Top billing in a recent ramen book purchase featuring additive free shops is located just west of Shibuya station. Maybe not top billing, though, as this book isn't a ranking. Regardless, the pictures looked good, and I had to be in that part of town anyways.
Also, my French friend Mari was with me, and she wanted ramen AND gyoza. Lets get to it.
The special ramen is loaded with wontons, grilled pork, and the usual suspects of menma and an egg.
The shop's location is good, just on the cusp of where trendy Shibuya becomes one of the most expensive residential areas in the city.
You can also get a lunch set, which I didn't notice until leaving. Next time!
All in all, a very high quality, albeit standard bowl of shoyu ramen.
In the heart of Ginza is one of the oldest ramen shops in town. How old?
Very old. 1920s. Forgive the lack of research, but when I go eat ramen with Ramenate!, I leave the scholarly stuff to him.
Most of Tokyo burned down in the great Kanto earthquake of 1923, but luckily much of red-bricked Ginza survived.
We went with the most old-timey drink we could think of, soba shochu in soba tea.
The ramen was your standard original style. This is ramen history here. Even though I tend to be more interested in the new styles that are popular in Tokyo, it's nice to remember the roots now and then.
Most chukasoba shops like this have other Chinese dishes on the menu. Shredded, wok fried tofu is a standard.
We got lots of smiles as we ran around the store taking photos of everything nostalgic that could be found.
Ginza seems fairly sparse of ramen shops, leaning more towards high priced food for the high priced shopping that predominates the main road. But hey, if you just spent your last 10,000 yen note on Louis Vuitton, maybe Manpuku is exactly what you need!
Underneath the bullet train, just minutes from the ticket gates, you can find some of the hottest ramen shops in Tokyo.
The aptly named Tokyo Ramen Street is a concept in efficiency. Thousands of people come through busy Tokyo station every day. Thousands of people want to eat good ramen. And the best shops in town wouldn't mind more customers. Is this a true win-win scenario?
Well, as long as you don't mind waiting an hour for your lunch.
Rokurinsha is the star of the Tokyo Ramen Street. This might be the aftermath of last year's tsukemen boom. Or it might just be that their noodles and soup are awesome. On a warm March morning, on my spring break holiday, I joined Daniel from howtojaponese.com for the adventure.
Makes sense that you can pay with your train fare debit card.
There you go, the gold medalist of tsukemen in Tokyo. The honor, though, is shared with TETSU. I'd love to place those two bowl next to each other for a true test. Either way, though, you're coming out a happy eater.
Thick, meaty soup. It's cooked for over 13 hours, until all the ingredients are unrecognizable. Pork, fish, vegetables, and secrets blend into liquid gold.
I fully recommend the original shop out in Osaki, but it's not convenient to anyone but those with time to spare and a good sense of direction.
This was the first shop in the Tokyo Ramen Street that we tried. In the near future, we'll be checking out all of these shops, and then hopefully doing the same at some other ramen streets located in or very near stations. There's one at Shinagawa station, and a new one at Koenji station. Until then, enjoy another episode of Collaboramen!
