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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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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Yoshu Shonin/Shinbashi揚州商人/新橋

 

Updated review Nov 23 2014 - they also now have a Premium Suratanmen, at least at the Shimbashi branch (again with either thick or thin noodles) that was excellent:



A novel concept at a chain ramen shop that is known for constantly bringing out new products: Yoshu Shonin's Su-Ra-Abura-Men. This take on both suratanmen and abura soba together is creative and tasty - it has a very vinegary and peppery taste, just like the regular suratanmen that Yoshu Shonin is rightly famous for and that several people including this page have reviewed in the past. They actually started selling this last July but I just got around to trying it recently. The regular suratanmen is a good balance of the various flavors (necessary for this type of dish), and the su-ra-abura-men tastes just like the full soup dish only with the broth removed, and therefore a even a bit stronger of a taste. The pork is a bit on the scanty side, but the onions and menmas are there in full force. However the more novel (and in my mind most important) addition is that you can now choose whether you want the regular straight thin noodles (like the suratanmen) or now (as with several other Yoshu Shonin dishes) whether you want the new toshomen (刀削麺, thick hand-cut noodles). The variety of the dishes that Yoshu Shonin has means that you can actually treat a visit here like a trip to a real restaurant, have several dishes to share (I also recommend the black vinegar chahan, 黒酢炒飯) and make a real meal out of it. The Shimbashi branch has a couple of tables, but not all branches do.

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Gonokami-Seisakujo/Sendagaya五ノ神製作所/千駄ヶ谷

Gonokami-Seisakujo is technically in Shibuya Ward, Sendagaya, but it is a short walk from the east side of Shinjuku Takashimaya.

Note that this trip was in the middle of the worst snow ("worst" = 4-5 inches) that Tokyo had seen in a long time.

The review/discussion here says it all (Silverjay on Chowhound went there first and discovered it):

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/930471

Hazuki/Fudomae葉月/不動前

 

Excellent tonkotsu gyokai near Fudomae Station on the Tokyu Meguro Line. This shop opened in April 2011 and is the sister shop of the Yukigaotsuka shop (Ikegami Line) that we reviewed at the end of 2009 and was also a Recommended shop. Same great broth and generous portions, with thicker chunks of fatty pork as you can see from the pictures and a lemon slice to put in about half way through. Come right at the opening and there won't be a large line. I recommend the pictured dish, the Hatsuki niku-tsukemen. (葉月肉つけ麺).

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Ramen Jiro/Nakayamaラーメン二郎/中山店

  

This is the last Jiro on my catchup-list of Ramen Jiro branches that have opened over the last year. Less than 5 minutes walk south from Nakayama Station, through a residential neighborhood. The shop name says "eki-mae" but it is not really. You can take either the JR Yokohama Line going west, or the Yokohama Subway Green Line to the last stop. No seats inside, and there may be about 5-10 people waiting inside. Excellent chunks of fatty pork. The broth is on the clear side which is good, the noodles on the medium to thin side. There was a line of about 15 at 6 PM on a Sat. It was reasonably clean.

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Hasumi/Kamiuma蓮爾/上馬

 

I think the name of this shop is actually a male given name, pronounced either Hasumi or Renji. The insides of this Kamiuma branch are probably the worst-kept I have ever seen in Tokyo (the front auto-door was broken when I eent) and I have seen a lot of crappy ramen shops. There is also a bramch in Noborito (Machida-shi?, Odakyu-sen?) and I hope that one is better-kept. But I guarantee you will forget the messy insides once you taste the ramen and tsukemen at the Kamiuma branch. The noodles are extremely thick as you can see from the pictures, and they come with a generous helping of moyashis and garlic. The dipping sauce is available in spicy and regular shoyu versions and comes with a generous helping of large fatty pork chunks. I had the spicy one and it was quite spicy. The texture of the two combined is very satisfying. Easy to reach from either Komazawadaigaku or Sangenjaya Stations. Looks like the kind of place that keeps irregular hours, even though they are listed as 5 PM to 10 PM weekdays and regular ones on Saturdays. No phone number unfortunately. Highly ranked on Supleks.

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Kisurin/Akasaka希須林/赤坂

   

Excellent and really spicy (if you want it to be) dan-dan-men in Akasaka. Varied menu including various dan-dan-men types with breaded tonkotsu (more like paiko actually) and various shiru nashi dishes. It's across Sotobori Dori from Hie Shrine in case you are sightseeing or staying in one of the hotels in the area. Bring a handkerchief and choose your spiciness level (3 is "normal") from the menu on the table. Has other branches in Aoyama and elsewhere that are more like regular Chinese places but are rated better than average. One of those dishes that you find yourself licking the bowl for.

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Yakumo/Ohashi八雲/大橋

   

Yakumo (8 clouds) is a very serene and quiet ramen shop in Ohashi, a small neighborhood north of Naka-Meguro Station, about 2-3 minutes walk before you hit 246.
Very cold outside and there was a long line both inside and outside, there are chairs inside and a few outside too. These guys are real craftsmen, especially on the wonton - they are home-made and they play it up behind the counter. The chicken broth has a very clear and fresh taste, with sliced pork that is pink on the outside like Chinese chashu. They have limited hours, and their vacation day is Tuesday. This place was worth it but you either have to bus it up from NM station or bus out to 246 and walk down. Any other station and you are looking at at 10-15 min walk. My first "Recommended" in a long time.

