Abura Soba Kasugatei/Kanda油そば専門店春日亭/神田

"Mega noodles and mega meat" type of chain with several branches in Tokyo. Forgot to take a picture of the outside with its long description of the product and how it is made. Look on Google Maps. Down the street from Waizu. Be sure to tell them no raw egg if you don't want it as the place seems to be a niku soba/maze soba combination. Pretty thick, correctly done noodles, with a good shoyu abura coating and four healthy pies of grilled pork. Could probably have left out the onions too if I had thought of it.

Our 400th review.

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Houkiboushi Plus/Kandaほうきぼうし+/神田

 

Down the street from Edo-ko sushi. Nothing special, decent tokyo-style shoyu with a single piece of passable pork. They also have a tori paitan. Good quality home made noodles. Counter seating very cramped.

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Ramen Kaito/Kandaラーメン海人/神田

 

This is a combination Chinese and Japanese ramen place with some other Chinese dishes thrown in, the niku tsukemen was not the best I've ever had, but it was good, and the way the meat was presented gyu-don-style chopped up on top of the noodles was very satisfying. Very helpful and fiendly staff. They give you a squeeze bottle of lemon-flavored-abura to put on the noodles prior to dipping - strongly recommended. Also you can get the usual set of Chinese dishes, jin-jya-rosu, ma-op-tofu etc. Good for a party where everyone wants something different. There are no hugely standout chinese places in the Kanda area, they are all decent. A lot of them end up being in basements.

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Tabelog English Page

Mahiru/Kandaまひる/神田

 

Ramen Jiro clone. Pork a bit lacking. However it's the only one right near the station, almost connected to it, on the northeast side. Very small number of seats. Was written up in some ramen mags in the past, may have been mentioned on the cover of one as evidenced by the sign outside. Noodles thick and correctly done, but broth closer to Tokyo shoyu than Jiro tonkotsu.

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Supleks Page

Kanda Ramen Waizu/Kanda神田ラーメン わいず/神田

 

This place had the longest line at lunch time in the Kanda station area of any place by far during this trip. I went with K-san and F-san. It's a couple of doors down from the niku soba place mentioned in another post upcoming, and right next to another one that had absolutely no one in it at lunch time, never a good sign. The darker tonkotsu broth was very rich and complex, with a couple of good pieces of pork. They must use a special type of pig parts and spices, it had a slightly smoky/salty/grittier taste to it. Very cramped inside. Abura was well-distributed throughout the broth. They have a special "no smell" niniku on the counter which almost had no taste either, in addition to the regular niniku. Expensive at 900 yen but worth it, this has to be the best place in the Kanda station area hands down.

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Abura Ya/Otemachi油や/大手町

I was not that impressed with this place even though K-san (formerly with my firm but now with another firm right across the street) said it was worth it and better than some other other abura soba places near by. The Otemachi building is an older building two south from OFC, with long halls in the middle of a cluster of much more modern towers. The dish was abura soba and it was a smaller portion of 250g (you can ask for 300 for the same price). I believe that the nori and onions that they add just confuse the taste. No one in there at 5 PM on a Mon night. One piece of pork that was done well enough for 700 yen. Nothing special here, move along IMO.

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Gyoza No New York/Otemachi餃子のニューヨーク/大手町

In the basement of Otemachi Financial City, my company's new Tokyo home, good yakigyoza or suigyoza. Second outpost of a Tachikawa-based chinese restaurant chain. Got the su-ra-tan-men set, very mild suratan flavor compared to most places. Some carrots and peppers and other veggies on top, not sure why. Just barely a hint of sweetness. Not a strong peppery or vinegary flavor. The hot dense soup tends to cook the noodles even more so you have to eat it quickly. One great thing is that they have all-you-can-eat self-serve mapo tofu that was actually quite good and satisfying. The tencho is this super genki guy whose voice carries almost through the entire basement. Probably a bit on the pricey side for the amount you get, but respectable and can be recommended - other than Ramen Bannai this is your only option for noodles in soup in the entire OFC complex.

