requests. The basic chilled tanuki comes with four pieces of fried tofu, and customers can add as many as they like. There's no special receipt; customers simply declare the number of extra pieces of fried tofu when paying.

Committed to Gifu water

One of the things they are particular about is the well water they pump up from the restaurant's well. Gifu water is used not only to boil and cool the noodles, but also in the restaurant's original sweet and spicy soup.

Boil the noodles in plenty of boiling well water.

Quickly cool with cold well water

Pour in the chilled sweet and spicy sauce

The basic chilled tanuki comes with four pieces of fried tofu (pictured is Tsukimi Soba).

The second floor of the shop is homemade noodles.

The second floor of the shop is a small noodle factory where buckwheat flour is kneaded with well water, pressed in a press, rolled out with two rollers, dusted with flour, and finally cut into noodles, a series of processes that continue as a "cottage industry" just as they did in the past.

Buckwheat flour is mixed with hot water in a mixer (top photo), the dough is stretched using two rollers (middle photo), and then cut into noodles (bottom photo).

Sarashina

Phone: 058-265-9594

Address: 3-4 Kyomachi , Gifu City , Gifu Prefecture

Access: 1 minute walk from Gifu Bus "Citizens' Hall/Court Office"

Website: https://www.tanuki-soba.com/

summary

This time we introduced the long-established soba restaurant "Sarashina." The chilled tanuki is a perfect combination of homemade soba noodles, sweet and spicy broth made with Gifu water, and deep-fried tofu dipped in the broth! This dish is highly recommended by the hotel staff.