This Midtown soba specialist makes its noodles in-house daily; choose between four different portion sizes for same price. A straightforward selection of sets, most ringing in around $15, include a bowl of traditional, unadorned noodles served hot or cold and flanked by dipping sauce and protein options like tempura shrimp, grated yam, grilled mackerel, or pork cutlet. While the house specialty is soba, as the name implies, udon is on offer, too: Swap out thin buckwheat noodles for their distant chubby cousin for any of the options. Another location is across the Hudson River in Fort Lee, N.J.

Conveniently located right near Grand Central, Soba Totto dishes up warm soba paired with tempura or duck. Or, choose from more luxe toppings like uni, salmon roe, or Berkshire pork belly atop cold noodles, which are also available in very spartan form, with simply a traditional dipping sauce. Supplement with a few yakitori skewers by manager and chef Mika Ohie, who also runs well-loved Yakitori Totto across town and a dozen blocks north. And for the local cubicle set, there’s a daily, cash-only $10 to-go special at lunchtime.

A subterranean den near Herald Square for nursing a frozen beer and downing a couple small plates, Izakaya Mew offers a sprawling menu of Japanese dishes suited for soaking up booze, like the omu soba, which features sauteed noodles with pork and vegetables, swaddled in an egg omelet and topped with bonito flakes. There’s also a seafood udon soup with Littleneck clams and butter. A brief (5 p.m. to 6 p.m.) happy hour includes $4 Sapporo pints and house sake plus $5 glasses of select wines. Mew is a drinking den with a serviceable, wide-ranging menu — not a noodle destination by any stretch — but it’s a solid bet amid the lackluster dining options in the Madison Square Garden vicinity.

This Japanese import has a few outposts scattered throughout NYC, serving up a massive array of a la carte or side-addled sets of homey favorites like grilled fish, yakitori assortments, and tonkatsu. The ultra-traditional soba selection includes lacquered trays heaped with cold noodles, or a warm version in bowls filled with a light broth. The noodles are made daily using buckwheat flour from Hokkaido, alongside classic dipping sauce and pleasantly slick grated yam. Another highlight is housemade tofu, whipped up on-premises every day and making a number of menu cameos, including in salad form or simply adorned with bonito that’s aged over six months. Udon makes an appearance as a $7 side portion.

This popular spot nestled in the East Village’s Little Tokyo has a particularly varied selection of deftly prepared, pricier sobas, offered in three portion sizes and price points. The Kinoko, filled with shimeji, enoki, and shiitake mushrooms, is a standout, while the curry nanban and stamina, filled with fried chicken and garlic, are heartier choices. Pop by between 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday for a $22 early bird dinner special, comprised of an appetizer assortment, tempura mix, option of soba or udon served cold or hot, plus inari sushi and vanilla ice cream covered with strawberry sauce.

This pint-sized, welcoming, brick-walled izakaya with owl-themed decor is the first U.S. location for this successful Japanese chain. There’s a satisfying omu yakisoba, filled with pan-fried noodles wrapped in fried egg and drizzled with mayo and ketchup, a nice foil for the selection of sake and Japanese beers. The salmon and salmon roe rice, cooked in a clay pot, is a slightly more refined highlight. But don’t miss the avocado tofu app, made in-house.

Udon gets its overdue moment at Raku. The intimate space, opened in 2015 by chef Norihiro Ishizuka, specializes in excellent bowls of handmade noodles imported from Japan. The familiarly thick standard noodles, substantial but not gummy, are exemplary; there’s also the thinner, off-menu inaniwa version. Preparations include a range of soups, a sparse chilled zaru iteration with nori powder, or a cold version served with a raw quail egg, scallions, wasabi, and mushrooms. For more adventurous palettes, there’s the niku version with tripe and short rib, a highlight per Eater critic Robert Sietsema. A few blocks away, Ishizuka runs Kura, the superb, miniscule omakase outfit on Saint Mark’s Place.

Topnotch soba is the speciality at this snug, cash-only Nolita spot, consisting of tight counter seating and a handful of tables. The buckwheat noodles come in a myriad of broths, and dipping sauces are the main attraction. Go for the particularly traditional dipping sauce and tempura-flanked sets, or try a soul-recharging hot bowl of soba soup, many incorporating grated radish, bonito, and sesame in various forms. The yuzu-spiked warm stamina soba with tender chicken meatballs is a highlight, while any of the cold soba dishes make for a particularly refreshing summer meal. Another Cocoron outpost is situated just a few blocks away on Delancey.