大勝軒 (Taishoken in Numazu)

大勝軒

Numazu is a bustling, rather unattractive town at the base of Mt. Fuji. I know it as the place were one must exit the freeway and drive through traffic for an hour to get to the excellent roads and views of the Izu Peninsula. To my surprise, on the way down to an annual motorcycle adventure, there was a massive line waiting for ramen. I took a mental note, as I would pass this intersection on the return trip.

Return I did, and sure enough, the 30 minute wait was for a branch of Taishoken. For those not in the know, Taishoken basically invented tsukemen. Now, there are thousands of shops making this concept their own, with innovative as well as classic touches.

It was opening weekend, so for only 500 yen you could get your bowl.

Its good stuff. I'd probably bring down a slew of hate mail if I said otherwise. Recently, I've eaten many bowls like this, but I tried to think of what makes this bowl stand out. I'd say its the fishy taste. Unlike the roasted fish taste of Fuunji, Taishoken is more fishy fishy. A little yuzu in the soup melds nicely.

Official Site Here

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mastermindJAPAN x 秀ちゃんラーメン (mastermindJAPAN and Hide-Chan in Omotesando)

マスターヌードル

Urban street fashion collaborations are nothing new. You can sport a North Face x Supreme jacket with some Puma x Evisu jeans and a pair of Adidas x Star Wars kicks. But when relevant website hypebeast mentioned a fashion x ramen collaboration, I was surprised. I was also totally into it.

The adventure began early, as did the line. I waited here for 45 minutes.

And I waited here for another 45 minutes.

The collab was between mastermind JAPAN, a street fashion brand aimed at people who want skulls on everything they wear. It is also aimed at those with large wallets. Expect to pay over $100 for a t-shirt.

By the way, this was the best dressed ramen line I've ever waited in. At least half the people were decked out in mastermind gear. Even those who had an obvious disregard for personal hygiene were wearing Bape or XLarge.

The collaboration is with Hide-Chan ramen. Hide-Chan might sound familiar to American ramen lovers, since they were voted best in New York a few years back. It's your standard white tonkotsu shop in Japan. Overseas in the Big Apple, they offer a few more menu items, like a strange sounding meatless ramen and lots of side dishes. Actually, the vegetable one was one of two styles available at this event.

But first the shop.

Contemporary Fix is a stylish shop, with only a sparse selection of actual clothes for sale.

Thats the end of my shop review, lets get to the ramen.

Excellent. This was rich, creamy tonkotsu at its finest. They really brought it for this bowl. Everything was top tier, especially the Iberico pork roasted in black sugar. Speaking of black...

Black benishoga. (Kuroshoga?)

Black mentaiko rice. (photographed by a guy in a black leather jacket)

Black noodles.

Wontons with black filling. They are meant to be broken open, releasing the spicy black oil inside.

What an awesome idea.

And of course the special black bowl.

I may have mentioned the slightly higher than average price of the clothing here. The ramen was no different. At just under 3000 yen, I wont be coming back too often. Not that I could, as this is just a 3 day pop-up shop that took over a cafe.

But you get to keep the bowl, which is a cool collectors item.

Check it out until January 10th!

Mastermind Site

Hide-Chan Ramen

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狸穴 (Mamiana in Ikebukuro)

馳走麺 狸穴

Next door to the excellent King Kong in Ikebukuro is another tonkotsu gyokai tsukemen shop. If you follow the belief that the longer the line the better the meal, then Mamiana should be one of the best in town.

Like most tsukemen shops, the menu is simple. The unique point is the inclusion of not just tsukemen, but tsukesoba, a thinner noodle with a lot of buckwheat flour. It seems like everyone was going with the thicker option.

The 980 yen special tsukemen was as normal as could be.

To me, the key to a good tsukemen is not the rich pork and fish broth, but the subtle things. Mamiana was fine, but there was nothing to stand out.

Until I asked for the owari soup, a little hot broth to add to the left over soup. Yuzu peel and raw onion. The yuzu was great, and might have been the redeeming bit I was looking for. But the onion was an unwanted visitor, though others may enjoy.

More Info Here

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