Saturday, May 29, 2010

Choose your Own Ramen Adventure

I was off to meet Keizo for some mid week noodles, but I took the wrong train. The shop we were meeting at was on the Seibu Ikebukuro line, and I took the Seibu Shinjuku line. These lines always confuse me, since neither of them are taken from Ikebukuro or Shinjuku. No worries, I had time to spare and could just walk a few kilometers.

Are there a lot of ramen shops in Tokyo? To put it in perspective, this little walk isn't near anything. Residential. Maybe a school or 2. Here is every shop I passed.

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Linda man?

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This shop was on TV, which is usually enough of an incentive for me to go.

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Can you guess where I am?

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Not a ramen shop per se, but I think this family restaurant has ramen on the menu.

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Many different styles, you'll never suffer from lack of variety in Tokyo.

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Only about 30 minutes have passed on my little walk. 30 minutes, and enough ramen shops for days of new adventures.

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Almost to my destination station, the shops can be seen everywhere.

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Oops, I got distracted.

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This part of town is a bit far for me, so I probably won't be coming back here anytime soon. Has anyone been to any of these shops?

Thursday, May 27, 2010

凪 ゴールデン (Nagi Golden Gai in Shinjuku)

凪 ゴールデン街店

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Recently, a few fellow adventurers have joined me on my hunt for great ramen in Tokyo. I get random emails from blog readers who plan on a Tokyo visit, and I'm always happy to meet. I wanted to take today's new friends, a couple of girls from Texas, to Fuunji. But then...

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"We want to drink in Golden Gai!"

I can't argue with that logic. Golden Gai, the drinkinest street in Shinjuku, is also home to one of the best ramen shops in Town. Nagi!

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A note of caution, this isn't delicious (it's an ashtray). The ramen on the other hand...

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Wonderful!

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Rich!

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Perfection!

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Today I ordered a side of sansho pepper oil. More than just spicy rayu, these are sometimes known as numbing pepper.

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I didn't get this in previous visits.

I will get it in the future.

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Being Golden Gai, might as well have a drink with your noodles.

Official Site Here (good design)


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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

どっかん (Dokkan in Hatagaya)

背脂煮干濃厚醤油 どっかん

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I went to Gamushara some time back. It's a Niigata style shop that is actually 3 shops in 1. Late night, it turns into Dokkan, a seabura ramen shop. Seabura, the chunks of fat that can make or break an adventure.

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How does it look?

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A few people had recommended this bowl to me, and now I'm sold. Usually, seabura is silky smooth, but this one was a bit more substantial. Just enough texture to know that you are eating something, but not enough to know that you are eating chunks of pork fat.

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The soup had a lot of onion in it, which left a sweet aftertaste.

This is the hangover killer here. For the residents of Hatagaya, out on a late night binge, the perfect tisane is infused with fat.

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Feel free to add extra tare if you want some more flavor.

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Though it doesn't really need it.


Official Site


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Sunday, May 23, 2010

冬蔭激城麺 (Fujimaki Gekijo in Kanda)

冬蔭激城麺

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Here it is, folks, the place with the $120 bowl of ramen.

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But it's actually a bit of an adventure just to get to that point. Let me explain the process.

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First things first, you come to this shop in Kanda for a modestly priced bowl of Tom Yum ramen. For 1500 yen, you get either spicy red, coconut creamy white, or black sesame infused black. Have a seat at the stylish counter.

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If you want to continue along this road, call and make a reservation to have a bowl of the 3000 yen Spicy Castle ramen.

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You'll get to sit in the red chairs, out of sight from the lowly peons.

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The last step is to make a reservation, at least 3 days in advance, to the shop in Nakameguro. This is where you eat the Emperor ramen. Yeah, the 10,000 yen bowl of ramen. I'll rant about this in due time.

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Let's focus on the regular bowl.

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It's not your typical bowl of ramen. This is Thai fusion.

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Let's get the price thing out of the way first. 1500 yen is very high for ramen. But many Thai restaurants in Tokyo will charge almost that much for a bowl of tom yum soup, so I don't think it's too much of a stretch.

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It's really good by the way. You can tell that everything in this bowl is high quality. The spice resonates on your tongue.

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The fired egg is an interesting choice.

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The chef give explicit instructions, "Put exactly 5 spoonfuls of soup into the rice."

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So, the question is, will I go for the 10,000 yen ramen?

Probably....

...if the opportunity presents itself. Maybe I find a 10,000 note blowing down the street one day. Maybe another reporter is in town writing the umpteenth article about this shop and he needs a tour guide. Maybe one of my dear readers treats me!

Regardless, I'll let you know.

Official Site Here

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Saturday, May 22, 2010

もちもちの木 (Mochimochinoki in Shinjuku)

もちもちの木

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I needed a shop in this specific area, or my new adventure would be explaining to my student why I was late to our English lesson. Luckily, the main road in Shinjuku Nishiguchi is a hot spot for ramen shops.

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Mochi Mochi no Ki had moved literally 1 block away, but that still warrants fresh bouquets of "welcome" flowers. It's a Japanese custom to give these flowers to any new shop in the area. What's not Japanese culture, though, is the guy we spotted stealing a handful of lillies!

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Seriously, he took about 5. Anyways, down to the basement for this new ramen shop.

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The interior of Mochi Mochi no Ki is very nice. Everything is wood. Classy. There is even a roped off section that looks like it used to be a VIP lounge. Who knows what was going on here a week ago.

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More on the pizza later.

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Very hot (due to the layer of scalding oil on top), very fishy (due to numerous fish that went into the soup), and very, very good.

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The menma is their own creation, and you can buy packs of it to take home. If I ever try and make my own ramen, I know where to go for at least one of the toppings.

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And, yes, the ramen pizza. It was only 400 yen due to the opening celebration. Would I order it every time? Probably not. I'd rather eat 400 yen worth of that menma. So good!

More Shop Info Here


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