NikuShiruYa/Toyotamakita肉汁や/豊玉北

  

Interesting place, I don't usually recommend udon shops but this place makes its own noodles and makes them in both lighter "shiro" and darker "kuro" (not really that dark as such) varieties. You can specify which one you want when you order, regardless of which dish you get. Also they are (sort of) cashing in on the tonkotsu gyoukai craze by offering the first (I have seen) gyoukai chashu tsukemen udon, with udon noodles that are "ramen style" or so they say, just the desire to be different I guess, while not really being different. Very cho genki ramen ojisan behind the counter, be sure to listen to him carefully. Very into his job with the little rubber boots and all. Various other broth typesin cluding the very common vegetable shoyu types, sometimes with chicken, that are typical of udon shops. Counter a bit cramped. Also you can get either the light or dark noodles as omiyage to go. Buy a ticket for them at the same time you buy your meal ticket.

Google Maps
Shop Home Page

Jyanzu/Nerimaじゃんず/練馬

 

Went to Jyanzu for lunch last Sunday with my friend Claudio from work, there was about a 25 minute line outside at 11:45, about 15 mins after the open. Four black leather seats outside in the 28-29 degree heat, almost as bad as just standing there. No ticket machine, this appears to be a husband and wife team, wife takes the orders, husband cooks and delivers. The tissues and water machine are in the corner under the TV. The menu has an ume shio broth choice which sounds interesting. Also interesting is that they have three styles of noodles - I had the tsukesoba but I recommend that you get the third one, the "san ban", the kawami thick noodles, like very thick spaghetti. The broth is a very salty tonkotsu gyokai with extra powder sprinked in it. The o-mori noodle amount is probably about 300 grams - the regular size is 170 grams I think. A while plastic letters on black sign in the corner of the room duly proclaims that "only the best ingredients are used". One odd thing is that while you can order the ramen dishes with pork, you cannot get pork on the side as a topiing like most other places. They also have a special form of shredded menma. This is the 13th best tsukemen shop in all of Tokyo right now, according to Supleks.

TabeAruki page
Diddlefinger Map (English labels)
Google Map

Maruyoshi/Sakuradai麺処 まるよし/桜台

 

Maruyoshi Shiru Soba (汁そば) is located almost right outside the south exit of Sakuradai station on the Seibu Ikebukero line. It's a very small shop that appears to be run by a single family, including a daughter. There's 4-5 counter seats and a table for 4, that's it, it's a really small shop. Their tsukemen comes in 4 different sizes from 180g all the way to 600g, the largest portion size I have ever seen at a normal ramen or tsukemen shop. The noodles were similar to Jiro noodles in texture and color except somewhat thinner, they came with a small dab of wasabi on the bowl, this was good since I needed to spice the sauce up a bit. I ordered the zenbu-iri dipping sauce (meaning "with everything", including chashu, wontons, veggies and an egg). The sauce had a good pork-fish taste but it was a bit on the watery side (perhaps there was some extra water that got in there from the veggies) and the veggies included carrots, something I have never seen before. The chashu slices were pretty plain with not much fat on them. This place was decent overall however if you are in the Sakuradai station area you might want to check out the Ramen Jiro Sakuradai location first.

Ramen Diary page (more pictures + menu)
Diddlefinger Map (English labels)
Google Map

Ramen Jiro/Sakuradaiラーメン二郎/桜台

 

The Sakuradai Jiro is one of the newest Ramen Jiro branches. It's a very kirei and new looking operation, with a shiny yellow banner outside and clean countertops. Large windows for all of those waiting outside. Standard Jiro with wider flatter noodles, not so katame. As for veggies, it was roughly an even 50/50 split between moyashi and cabbage, that's the right ratio in my opinion. The chashu was top notch. Not too bad of a line when I went there (< 10 people). The Ikebukero Jiro tends to get relatively busy, even for a Jiro. So if you are in the neigborhood, Sakuradai is only four stops west on the Seibu Ikebukero line from Ikebukero and has the added convenience of being literally right next to the station.

ramentokyo.com Ramen Jiro Information Page
Pictures+Address
Google Map