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2009-11-07

Tokyo Ramen Street/Rokurinsha Omiyage Unboxing
東京ラーメンストリート/六厘舎 お土産

    

In JR Tokyo Station there is a special (and long) hallway with numerous shops and restaurants called the "Tokyo Eki Ichi Ban Gai". This is one of several shopping areas under Tokyo Station. One special section of this hall was upgraded and refurbished and a group of 4 ramen shops were opened there in June. These shops were already famous in Tokyo, and these new locations are just branches, not their main shops. The 4 shops are Rokurinsha, Hirugao, Keisuke and Mutsumiya, some of which have been reviewed on this site already.

Tokyo Station is one of the main points for the shinkansen to stop in Tokyo. Many people who visit Tokyo want to do some shopping and also eat in some "authentic" Tokyo restaurants such as ramen shops, that they would not normally have had time to wait on line for (at the honten) during their trip. So Rokurinsha was for a long time, and probably still is, in the top 10 of ramen shops in Japan. It's well known and it's not suprising how long the lines are to get in and get a bowl.

No waiting on line for me today - I've only waited on line for Rokurinsha once, at the original store, for more than an hour. So I bought the omiyage that is available at this store and it was, in short, excellent. It really has the real Rokurinsha tonkotsu gyoukai taste and the best part of it is, you don't have to wait on the long line that you see in the pictures above. There is no comparison between this stuff and the ramen packages available in the supermarkets - even if they are from "destination" shops such as Hirugao, which I know Mitsukoshi sells for example. The Rokurinsha line actually extends to the other side of the hall. (The red rope on the right side holds back the line of people waiting on the other side.) Simply go to the right of the "guy with arms folded" sign and there is a window where you can buy the omiyage without having to wait. Better pictures here. You will be asked whether you want the 1 person box (850 yen) or the 3 person (2550 yen), the unboxing above is the 1 person. As some of the items in the box will be frozen, you will also be given dry ice. I recommend eating this stuff the same day if you can. This omiyage must have been taken directly from the pot and put into the bags and the box, it really had that same fresh taste.

That evening I did the unboxing. Included are a large white package of soup and pork, a package of noodles, one sheet of nori and some ground pork powder. The instructions, which are included but are in Japanese, basically say to put the pouch in water for 15 mins (I don't think it needed that long), cook the noodles separately, then pour the pouch into one bowl and the noodles in another. Be sure to rinse the noodles thoroughly in cool water (grab them with your hands as you rinse them, you will see how much stuff sticks to them) and enjoy. Excellent taste and no waiting. If you absolutely must say that you ate at Rokurinsha then by all means feel free to wait on line - but if you just want the taste then this is the product for you. No long lines like at the Hibiya Tsukemen Fair either.

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