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OFC Building Home Page
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Mendokoro MAZERU/Akihabara麺処 MAZERU/秋葉原

  

Down the end of a long hall that you get to via the entrance on the unnamed west-east street that runs between the JR and Metro Akihabara stations, just south of both of them. You will see the sign outside if you look for it, picture above. 7 seats, very cramped if I remember correctly. Excellent pork. Ask for no raw egg ("nama tamago nuki de") and a bit of extra soup ("shiru mo sukoshi onegai shimasu". The small is actually quite large. and they are very generous with the garlic, but not the yasai. Self service water is also crammed in there somehow too. Good option for the Akihabara area that does not appear to be that well-known yet but is well-ranked on Tabelog and Ramen Database.

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Yunrinbo/Akihabara雲林坊/秋葉原

 


Wow, really good shiru-nashi dan dan men. There was a line forming even before it opened at 11 AM - like an idiot I get there at 11 thinking there won't be anyone there, it's a dan dan men place in ....mata cho. Fairly close to Iwamotocho station on the Toei Shinjuku line and the hotel I now stay at (Comfort Hotel Kanda Tokyo). Basically two dishes available, dan dan men shiru-nashi (with ground pork, dan-dan flavored abura and some nuts, I got that one) and dan dan men shiru-ari, the diners that I saw were about split between the two. This was a really well-balanced set of flavors of the szechuan pepper vs. the oil and nuts and salt. Comes with a side of mapo tofu if you get the set. Stongly recommended if you can take the heat and you are in the area, easy walk from Akihabara or Kanda.

The third picture is of the tan tan abura men and su-ra abura men pages in the menu at Youshu Shonin in Shimbashi.

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Tabelog Page

Mendokoro Hanada/Kanda麺処 花田/神田

This place was a lifesaver and was open late one night during the big snowstorm of 2014. Only have a picture of the ramen (miso tsukemen, not my favorite but beggars (furriners walking around at night in the middle of a snowstorm looking for food) can't be choosers) - the outside of the shop was too messy and cold to take a picture. Also pictures of Chuo Dori in Akiba in the snow, plus my new hotel home when I visit Tokyo, the Comfort Hotel Tokyo Kanda.

http://ramendb.supleks.jp/s/55746.html

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.

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ZATSU Blog (w/better pics)

Sichuan Dou Hua/Marunouchi四川豆花飯荘/丸の内

 

High end Szechwan cuisine and prices to match, at least at dinner, in good old (new?) Shin Marubiru. The service lunch is 1500 yen, I chose the large bowl of suratanmen but they also have mapo tofu etc. which is good. The 8-treasure tea is interesting with the guy in the yellow Chinese jumpsuit running around and the long spout pitcher but I could have taken it or left it. The guy does this crazy pouring thing with a long pot. Free refills since he just adds more hot water to the cup. In any case somewhat tomatoe-y taste, with large chunks of tomato. My favorite suratanmen places have large chunks of tofu, egg and pork in the broth, this wasn't that. A nice effort but not worth the trip just for lunch - I have yet to try it for dinner, I have higher expectations there but it will be pricy.

If you want good quality Szechuan food (including my favorite gong bao ji ding or "kung pao chicken", which is hard to find at Chinese restaurants in Tokyo) at about 1/3 the price: 知音食堂

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Livedoor Gourmet Page
English Link, slightly broken

YaRou Ramen/Kanda野郎ラーメン/神田

   

This is an interesting semi-Jiro clone place, with only 7 seats. Note the reverse yellow-text-on-black sign, compared to Jiro's black-on-yellow. They have both abura-soba-like items and regular ramen. Very cramped at a small counter. One of the guys was horsing around and a whole set of metal pots came down on his head. Good taste overall, but it needed a kick. The instructions on the all (printed above) say to add the special "punch" oil/sauce, but I did not find that to make a big difference. The raw egg that they put in the shiru-nashi dishes is not noticable. Some extra abura was sprinkled on top. They could have left the shredded nori out, that texture just does not mix with the other stuff in the bowl. Not clear whether they have a second floor, or a basement, or not. It's down the street from Rramen Kenkyujou and Motoishi, this is becoming a new ramen street of leading-edge and different ramen places, all with abura-soba-type dishes as their lead items.