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Koushi/Komaba嚆矢/駒場

  

Koushi is located along the main drag in Komaba going south from Keio Komabatodaimae station towards the Tsukuba Daigaku/Komaba High School campus. It was crowded as soon as I walked in - not many other places nearby for one, but for a place in this type of suburb to be this crowded immediately after open is a very good sign. Very good ranking of 52+ on Supleks. No ticket machine, you order verbally. Only one guy working on a Saturday, presumably the tennushi, and he was working really hard. He will ask you to sit apart if there are two of you but no two seats together. There are also 4 waiting seats inside, some near the door and some further back. I had the very different torisoba (とりそば, 8th down on the left-hand side of the menu picture above) standard but good shoyu broth, thin egg noodles, and I got the omori for big volume. A good volume of well-grilled/fried chicken was placed on top - but the skin is left on. He said to another customer that sometimes on Saturdays he opens a little late occasionally. He also hand-makes his wontons right there in front of you. Busy on the weekends but closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

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Shimento/Ogikubo四面燈/荻窪

    

This is a Jiro clone in Ogikubo, the best one in a long time. Well-blended between shoyu and tonkotsu, very salty broth, one of the best broths out of all the the Jiro clones that I have had. Well-cut pork pieces, good balance of dark meat and lighter meat and fat as you can see from the pictures. Nice really thick squiggly chigire hand-made noodles, like super-thick linguine. You want the second button from the left on the machine, on the top row, 850 yen. No wait on a Saturday immediately after open. Regulars coming in immediately, good sign. Check the opening times, and days before you go. Interesting comic at each seat that explains some of the menu items and provides some light comedy. Watch for bicycles up and down the street when you exit. At the ticket hand-over time that's when you tell them what toppings you want. The sign outside says "doka-mori". The best translation I can find for doka is heavy, earthen, bulky, noisy. This is a bulky hearty bowl that will certainly satisfy.

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Ume no Ya/Takeoka梅の屋/竹岡

    

Took a day trip to do some hiking along the Uchibo Line and the southern end of Chiba. Got off at JR Takeoka Station - cats and spiders all over the place. This is the famed source for Takeoka ramen - Umenoya. The pork is cut from a long fatty grilled block. The noodles are actually dry cup ramen or dry block ramen noodles - "kanmen", taken from dry ramen packs, could not see the name. It's a very informal shop with shared tables and a small zashiki area. It takes a long while (for me about 30 mins) to get the ramen, even though you preorder and there are 5 obachan's working the place, only about 20 seats. It's a very dark shoyu type broth - Takeoka-style with a lot of chopped onions, much darker and richer than ordinary shoyu, almost starting to get brownish-red. I strongly recommend the chopped negi's. The little street that you wait on is very narrow and even on a weekday, you should expect a line. There's a very small menu on the window near the door. After eating you can have a nice walk north along the coast from Takeoka, continuing up to Kazusaminato Station. Hard to say whether it's worth it for people who live in Tokyo - this is the greater part of a day trip, perhaps combine it with something else.

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Keisuke RokuDaiMe/Yushimaけいすけ 六代目/湯島

   

Down Kasuga Dori going east from the famous Daiki and (the former Poppoya), is Keisuke Takeda's latest shop Keisuke RokuDaime. This shop opened on Oct 1 and your intrepid ramen reporters are of course there just a few days later to check it out. Line of about 10 people on a Saturday morning. Like most Keisuke shops, this place (his 6th) specializes in one specific style or dish of ramen. In this shop's case, it's thick linguine-style tsukemen noodles covered with a healthy portion of pork shavings and onions stewed together with a light brown sauce. Very hearty and satisfying, like his previous shop Niku Soba Keisuke in Sumiyoshi. Accompanying it is a seriously salty dipping sauce, extremely different from regular tsukemen broths, this is almost like a thick inky black soy sauce. Keisuke Takeda was there overseeing operations during the first few days and he actually served me himself, however I decided to be polite and not ask for a picture since he was clearly busy.

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Ramen Jiro/Tochigiラーメン二郎/栃木街道店

         

The first Jiro in Tochigi-ken, the northern-most Jiro, and the last Jiro for me on Planet Earth. What a long strange trip it's been - I've completed my personal goal of eating at every Jiro branch in Japan. There are 35 of them as of this writing, with a couple that have fallen by the wayside. Took 3+ years, my cardiologist be damned.

The Tochigi Ramen Jiro is way out of the way, near Mibu Station on the Tobu Utsunomiya line. All in, 1-3/4 hours from JR Meguro Station. After getting off the train, there are actually several taxis lined up with sleeping drivers outside the station. You could wake one of them up to take you to the Jiro, but it's only about a 15-minute walk through a pleasant residential neighborhood. About 10 parking spaces around the building. The line at 12:30 PM on a Sunday stretched about 20-25 people all the way around one side of the building. Large roomy interior with seats for 5 or 6 people to wait. One of the benefits of being out in the sticks is the low rent I guess. I had the buta double tsukemen, only available in the summer. The winner here is the broth - fully blended between tonkotsu and shoyu. Creamy and rich. Even though this isn't the best Jiro in my opinion, it's pretty close to the top, and the broth itself has to be one of the best ones of any Jiro anywhere.

The first picture above is the "noodles sold out" sign ("men kee-ray"). Get there on time and don't let this happen to you.

Thank you for your support. Okage sama de.

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