Photography by Stefanie Gans

Maneki Neko

The soba noodles in the Okinawa soba soup are, in fact, not soba noodles, which are normally made from buckwheat, but are actually egg noodles. And these egg noodles are thick like udon but ridged like the noodles found in ramen.

But don’t let semantics stop you from ordering this dish. The meal as a whole leans ramen-like with a golden chicken-pork sweet broth and silky slices of tender pork. While there’s sushi here too, there are plenty of noodle dishes, and I’m eyeing the sansai udon with mountain vegetables on my next visit.

▶ Japanese; Order: Okinawa soba
Maneki Neko, 238 W. Broad St., Falls Church

(January 2015)