Super Ramen

Finding the best noodles Japan has to offer one beer and bowl at a time.

[super-ramen]

Gyoku - Machida

The jewel... the name speaks for itself   玉

2015/11/27

Nearest 駅 Machida 町田

Today’s 日本語 men 麺 Noodles

Soup type: Tsukemen

Features: Nori paper, egg, bamboo, white onions, fish sausage slice, and boiled pork chyaashuu

ランキン  7 out of 10 stars

While on my way to check out a decorated miso ramen joint I stumbled upon this fairly new menya. The big hiragana letters caught my attention, tsu-ke-men つ-け-めん. The pictures looked great so I bought their best bowl at 1000￥. As I handed my ticket to the master he asks me if I want 200, 300, 400, 500, or 600 grams of fresh nama noodles. This must be a good sign I thought. 

Knowing my limit I went for 300. I then popped in another 350 for a beer ticket and waited. When it arrived I was aprehensive at first. I stirred in my nori paper, my thin sliced menma, and my partially diced boiled pork chyaashuu into the deep dark abyss. It smelled outstanding. Porky brilliance and fishy freshness. And man was it thick. I took the first spoonful taste and knew they hit their mark. It was delicious and of the caliber of Shinjuku’s Fu unji. Fu unji’s presentation was better, so I gave it one more star. But like Fu unji, Gyoku had a chyaashuu problem. 

The pork belly was not boiled long enough and therefore the fatty bits remained rubbery and the meat bits not near the fat were dry and tough. To get around this, they decided to chop one of your slices into mixed bits. This helped, but it was not a big enough distraction from their corner cutting. But that being said the chyaashu is in large amount and some bits are soft. If you order the max 600 grams of men you won’t have to drink the rest of your soup. You can keep on slurping. But if you have to drink it like I did, it won’t be disappointing All in all it was a jewel in an otherwise desert for this type of traditional thick sauce tsukemen.

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[super-ramen]

Ore no sora - Ikebukuro

My heaven... it’s so close to being true  俺の空

2014/05/10

Nearest 駅 Ikebukuro 池袋

Today’s 日本語 Abura 油 Fat, oil, grease

Soup type: Ramen

Features: Shredded pork chyaashuu, nori paper, egg, onions, and green onions

ランキン  9 out of 10 stars

This was the first really great bowl of ramen I had in Japan and still remains a measure for all other bowls. The soup is a perfect mix of pork tonkotsu flavor, abura, and fishy katsuobushi dashi. It tastes of the sea in a very good way, with the porky fellow hanging all out everywhere just chillin. Quite simply it remains my all time favorite tasting soup (will insert new name here if it changes). 

The big chops of white onions and the green onions have just the right texture contrast. The egg was perfect, although not sliced open for display. The pork chyaashuu has also been hit out of the park. It’s long boiled, grilled a bit to crisp up the fatty bits,and then shredded. The mix of meat to fatty bits is perfect every time too. They are aware of how good it is. 

Now the men or noodles. They are for this bowl of the thin variety and not my favorite and are not able to be substituted. They have a bowl of tsukemen with fat noodles but I am so addicted to this form of chyaashuu I always suffer through the noodle envy. This is why it is not a perfect ten for me. One day I will have to get their tsukemen with the standard chyaashuu and give it a go. Prime time waiting time is about 30 minutes. 

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[super-ramen]

Fu unji - Shinjuku

A newborn riding the wind above the clouds 風雲児

2015/05/09

Nearest 駅 Shinjuku 新宿

Today’s 日本語 Katsuobushi 鰹節 Dried bonito either in flakes for dashi or powder for tsukemen

Soup type: Tsukemen

Features: Katsuobushi powder, nori paper, egg, bamboo, green onions, and boiled pork chyaashuu

ランキン  8 out of 10 stars

The aroma of perfectly blended deep pork broth intermingled with dried katsuobushi is unmistakeable from the back of a one hour wait in line. This is classic tsukemen at its most primal. The extra katsuobushi powder on top of the soup, when mixed, will be the catalyst for sauce noodle glue. You pick up, you dunk, you slurp, and you notice a significant reduction in the level of your sauce. The sauce is delicious and definitly in my top five. The noodles as per my standard, are fresh, fat, chewy, and made of white flour. Lots of surface area for that glue we were talking about. 

For me the chyaashuu wasn’t as memorable as in other places so I marked down a star because of this. But that being said this place is popular and expect to wait.

