Ramen Adventures: 公 (Kimi in Shinagawa)

Thursday, November 5, 2015

公 (Kimi in Shinagawa)

肉汁らーめん公

Yeah, that is exactly what you think it is. A dozen or so slices of fatty chashu on top of a bowl of ramen. Dubbed 一本ラーメン, this one has literally an entire roll of chashu.

Big? Small? You want garlic in that?

The yellow signage and mention of garlic can mean only one thing; Jiro-kei. Yes, the famed style of ramen that renders a pig down into drinkable form, tops it with more pig, and then spoons on dollops of fresh minced garlic. Who would eat this sort of thing?

How about AKB48 member Rina Hirata?

I usually don't go for Jiro-kei, but when a TV network wants to dub me the ramen master and send me around to shops with pop idol girls, who am I to refuse?

The menu is deep, and most people should probably just choose the upper left button; a normal bowl of ramen with an egg. For what it's worth, if I were going here on my own, I would go even further down the line to the option with 小 - small. The small size is still 120 grams of noodles. Since the shop boasts handmade noodles, you should try and finish every last slurp.

That would not be happening on this day.

Standard Jiro-kei practice involves a detailed system of ordering. When the staff asks, or shouts, if you want garlic, you reply with your levels of toppings. At Kimi, those are fresh minced garlic, a pile of bean sprouts, silky back fat, and 濃いめ (shoyu tare seasoning). Just writing about it makes me feel full.

If you are ever presented with this situation, just say zenbu futsu. It means normal levels of everything.

The one-stick-of-chashu version is kind of ridiculous. Until you factor in the cost. It is 1300 yen for that massive bowl, less than $5 more than a standard. If the shop allows you to bring some meat home with you, that's a steal (I didn't ask).

Seriously, this much meat could feed a family of four.

As for the rest of the ramen, the noodles were, like more Jiro-style shops, thick and hearty. And the soup was much more drinkable than your standard pig broth.

But wait, there's more! The shop makes a mean curry and rice, using the ramen soup to give that curry levels of flavor you can't find anywhere else. You can even get a 一本 curry, with the aforementioned 600 gram slab of chashu on top.