燃えよ! ヒバゴンラーメン (Hibagon in Saitama)

燃えよ! ヒバゴンラーメン



We'll get to this in a minute:



There is a ramen shop that is up top on my ramen radar. My Ram-dar if you will. This shop appears amazing in so many ways. First up, the name. It's called ジャンクガレッジ, Junk Garage. Secondly, it is directly connected to popular Tokyo shop Rokurinsha. Thirdly, check out this signage!



GARLIC. Let's put it in! But this shop is about 30km away, up in Saitama. A train ride is possible, with multiple transfers and a lot of yen spent. This calls for something more... adventurous!



I hopped on the CB1000 and headed north. Actually, this shop is on the street I live on. A straight shot. On the traffic clogged streets of Saitama. It took over an hour each way. But for sure it will be worth it. The anticipation is huge!



Closed. On Tuesdays. It's Tuesday by the way.



Luckily my book showed another place a mile away. Hibagon. This is a Hibagon:



The Japanese version of a Yeti, he was first seen in Hiroshima in the 70s. I can't assume much about this half man half ape creature, but surely he would have a voracious appetite!



This was a great find. I would never have returned to this area if my first choice had not been closed. But as soon as I saw the blended shoyu and tonkotsu broth, I knew it was fate. It's a very "rough" blend. The soup is inundated with fatty abura pieces, and the pork almost dissolves into the mix. Meaty enough for a monster, but refined enough for a man.



A huge attraction here is the funky interior. Ice Cube was playing on the speakers, and the walls were covered with bits of Americana. License plates, old Coca Cola crates, and red vinyl seats scream tacky and comfortable.



A lot on the menu. The "Samurai Miso Ramen" looked great. But I had to go with the "Hibagon Ramen" this time. And I had to add the "crazy" spice.



Toss in a lot, it's good.



After finishing the main dish, you might want to try the homemade pudding.



Not busy at all, (this is Saitama!) I had some time to chat with the owner. He loves America, and he loves ramen. No problem with me there!



This could be a great spot to check out if you are ever in the Omiya area. Maybe you are going to the Super Arena to see a Kiss reunion tour. Or maybe you are spending the day at the Japan Railroad Museum. Or maybe you are a big fan of bonsai (Omiya is the center of worldwide Bonsai... research). If any of these maybes applies to you, check out Moeyo Hibagon!



It's near Higashi-Omiya station.

More Shop Info Here

らあめん元 (Hajime in Hasune)

らあめん元



Bring on the champ! Hajime was awarded the #1 new ramen shop title by infamous Walker magazine. This publication is your one stop shop for everything you might want to do, eat, and see in an area of interest. Walker comes in a million flavors, from the self explanatory Tokyo Walker to the more niche 1000 yen Expressway Trips Walker. Ramen is always a topic in these magazines.



Hasune station is about 15 minutes away from my apartment by train. So on a sunny Wednesday afternoon I hopped on my bicycle and headed north. There was no wait to get a seat, but this place gets crowded and runs out of soup on the weekends (as I recently found out).



The special salt ramen is a winner. The chef uses Mongolian rock salt to bring out the flavors in his simple chicken broth. It's this simple, heartful soup that really brings out the toppings. Great pork, great chicken meatballs, and great menma.



Be sure to add some yuzu seasoning to the broth.



It seems like the clientelle here, during the lunch hours at least, are all locals or people on road bikes who made the trek like me. Seeing a bicycle helmet in a ramen shop is a very rare encounter. Today I saw 3.



Even though the shop is literally 30 seconds from the station, you might have some trouble finding it. It's down a small side street. If you can't find it, ask a local, they will know.



More Shop Info Here

元。。。西尾。。。 四代目(Hajime to Nishio to Yondaime)

It's Sunday night. My friend M was in town on his own ramen adventure. Eating nothing but ramen for a week in Tokyo. More on that at a later date. Anyways, he had emailed me an article about the newest top shops, 2 of which are very close to my place. Let's go!



Hajime boasts a broth made from Mongolian salt. We took the metro 15 minutes out of town, almost into the neighboring prefecture of Saitama. A quick walk around the block...



Closed for the day. On the weekend, the opening hours are simply 11:30 am until the soup runs out. The soup had run out.



We went from here to here.



Then from here to here. An hour had passed and we were hungry. We essentially have gone less than 2km from the starting point.



To here. Nishio is another new shop. The owner is a friend of nearby Resshi. Both of these shops make a blended shoyu soup. Nishio, though, is closed as well.



Some quick thinking, and we found ourselves walking 10 minutes to Keisuke Yondaime. No line this time, as, you guessed it, the soup had run out. Just their awesome spiny lobster soup, though. They still had a standard, porky soup left to dip some noodles into.

Lesson learned! On Sunday the soup runs out early!