Imose, a genteel soba restaurant, shows its character from half a block away. It's a short walk from Tamatsukuri Station on the Osaka Loop Line veering away from Nagahori Dori into a quieter residential zone with a handful of businesses.
Rather like an oasis — except here it's in a cement and gray desert — Imose stands out with its verdant entrance, complete with a wooden well covered over with a Japanese maple tree and vines that grow untrammeled. The noren curtain-covered entrance is set back from the street and there's a wooden bench and some stools for waiting.
Inside the bucolic theme continues. Imose is essentially a long narrow restaurant; it's also the home of the husband-and-wife team who run it. It's not uncommon to find a line of people waiting by the well outside Imose, and even when you do get a seat, the waiting time can continue, as it's a small team.