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Butamen Kenkyujyo/Kanda豚麺研究所/神田

   

Interesting shop down the street from the Jiro clone ラーメン野郎 (that I have not gone to yet but plan to soon as they have an interesting-looking shiru nashi dish). And also almost right next to the interesting Motoishi, on the same side of the street, that we visited early this year or late last. Very eclectic inside, not sure why they claim they are a kenkyujyo (research location). Closed Sundays. However they do have some odd items on the menu, but very tasty ones. I had the shio buta mazesoba. Nice texture, homemade firm noodles, very salty with good broth left in the bowl. The green pepper vinegar (actually more the consistency of oil) pictured above makes a big difference and of course with all maze-mens you have to throw some black pepper on top. The small green leaves in the bowl I could have done without, a lot of mazesoba is about the combined texture, but the large greasy slice of kakuni-buta made up for it. At night they turn into more of an izakaya/sakaba like Motoishi, and they have a more limited ramen menu. They also have an interesting take-home ra-yu made with Chinese sansho pepper, 500 yen. Very spicy but recommended.

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Nankokutei/Kandaたま館/神田

 

Basic Chinese plate-by-plate cuisine. Very cheap chahan-and-soup lunch specials. Nice inside, very quiet. Walking distance to Akihabara.

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Menya Musashi Kanzan/Kanda麺屋武蔵 神山/神田

 

Another one in the line-up of Menya Musashi branches. Each location deals with dead pig in a different and tasty fashion (usually). This one is in one of the brick street areas immediately to the west of JR Kanda Station. The tsuke-chashu (つけ焼豚) is the one to get here at the Kanda branch. The kaku-ni buta is extremely tasty, and quite an amazing portion of both the noodles and the meat, the broth is slightly sweet as usually is standard thin tsukemen broth. 1200 yen but worth it. Note the cool samurai sword designs on the counter.

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Better pictures than I can take
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Uoton/Kanda Ogawamachi魚トン/神田小川町

Excellent tonkotsu gyoukai in Ogawamachi. They also have shoyu and miso. Interesting noodle type, extremely wide (pappardelle-size) noodles are available as an option, I strongly recommend. I would stay away from the thin paper-like pork strips with all the white tasteless fat on them as pictured. Slightly cramped shop layout and the man and woman team seem sort of new to the job and rushed. They use Kaikarou noodles as evidenced by the boxes outside the shop. Very tasty.

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Katsugiya/Ogawamachiかつぎや/小川町

 

I hesitated a bit before posting this one, but I felt that it was worth it as they have an odd item on the menu that may attract people and it is best to let them know our opinion. This place Katsugiya is in Ogawamachi near one of the Tokyo engineering colleges, just south of Yasukuni Dori and east of Jinbocho Station. On the Google Maps link below, it shows as being in the middle of the college according to its address, but it is actually in the middle of the south side of the street immediately north. Disappointing number of people in there, perhaps it was the weather today as it has been extremely cold and miserable this week (and last week, etc.) I had heard from an associate at work that the dan-dan men was very good. You can choose your spiciness level from 1 (least) to 5 (most) for all of the dan-dan men and like dishes. I ended up having the shiru nashi paiko dan-dan men (汁なし排骨担々麺), which sort of misses though. It's an interesting combination of flavors. Paiko (or possibly pronounced haiko) is a pork steak or big spare rib, sometimes with the bone-in, sometimes pounded flat, and then grilled in the wok, sort of like tonkatsu but not as deep-fried in deep oil, and with a thinner breading, more like weinerschnitzel. This was chopped up and placed on top of a bed of noodles and cabbage, with some condensed dan-dan men broth, more like a sauce, drizzled on top and more placed in the bowl below it. Something just didn't work for this for me though, it might have been the thin purplish-brown fishy strips that there in there, you see those in some types of yaki-soba also. What this dish needed was more spice (I got a 2, should have gotten a 3 or 4), more salt, less fish flavor and more of some other type of flavor.

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Aojima Ramen/Akihabara青島ラーメン/秋葉原

 

This unassuming little shop tucked into a boring corner of Kanda scores 80+ on Supleks. Very good, rich, dark shoyu. Generous amount of well-cooked pork and menmas. Noodles were plain but good. Served incredibly hot. Go before it becomes too famous, I did.

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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.

Tokyo Ichi Ban gai Ramen Street home page
Tokyo Ichi Ban gai Ramen Street map
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