Originally Posted by
jtrader
"Upscale" was a misleading and unfortunate choice of words on my part. I'd still adhere to the 99% figure. However, many of the restaurants that make their own dashi might be modest looking establishments that nevertheless take a traditional approach to making their food. This would (likely) include traditional handcrafted soba restaurants. Furthermore, many places with upscale appearances use hondashi.
Thanks for clarifying your points. On the whole your assertions seem quite sound to me, but I have a Tokyo focus, so I can't dispute or support the claim that 99% of dashi (made from scratch) is made from bonito flakes.
The reason I'm uncomfortable with it is that everything I've read about other areas having a preference for dashi made with niboshi is supported by its availability at Japanese food shops in London. These tend to act as microcosms reflecting the prevailing cooking styles and requirements of people from throughout Japan. Anything too obscure or used too rarely just isn't stocked.