Bubuka/Takadanobabaぶぶか/田馬場2号店

  

In Takadanobaba, on the same side of Waseda Dori going west from JR Takadanobaba station, about 2-3 mins before Ramen Jiro on the right hand side, Bubuka is on the corner of a small street and it has no frontage so it is easy to miss. There is a long counter and several 2-person tables along the window - watch your step when you go in the door as there is a stair going down there. They have an abura soba sith several options. A picture menu is available inside and outside the store (a picture of it is above). I had the Bubuka Special - it had 3 1/2-in thick slices of pork that were grilled briefly on a grill and then plopped in a rich tokyo tonkotsu broth (tonkotsu with just a touch of shoyu). There were a large amount of onions, not all the stringy kind, but a few, with some shoyu poured on them, a lot of moyashi, and a large amount of noodles that were thin Hakata tonkotsu style. At 2 PM on a Saturday, huge nunber of blue-blazer-clad school kids in the place, very boisterous, all getting the abura soba, I will have to try that next time. Another picture of the abura soba menu is above. They also have regular ramen and tsukemen, and the special chashu can be ordered as a side dish for those bowls. This is probably the most edible Tokyo tonkotsu broth I have ever had. Even for 1000 yen his is quite a meal. There are fresh garlic and spicy miso on the table. However there is no ticket machine, you order at your seat and pay at the register on your way out. Overall a very clean and orderly shop with one older guy and two younger ones. Also note that this is the second Bubuka in Takadanobaba - the first one was on the other side of the Yamanote past the Big Box but closed late in 2007.

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