Futaba/Kamiogi二葉/上荻

 

Futaba (two leaves) had a wait outside on a cold day of about 20 minutes. It was very hold, humid and cramped inside though. Both the shop and the bowl were jam packed, one with closely-seated customers that took up the 9 seats shoulder-to-shoulder, another with soup components that included cabbage and onions, and a well blended but clearerand still fatty broth. Be sure to read the various notes on the sign, or have someone read them for you. I had the Ramen Jiro look-alike dish and it was fairly good. There are two shops in this chain, less than a quarter-mile straight line distance from each other, and both within close walking distance of JR Ogikubo Station.

Google Maps
Shop Home Page
Kigeki Ramen Page

Tenkoo/Mita天空/三田

  

Well if you are going to go to this place you might as well go to the Ramen Jiro honten. Lots of space, lots of aluminum. Shio tsukemen. Decently-ranked.

Google Maps
Shop Home Page

MenDokoro Okaji/Jinbocho麺処 おかじ/神保町

 

Mendokoro Okaji has several types of ramen but the kind that I recommend going for is their sort of version of tori pai tan, rich chicken broth with either a chicken patty or pork slab (sometimes with bones) in it. Tori pai tan (see here) is a slightly creamier version of chicken broth, sort of the chicken version of tonkotsu. This place had a good version, they tried to be all artistic with the garnish and the lemon. They had the usual set of instructions pasted to the counter on when to add the lemon etc. Took them quite a while to fry up the chicken thing though, and they were a bit suprised when I ordered it. I was the first one there for lunch but the place started filling up a bit afterwards. Just off of Hakusan Dori north of Jinbocho Station. 11-7, closed Sundays and holidays.

Google Maps
ZATSU Blog (w/better pics)

Menya Sou/NakaMeguro麺屋 宗/中目黒

  

Please see our previous review of Menya Sou's original shop in Takadanobaba here.

Please also see some good background on the original shop here.

This is the second branch of Menya Sou. It's a short walk south from NakaMeguro Station on Yamate Dori. If you pass the blue-fronted Kennedy Steak House you've gone (much) too far. They have free wifi available and NakaMeguro is a nice residential neighborhood with some nice shops to walk around in prior to or after your meal. I had the shio ramen with extra noodles and chashu. They added some of those long stringy "take" mushrooms that I am not crazy about. I also had the chashu donburi as a side dish, that was actually the better of the two. The ramen was good but not great, however the broth had a clear rich taste. Few customers in the place on a weeknight. In a slightly awkward location next to/behind one of the kosenkyou's along Yamate Dori.

Google Maps
Shop Home Page

Hazuki/Fudomae葉月/不動前

 

Excellent tonkotsu gyokai near Fudomae Station on the Tokyu Meguro Line. This shop opened in April 2011 and is the sister shop of the Yukigaotsuka shop (Ikegami Line) that we reviewed at the end of 2009 and was also a Recommended shop. Same great broth and generous portions, with thicker chunks of fatty pork as you can see from the pictures and a lemon slice to put in about half way through. Come right at the opening and there won't be a large line. I recommend the pictured dish, the Hatsuki niku-tsukemen. (葉月肉つけ麺).

Google Maps
Supleks Page

Ramen Jiro/Nakayamaラーメン二郎/中山店

  

This is the last Jiro on my catchup-list of Ramen Jiro branches that have opened over the last year. Less than 5 minutes walk south from Nakayama Station, through a residential neighborhood. The shop name says "eki-mae" but it is not really. You can take either the JR Yokohama Line going west, or the Yokohama Subway Green Line to the last stop. No seats inside, and there may be about 5-10 people waiting inside. Excellent chunks of fatty pork. The broth is on the clear side which is good, the noodles on the medium to thin side. There was a line of about 15 at 6 PM on a Sat. It was reasonably clean.

Google Maps
Tabelog Page

Yafukuro/Shinjuku笑梟/新宿

   

Yafukuro means "laughing/smiling owl" and this shop is located in Shinjuku 5-chome, about 200 meters back east from Shinjuku 5-chome station on the Oedo Line, before you get to the park. This was late summer, early fall, during the rainy season when it was starting to get a bit cool. They serve soba-like noodles, something they call niku soba, doesn't appear to be real soba, in chicken broth, either hot or cold. I was the only customer in the place and the very genki staff was easger to see me. Overall a satisfying but not awesome taste - the noodle amount could have been a bit more so I would recommend the "men omori ken" to increase the amount of noodles (the red ticket on the right).

Google Maps
Menkoi Blog