Collaboramen - Tokyo Ramen Street

Daniel, author of How to Japonese, was back in Japan for the summer. Just in time for the recent opening of 4 new shops in the Tokyo Ramen Street. Here you go, not only are these shops great, but the convenience of being in Tokyo Station can't be beat.

First up was Shichisai. Perfect pork on a refined bowl of ramen.

Next up was Junk Garage. If you only have 1 place to go, and you want a memorable bowl of ramen that is as far from what you think of ramen as possible, this is the place. People from overseas would usually head to Ramen Jiro for the most extreme bowl, but Junk Garage is my choice.

Ikaruga's creamy soup is superb, one of the best bowls in Japan, but on opening day something went wrong and it was really bitter. That's the risk when cooking with niboshi, those little dried sardines that flavor many bowls. Cook them too long and you have problems. This 2nd time to the shop was good, but you can tell my reluctance in the video. I rarely give a shop a 2nd chance!

Lastly was Honda. A solid tonkotsu gyokai that many people say is the best in Tokyo. You might notice that we drink a lot of beer in these videos. Nothing compliments fatty, rich ramen better than cold beer.