**Edit from 2016**
This review is quite old, and they have since changed their recipe a bit. Still awesome. Congratulations on your Michelin star.
**This review is from 2013**
Highly ranked shio and homemade noodles set Nakiryu apart from the countless chains that dominate the Otsuka area.
The shop's thick shio tare (the seasoning liquid that gives all the flavor) is made from extra high-grade kelp, dried scallops, and premium ago fish. And Mongolian salt.
This was the best egg I've had so far. That's number one out of approximately 2000 eggs I've had in bowls of ramen in Japan. And I can finally explain why. Ramen shops have pretty much perfected the ooey-gooey half cooked egg by now. It has always been that an egg is either bad, good, or great. How can you rank something with this three point scale? How is one great egg different from another great egg?
It comes down to the soup. More specifically, the impact / aftertaste level of the soup. A heavy soup, shoyu or tonkotsu, anything but shio to be honest, will overpower the light umami of the egg. This isn't a bad thing for the bowl overall, but it doesn't let the egg shine.
At Nakiryu, the egg can shine. I've never tasted such savory flavor.
Everyone in the shop (seven lunchtime slurpers) ordered the tantanmen, so I'll be back.
Official site here.
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東京都豊島区南大塚2-34-2
Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Minami Otsuka 2-34-2
Closest station: Otsuka
Open 11:30-15:00, 18:00-22:00
Closed Tuesdays
