Neighborhood Gem Series: Join us for Cool Zaru Soba at Ariake (Fairfax)!

Welcome to our NEIGHBORHOOD GEMS series featuring emblematic meals from around the world. This series shines a light on local restaurants and is designed to bring together inquisitive foodies and dishes that are unique and oh so worth a trip on roads less traveled!

** WAITLIST: Meetup does not allow waitlists for paid events. If this event fills and you would like to be added to the waitlist, please send a note to the host through the Meetup app. **

Join us for a culinary adventure as we head to Ariake (Fairfax) to cool off with zaru soba, a popular cold Japanese buckwheat noodle dish, emerged during the Edo period (1603-1867). It's characterized by its serving style on a bamboo sieve (zaru), which allows excess water to drain away, keeping the noodles firm and preventing them from becoming soggy. This method was introduced by a shop in the Fukagawa area of Tokyo and quickly gained popularity, becoming a standard way to serve soba. Today zaru soba is a widely enjoyed dish, often served with a dipping sauce (tsuyu) and various condiments like green onions, wasabi, and nori seaweed.

Ariaka also has an extensive sushi menu - so plenty of cool options for summer dining!

The Washingtonian:

The edamame were tender, a beef tataki brought thin strips of good, fat-striated meat that had been seared and slicked with ponzu sauce, and a seldom-seen appetizer of fresh-made tofu cut into thick slabs and garnished with scallion and bonito flakes hit the spot on a hot, humid night. Sashimi and nigiri were surprisingly good - yellowtail and mackerel, especially.

Where Ariake excels is its rolls. The spider roll is magnificent, comprising as it does not the usual array of fried soft shell parts but an entire soft shell, good-sized and meaty. The kitchen presents it dramatically, with the jutting claws of one side of the crab poking up from the base of a flat-lying maki roll like a culinary reenactment of "The Awakening." If not as compelling visually, the spicy scallop roll might be its equal, an ordinary California roll capped with thick, fleshy cubes of chili-slicked scallops.

Sushi is best in those places that contrive to make themselves a respite, and Ariake does.

Check out the menu here

We ask that ALL folks honor their RSVP. If you are unable to attend after sending in a YES, please update your status so that others may join and help us support local businesses. In the event our group incurs a fee for no-shows / late cancellations, your ability to RSVP for future events will be restricted. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

To enhance the opportunity for great conversation, we will continue to limit the group size. Please feel free to sign-up to meet us along with up to 3 friends.

In the future, we will vary the days of the week and the types of restaurants to keep events interesting.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE COMMITTED TO GO WHEN YOU RSVP FOR THIS EVENT. Feel free to make suggestions for future meet locations.

** The small non-refundable registration fee helps us share the cost associated with the Meet-Up platform ($360/yr) and reduces the likelihood of no-shows, allowing us to better plan our events and accommodate all participants. Meetup charges $0.51 and Paypal charges $0.53 on the $2 registration fee. Thanks in advance for your understanding!**

If you are unable to join us in August, we hope you'll stay interested and join us for a meal in the future. Looking forward to catching up with you for Zaru Soba at Ariake (Fairfax)!