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[super-ramen]

Nagi - Shinjuku Golden Gai

Dirty Ramen Dancing 凪

2015/02/08

Nearest 駅 Shinjuku 新宿

Today’s 日本語 Kitanai 汚い Dirty

Soup type: Tonkotsu dashi ramen

Features: Extra wide lasagna like noodles, Ham chyaashuu, egg, spicy chili flakes and oil, green onions

ランキン  3 out of 10 stars

The infamous Kawloon walled city is to Hong Kong as the Golden Gai is to Shinjuku. It’s a one square block area packed with hundreds of tiny bars and izakayas all crowded together and stacked on top of each other, and Nagi is right in the middle of the mayhem. It’s down and dirty and the bowl is no different. The sauce is deep, dark, rich, flavorful, and may I say a little dirty. There are flavors in there that I can not distinguish and they are equally disturbing and delicious. The shop is small and almost always busy, so the bowls are slung fast and not much care in the sliced veg (kind of chunky). The ham chyaashuu is a big let down, but the noodles are fresh, fat, chewy, and they come with a set of even fatter lasagna esque noodles to slurp. The egg is standard and the chili toppings work well with a dirty broth like this.

The score would normally be lower for this place, but the tourists love that it only seats 9, has a tiny 3 choice ticket machine, a narrow crowded stairway to the top floor, and that it’s open 24 hours. By day and night Nagi serves as an oasis for the waves of salerymen and Tokyo-ites that frequent its all open agenda. So it just screams Japanese modern busy life culture. At any hour of the day you can get decent greasy spoon ramen while simultaneously expiriencing something uniquely Tokyo. But that being said, I’ve only been here once and I will never go again unless first inebriated or hung over and starving. Hummm? Next weekend?

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[super-ramen]

Keisuke - Ginza

Duck, duck, goose, you’re it! けーすけ

2014/11/08

Nearest 駅 Higashi Ginza 東銀座

Today’s 日本語 Kamo カモ Duck

Soup type: Kamo Ramen

Features: Smoaked duck chyaashuu, bamboo, tenpura burdock, fish sausage slice, and duck meat balls (not shown)

ランキン  5 out of 10 stars

One of a small chain where the theme changes at each establishment, Keisuke’s Kamo Ramen is not too big a disappointment. The broth is made from duck stock and tastes great. However, I did see a lot of brown liquid in a large plastic bag being opened last time I was there. The noodels are thinner than I prefer but still fresh and chewy. The slices of smoaked duck chyaashuu are from the same duck breasts you can buy prepackaged in the super market for about 300￥, so a little disappointing there. 

Where they shine is in their in house prepared extra duck meat balls on a stick and burdock tenpura toppings. If they would have just roasted their own Donald and boiled down their own Daffy bones I would have seen more stars after eating this bowl. Still if you can’t wait 2 hours for Kagari, then this walk in joint is for you.

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[super-ramen]

Noodles - Machida

The top mom and pop shop

2014/12/14

Nearest 駅 Machida 町田

Today’s 日本語 Mugi 麦 Wheat

Soup type: Shoyu Tonkotsu-y Tsukemen

Features: None, but in the bowl melt in your mouth chyaashuu, perfected bamboo shoots, and green onions.

ランキン  8 out of 10 stars

*Secret: For 300￥ more you get a gorgious side plate of either soy sace (my recomendation) or salt chyaashuu, shiso, egg, and rice. Yes, it does melt in your mouth. You can also down size the noodle and rice portions by half if you think you can’t finish it all.

Now I live in Machida, so I am a bit biased. However, this is my go to noodle hole when I need a fix. Suprising since I am usually a strict dashi tonkotsu ramen or tsukemen conosour. Other shops in Machida I find to be just a train wreck of ingredients poorly prepared drowning in excessive pig fat. At Noodles the sauce is lighter on the abura for the healthier individual, but the soy sauce the master uses is umami rich high quality stuff. And the other ingredients he keeps a tight lid on, but the result is an addicting broth.

But the number 1 reason I come here is for the pork chyaashuu. It was first long boiled and then refrigerated. The master’s wife then cuts thin slices and places them in your hot boil of soup. By the time it arrives the meat melts away in your mouth with absolutely no effort at all. The extra side of pork chyaashuu was first long boiled too and then further grilled to order making it a little extra suculent and a must get every time for me. The noodles are made from mugi and are just as perfectly prepared as the sauce. They are fresh, fat, and chewy and the wheat flavor compliments the sauce nicely. The egg is done well too. They know me by name here.

