浅月 (Satsuki in Okayama)

浅月本店



Anytime I hear about a shop that opened in the 昭和 (Showa era 1926 - 1989), I have to try it. Satsuki is 昭和23, aka 1948. Fantastic.



From father to son, this is a local legend of a shop.



Autographs from famous people of yesteryear, yellowing in the shop.



And an amazing bowl of chukasoba.



Wow, wow, wow. With newer shops going all out in the ingredients department, it is still good to eat a classic bowl like this. Ramen has definitely become gourmet, especially in Tokyo, but the roots are in inexpensive comfort food, often made from bone scraps and cheap rationed wheat flour. Slurping a bowl like this helps us understand why ramen became a staple food in Japan.



Looking back at my personal ramen journey, I was surprised to see that this shop was only a few minutes walk from the company dormitory that I stayed at when I first arrived in Japan more than 11 years ago. At the time, our boss recommended a terrible 180 yen ramen place next to the station. I slurped with my new coworkers, and no one really enjoyed it. It took a few years before I had a bowl I really loved. If he had told me about this spot, my ramen adventures would have started much earlier.



The locals know what's up!





岡山県岡山市北区奉還町2-5-25
Okayama-ken, Okayama-shi, Kita-ku, Hokancho 2-5-25
5 minute walk from Okayama Station

Open 10:30-21:00
Closed Wednesdays

季織亭 (Kioritei in Yoyogi-Uehara)

季織亭



Where do I begin with this shop.



How about the location. You might have a little difficulty, as the shop is in a residential neighborhood. This shop is actually in the master's house. Luckily, Japanese zoning laws are not very strict, and something like this is ok.

How this happened is an interesting story.



This is 川名さん, Mr. Kawana. He opened Kioritei as a bento shop back in 1991. Bento shops serve up boxed lunches, and there are many of them around Tokyo to feed the salaryman who doesn't have time to go to a restaurant, or maybe doesn't want to spend the big bucks. I often visit a local bento shop that sells an entire lunch for 200 yen. Less than $2.

In 2000, the Kioritei bento shop started serving homemade ramen in the evening, as well as continuing the bento lunches. He further expanded in 2006 with a 2nd floor bar. Eventually it all ended in 2014.

I never tried any of these spots, unfortunately.

Lucky for me, in 2016 the fans convinced Kawana-san to reopen. He couldn't handle commuting to a shop everyday, so instead they took to a Japanese crowdfunding site to get the money to reform their own home into a shop. Over 90 people stepped up to hit the goal of $20,000, and in March of 2017, the new shop was ready to go.



The menu is always changing, and at dinner time it is an entire course. Appetizer, three kinds of ramen, an egg course, and dessert.



Shimane Prefecture soy sauce, handmade noodles, and eggplant for the first ramen course.



As there are not many people served each day, the master used a hand-crank pasta machine to make the noodles on the spot.



For an extra 1000 yen (the regular course is 3800 yen) you can have a meat dish. Japanese wagyu steak.



A ramen egg served on rice. This is a specialty egg from Ibaraki Prefecture. Every main ingredient is very carefully chosen at Kioritei.



A small bowl of shio ramen uses Okinawan natural salt.



The final ramen dish was a cold noodle served in a walnut sauce.



Reservations are a must.





東京都渋谷区上原1-42-4
Tokyo, Shibuya-ku, Uehara 1-42-4
5 minute walk from Yoyogi-Hachiman Station

Open 11:30-14:00, 17:00-19:30, 20:00-22:00
Closed Thursdays

九十九里煮干つけ麺 志奈田 (Shinada in Akihabara)

九十九里煮干つけ麺 志奈田



Akihabara's latest is Shinada, but the full name of this spot is kujukurin niboshi tsukemen shinada. Formerly Tanaka Second, one of my favorite shops.



I was a bit sad when the master, Tanaka-san, decided to change his recipe. I loved it so much that I convinced a TV show to feature them on an episode we filmed:



Raaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeennnnn! As my days with #TokyoExtra are finished, I guess it is ok for this ramen to be as well.



The shop's name now includes kujukurinhama, the famous beach on the east side of Chiba. This part of Japan is very famous for niboshi, dried sardines. Although these dried sardines make their way into many styles of ramen, nothing utilizes them more than a bowl of thick tsukemen.



Two styles. The above 純濃煮干しつけ麺 thick soup and the below 淡麗塩煮干しつけ麺 thin soup. Choose either. Better yet, go with a friend and get both.



The differences are not just in the soup, but in the presentation of the noodles. The thinner soup means noodles served in konbusui, a light broth made from Japanese kelp. It is a little bit slimy, and has some of the most intense umami flavors you can experience.



Really special stuff.

At first I was upset that I will never have that clear bowl of abalone and spiny lobster ramen again, but I was told that it will sometimes appear as a limited slurp. Regardless of whether or not it is available, this tsukemen is a huge winner.





東京都千代田区外神田3-4-1
Tokyo, Chioda-ku, Sotokanda 3-4-1
Closest station: Akihabara

Open 11:00-15:00, 17:00-20:45
Sundays 11:00-18:00
Closed Mondays