Kojimaya Sohonten

**Order by the portion, not the box.** A hegi is sized to the group; one person's share is one portion and the menu prices it that way. Two portions is a normal appetite for the plain version. **Karashi instead of wasabi.** Tokamachi historically had no wasabi, so hegisoba is served with Japanese mustard. Try it before asking for a substitute — the seaweed binder and the mustard were worked out together. **The texture is the dish.** If you expect soft, nutty, hand-cut soba you will think it is wrong. The slipperiness is what funori does and what the town is proud of. **Two shops, similar names.** Kojimaya Sohonten here and Echigo Tokamachi Kojimaya are related businesses that separated; both are good and neither is a copy of the other.