One of Nikko’s most famous local specialties is yuba. Yuba “skin” is the byproduct that is formed when soy milk is boiled. Yuba is known for its versatility and its ability to compliment a wide range of dishes. Azuma is a yuba specialty restaurant conveniently located just outside Tobu Nikko Station. You can enjoy wonderful yuba at Azuma in Nikko.

The restaurant was across the street from Tobu Nikko Station and was located on the second floor above the Toukou souvenir shop.

The restaurant had a number of traditional tables and bar style seating in the main room. Off to the side there was a small platform dining area with sitting tables. Some of the bar seats were facing the window and had a nice birds eye view of Tobu Nikko Station’s bus area.

Azuma Menu

As mentioned before this restaurant serves yuba in a number of different and unique ways. In addition, most of their menu items included yuba in one form or another. The menu featured soba and udon with a variety of toppings to choose from. Our main interest was in the Special Yuba Plate which came with three varieties of yuba. Other yuba dishes included karaage yuba, yuba gyoza, yuba shumai, yuba tofu, and sashimi yuba among others.

We ordered their recommended Special Yuba Plate, bowls of soba/udon as well as sides of their karaage yuba and fried yuba gyoza to share.

Azuma Food Review

Our soba and udon bowls came out first. The noodles had a nice texture and the broth was flavorful. In the udon, there were several thin slices of yuba and a large roll of it in the middle. The slice in the middle was like a sponge and had absorbed the flavorful broth nicely.

The Special Yuba Plate came out shortly after. The yuba sashimi was quite good. We combined it with a little wasabi and shoyu and it was delicious. The rolls of yuba were similar to those in the udon. They were like sponges and absorbed whatever liquid they were sitting in. The liquid felt like normal water. Definitely could have put it in some kind of broth to make it taste better. The other sides added a variety of tastes and textures that helped round out the meal.

Our favorite was the karaage yuba. It was a roll of yuba that was deep fried in karaage batter. The yuba inside was moist, but not drenched like the other yuba we had. It had excellent flavor and nice contrasting textures between the crispy skin and soft inside of the yuba. A must try for lovers of karaage.

The gyoza were an interesting experience. The three flavors were pork, chicken, and vegetables. We learned later that the second ingredient listed on the menu was infused within the wrapper of the gyoza. This made a lot more sense. As we were eating them, it was difficult to tell which flavors were present. We did notice that the red one did have a hint of tomato flavor, so it only being in the skin made sense. One bright spot was the generous amount of gyoza filling. They were bursting at the seams.

Final Thoughts

We enjoyed our meal at Azuma. This time, we got to try a lot more of the unique preparation styles of yuba that the restaurant had to offer. The karaage yuba was by far our favorite. We liked the Special Yuba Plate for its delicious sides and variety of yuba. If your in the area of either of Nikko’s Stations, then we highly recommend Azuma. Azuma has delicious food, unique yuba variations, and a convenient location making it our go to yuba place in Nikko.

More to Come…

Here is a link to their website.