Himawari/Takadanobabaつけ麺屋 ひまわり/高田馬場

 

Himawari is near the end of the little street that sticks out going directly northwest from JR Takadanobaba station. If you cross the river then you've gone too far. You'll pass a Sunkus on the left as you go down the street. There's a counter for 8 and 3 tables for 4 or 6 people inside. The stereo was playing American 50's oldies the entire time I was there, including Elvis and Nat King Cole. I got the 300 gram shoyu tsukemen. The gentleman next to me got the 400 gram version and they delivered his noodles all laid flat on a plate that must have been the size of a bus steering wheel. The dipping sauce was very good, standard pork and fish blend, however they had the powdered pork bits (what's the name of that stuff?) piled high on a sheet of nori floating on the broth. Additional powdered pig was available in a container on the counter, for the taking. Also a nice touch was a giant container of freshly chopped tama negi on the counter, a few of those in the dipping sauce gives it a nice kick, if it's not too sweet already. The chashu was the round rolled type that I normally prefer not to have since it frequently comes apart and gets all stringy in your mouth, however the interesting there here is that the chef grills it before serving it, this seems to sear it together and it actually tasted pretty good, this is rare for places that serve that style of chashu.

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