Ramen Adventures: とんくる (Tonkuro in Sasazuka, Tokyo)

Sunday, September 20, 2020

とんくる (Tonkuro in Sasazuka, Tokyo)

ぶたの旨味らーめんとんくる

I was meeting a friend at Minatoya for kakigori. This is one of my favorite shops in Japan for shaved ice. They focus on simple fruit flavors without a lot of added syrups. I prefer this style. My friend was running about 45 minutes late, so I popped into a local ramen shop.

Just look for the turtle outside.

Tonkuro, as expected, serves tonkotsu ramen. Or do they?

The soup here is made with pork, chicken, and fish. They strive to make an easy to slurp ramen with minimal seasonings so the customer can focus on the delicate umami. While tonkotsu is rich and creamy, the flavors from chicken bones and dried fish give a little extra balance.

Very basic, clean bowl. You can spice it up with spicy takana mustard greens, Hakata-style. I heard through the grapevine that this ramen shop employed a number of minor television personalities; they will let you work odd hours in order to make it to all of the auditions you are up for.

And for those with attention to detail, the shop used to be called Sanzen (三ZEN) before it became Tonkuro.