A Japanese-Korean room in Ahmedabad & Baroda, with indoor corners, outdoor tables and a resident black cat. Ramen, soups, bento boxes, and a little more time than you planned to spend here.
An oasis within Ahmedabad University
Indoor and outdoor seating, a backyard surrounded by greenery, and a resident black cat make Noboru a place people return to throughout the day. Films, gatherings, and community events often find their way here too.
An oasis within Alembic City
Warm interiors, familiar faces, and a full Japanese and Korean menu come together in a space designed for lingering conversations, shared meals, and returning often.
The pace outside continues. Inside, there's a little more room to pause.
We borrowed Noboru from a Murakami novel - not for the character, but for the feeling around him.
Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, 1994–95
Noboru Wataya is a character in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. The name stayed with us, but not because of who he is. What stayed was the world around the story: ordinary routines, long conversations, quiet meals, and people trying to make sense of where they are. That idea found its way into the space. A backyard that fills up for films under the open sky. Tables that aren't in a hurry to turn over. A room designed to be lived in, not just passed through. That's the version of Noboru we chose to keep
Japanese and Korean, cooked clean. Comforting.
Broths and ramen, rice bowls and bento, maki cut at the counter, and a Korean side of the kitchen that runs from bibimbap to tteokbokki.
The food is built around ingredients that bring depth without excess. Broths layered with umami. Fresh vegetables. Fermented ingredients that have anchored Japanese and Korean cooking for generations. The goal isn't intensity. It's balance.
Ask for the Sencha, with your meal or after it.
Last winter, the backyard became an open-air cinema.
For a few weeks, films played under the winter sky while the Winter Cart served broths, tempura, teppanyaki, and seasonal specials. The festival took its name from the cat that had become part of the space by then. The same cat that appeared on posters around the city and eventually found its way back home. Most evenings, it could be found somewhere in the backyard during the screenings. Under a chair, beside a table, or sitting quietly near the screen as people settled in for the film. The films changed every week. The cat usually showed up too. Noboru film fest coming back soon!
Cooked in the yard while the film ran, which meant the smell arrived before the food did. Cold evenings, slow cinema, food served hot.
The room, the backyard, the cart, and four weeks of people staying later than they meant to.
AhmedabadThe sign, from the lane
AhmedabadPaw prints, on the way out
AhmedabadSomeone got into the pickles
AhmedabadThe cozy corner
AhmedabadStill holding the fish
AhmedabadThe trail across the ceiling
AhmedabadOutside, before it fills up
AhmedabadThe bowl on the wall
AhmedabadFilm fest in the backyard
AhmedabadTempura ice cream, black sesame
AhmedabadOff dutyWalk in and we will find you a corner. If you would rather have it settled, book ahead - whichever room you are coming to.
Ahmedabad University, Gate 2,
Swastik Society, Commerce Six Crossroads,
Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380009
Set back from the road, past the gate.
R2, Museum Square,
Alembic City, Gorwa,
Baroda, Gujarat 390003
In Museum Square, inside the Alembic City complex.
