Rinki/Eifuku臨機/永福

 

Vacation day continues. My next stop on the Keio Inokashira line (京王井の頭線) today was another tsukemen place in Eifuku that has just recently opened. Rinki (りんき, 臨機) is literally right across the street from the only (south side) exit of NishiEifuku (西永福) station. It has a counter that seats 5 or 6 and also it has 3 tables for four. They looked like they were just getting over the usual "new store" problems as the temperature at the counter next to the kitchen was quite hot, the manager apologized to me profusely about it, and they had some sort of temporary machine that looked like a giant vacuum cleaner rigged up to suck the heat away. I usually don't mind sitting at the counter as it affords you a better view of the kitchen and the cook. There was plenty of attentive and enthusiastic staff dressed in colorful knit rasta caps who all pretty much looked like this was their first day on the job.

The pork here was excellent, that's the main story, an aburi chashu similar to Yotekko-ya's. It was available in both small pieces to be mixed into the soup, as came with the default tsukemen, and also as a topping in slices, which were also grilled on a real grill prior to serving. The noodles were the regular flatter thin-linguine egg type and the only (small) complaint on that is that they use those fancier disposable chopsticks with the pointy ends that make thin noodles harder to pick up, instead of the normal square-ended ones. The broth was a strong flavor, pork with fish overtones like I had earlier in the day at Kai. A richer taste here. The menma was good and crunchy too, the bigger thicker slices that go well with a strong broth. Definitely recommended, especially if the quality of the pork stays this good or improves.

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