The 2013 Grand Tsukemen Fest is Here!

And this is what the entrance looks like.

Let me break it down.



Be sure you buy your ticket before lining up. One ticket works for any shop. You'll probably want the blue one. The pink is ladies size (smaller and ladies only), and the yellow one is for a 0% alcohol beer. There are plenty of nearby convenience stores if you want to bring in your own real beer.



If you love using your smartphone for everything, you can handle your tickets with the tixee app. It's in Japanese though. Acts like a fastpass for the long lines!



Then get in line! On the opening day, a Thursday afternoon, the lines weren't bad at all. The weekends should be a bit more. I can't make any predictions; maybe 30-40 minutes for a popular shop.



If you can read the Kanji characters, there are plenty of shop banners to lead you.



Or just go with the photo. Couldn't be easier!



When you get to the front of the line, you can order extra toppings for some extra yen. Most shops do something like this one; an egg for 100 yen and extra chashu pork for 200 yen. Some shops will have crazy topping choices, so save those coins.



The next step . . . eat! You can sit anywhere you want. Because tsukemen noodles are served cold, you don't need to rush this one like you would with a bowl of ramen.



When you are ready to leave, take your tokens (you get one with each bowl) to the voting boxes.



And give the best bowl your votes. Who will win the 2013 Grand Tsukemen Fest?

Join me and find out? I'll be coming to the event off and on throughout the next month, but for sure I will be there every Sunday evening at 7pm. It is the official "Ramen Adventures オフ会 Offline Meeting!"

Nothing major, just a good time for English speakers, expats, locals, and travelers alike, to meet up and have a few bowls together. Feel free to join the Facebook events page and invite anyone you want.

https://www.facebook.com/events/167454580121963

7pm at the ticket machines. Hope to see you there!

みそ味専門マタドール(Matador Miso in Kita-Senju)

みそ味専門マタドール

Matador, the beef-only ramen out in East Tokyo's Kita-Senju district, is universally lauded as one of Tokyo's best bowls. No one else has succeeded so much with only beef bones. While other shops have tried, their soup ends up being too sweet, or too funky, or just plain bad.

So when the master decided to expand to a second shop, we were all a bit surprised at the choice. Instead of another beef-centric style, maybe a tsukemen or a mazesoba, he went with miso.

Miso! Miso is the one type that has more utter disappointments than successes in Japan. It is also the type that I hate reviewing the most. Why? Because most people love the average bowl. And when you criticize something people love, people stop inviting you out.

Obviously there were high expectations here.

And Matador's miso delivered. The secret blend of misos (shhhh, it is white miso from Kyoto and red miso from Nagano) are just the beginning. Of course, the eye immediately sees that meat; a massive piece of roasted beef rib chashu (aha! they did put some beef in this one). Underneath the beef is a silky chunk of prime fat. The master, Iwata-san, explained that you should immediately exhale after eating this piece. The creamy, fatty フーーーー of you breath is more sensation than taste.




But wait, there's more. Also on the menu is a shoyu-koji ramen. Koji had a bit of a boom last year, and was gone before you could wikipedia what it was. A fermented blend of rice and shoyu, it fits with the miso theme. The taste is almost miso-light.

Nice shop, too. A basement floor has enough seating to keep the lines shorter than they could be.



Check out the video I made!

東京都足立区千住旭町43-13
Tokyo, Adachi-ku, Senjuashicho 43-13
Closest station: Kita-Senju

Open 11:30-15:00, 18:00-22:30
Sundays 11:30-16:00

GACHI 油そば (GACHI Aburasoba in Akebonobashi)

GACHI 油そば



I like when successful shops open another branch. I like it even more when each new branch is a totally different concept. Shono, an awesome tonkotsu place just east of Shinjuku, gave way to Gachi, a fried-chicken-tsukemen spot in the middle of Shinjuku's gay-bar neighborhood. Next came Gotsubo, a tiny shop serving vege-centric noodles, next to Shinjuku's famous park. The latest, Gachi Aburasoba, goes with nothing but soupless noodles. Yes, in Shinjuku.



I live in Shinjuku, which made the wheelchair commute less painful than it could have been.



The concept of aburasoba is simple. Just leave out the soup, add a little extra tare seasoning sauce, and make sure there is plenty of high quality abura, fat, to bring the dish together.



Aburasoba can be hit or miss. Without the soup, the noodles need to be extra special. The larger aburasoba chain shops in Tokyo source their noodles from a factory. Not good.

Gachi makes theirs in the back. The thick ones, futomen, are outstanding. The noodle chef bills them as nama-pasta-chuka; fresh pasta Chinese style. Some of the best I've had.



And the oils. 太白胡麻油, sesame oil, and 亜麻仁油, flax seed oil, are both healthy and delicate. Not something you see much at ramen shops.



Add on a dollop of homemade seabura, pork back fat, and mix away.



Also on hand was a thin noodle version. Not bad, but it paled in comparison with those thick ones. Some of the best in town.



They opened on October 1st, so check it out if you have time for lunch in Shinjuku.

Check out my video for GACHI Aburasoba!







新宿区住吉町７－１０
Shinjuku, Sumiyoshicho 7-10
Closest station: Akebonobashi

Open 11:00-16:00