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[super-ramen]

Menya Musashi - Tamachi

You either love it, or hate it 　麺屋武蔵

2014/11/24

Nearest 駅 Tamachi 田町

Today’s 日本語 Amai 甘い Sweet

Soup type: Tsukemen

Features: Enormous cuts of pork chyaashuu, egg, green onions

ランキン  5 out of 10 stars

This shop takes you back to the early 70′s in Japanese movie making. It is covered with samurai movie posters and wall paintings. There are the traditional counter top bar seats as well as tables for large groups. If you are old enough you will feel the nostalgia.

Now for the bowl of noodles. After I went I checked the reviews on the net. They were right down the middle. The concensus was, you either love it or hate it. I hated it. But since some people love it, and everything but the sauce was great, I decided to post it. Like I said, everything else was great. The fat chewy nama white flour noodles are excelent. The egg, not sliced open, but perfect inside. The chyaashuu was succulent, soft, and not quite melt in your mouth but good and in large amount.

Now for the sauce. It is sweet. Be prepared, I wasn’t. Not radically sweet, but the more I ate the more I noticed their was something in their I didn’t find appetizing. It could have been from honey, or fruit, or just sugar. I didn’t ask. Not needless to say I was able to finish the bowl. I gave it 5 out of 10 stars. The minus 5 are for my hate it view, and the plus 5 are the others who are in the love it camp. Including the large crowd that was inside. Consider yourself warned or alerted to its greatness. Which ever side you happen to sit.

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[super-ramen]

Kagari - Ginza

The Rolls Royce of Ramen  かがり

2015/10/17

Nearest 駅 Ginza 銀座

Today’s 日本語 Tamago 卵 Egg

Soup type: Toripaitan

Features: Seasonal Vegetables, Egg, Chicken Chyaashuu

ランキン 10 out of 10 stars

*Secret: If you save some of your soup you can order garlic herb butter and rice to add to your bowl to make a chicken garlic rissoto.

Think ritz, glitz, and glamour when you think of Kagiri in Ginza. If a bowl should ever be Michelin stared it’s this. Chicken bones boiled down to broth perfection. The freshly made noodles have a bit of egg in them with the white flour but not too much. The seasonal vegetables are each perfectly cooked, layered, and displayed. The egg, as you can see, is beyond perfect. The chicken Chyaashuu is suculent and juicy. 

Now for the bad. He does have another pork broth soup, so I ordered the extra pork Chyaashuu. It however, was tough and dry. So I wouldn’t recommend the pork broth your first time in. That in mind, almost everyone in the 2 hour line streching halfway around the block was here for the toripaitan. With only eight seats, be prepared to wait at least an hour on weekdays as well.

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[super-ramen]

Basso Drill Man - Ikebukuro

For the high class construction worker ＢＡＳＳＯ　ドリルマーン

2014/09/28

Nearest 駅 Ikebukuro 池袋

Today’s 日本語 Futomen 太麺 Thick fat noodles

Soup type: Tsukemen

Features: Bamboo, Nori, Egg, Extra Chyaashuu

ランキン 9 out of 10 stars

It’s tsukemen at its best. Thick fat white flour noodles served outside the soup. You pick, you dip, you slurp and enjoy. The soup has a deep rich flavor from the dashi of konbu, katsuobushi fish flakes, and of course the boiled down pork broth. In the soup hides the first set of chaashuu, which melts in your mouth. 

The second round (which costs extra but is worth it) is first boiled and then painstakingly bbq’ed per order on a small Japanese style charcoal grill. One man turns your meat with chop sticks until it has the right char and smokey arroma and flavor - and it too melts in your mouth.

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[super-ramen]

Bassanova - Shindaita

Godzilla in a bowl 

2015/05/02

Nearest 駅 Shindaita 新代田 

Today’s 日本語 Chaashuu チヤーシュー  Thin slices of meat on top of a bowl of ramen

Soup type: Ramen

Features: Green Onions, Egg, Chiken Chyaashuu, Shredded Chili Flakes

ランキン 7 out of 10 stars

*Secret: For 100￥ more you can get a pile of chopped coriander to really kick box in the Thai.

People come here for the legendary green monster in a bowl. It’s Thai, it’s curry, and like I said it’s green. Get yourself to Shindaita station, Tokyo and go out the gate and turn right. About a block down on the lefthand side you will see it. 

The soup is thick and with the perfect amount of spice. The noodles are white flour, fresh and fat. The chicken chashuu is bbq’ed and isn’t a game changer but still good. The egg was soft and runny inside but not sliced open and displayed. The only bummer about this bowl. This bowl will put you back in Phuket in no time at all.

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