Kazuya (Tokyo-to, Meguro-ku)

支那ソバ かづ屋
しなそば かづや
Shinasoba Kazuya

Shirunashi tantanmen: 15 / 20
(汁なし担々麺)

Wontonmen: 15 / 20
(ワンタンメン)

I had to be at Meguro station that evening, and wanted to continue my soupless-ramen comparison before leaving Tokyo. There were not many highly ranked abura soba or mazemen in the area (translate: ‘there were none’), but I could find a well respected restaurant that offered many dishes, including a soupless tantanmen. My friend ordered the specialty of the shop, their wanton ramen. As for me, it had been a while I did not have tantanmen, despite my love of this dish, so I had to try this - interestingly, it came with a side-bowl of broth.

Sauce: A spicy sauce flavored with peanuts and coriander and some spicy, sour laiu.

Noodles: The real letdown of what could have been an awesome bowl: much too soft to my taste (the Chinese influence, I guess).

Meat: As usual, a good and high-quality minced beef meat.

Toppings: There were a few bits of cashew nuts (I guess) sprinkled on the whole thing.

Soup (in the side-bowl): A very good clear broth with a strong niboshi taste.

This bowl had everything to appeal to me: I love tantanmen, I love coriander, I love niboshi broth – so how much could I love the combination of the three? Despite this, those very soft noodles really kind of ruined the harmony – with firmer noodles, it could really have deserved a 17/20. Also, I think that it might be a good idea for the cook to cut the coriander in small bits to infuse more the taste inside the dish (maybe on a side plate for those who don’t like coriander!). But anyway, this is a recommended bowl for sure.

The wantonmen was good too:

Soup: It had a weaker taste of niboshi than the side-bowl of the Shirunashi tantanmen, but it was definitely present.

Meat: A couple of bits of yakibhutan (you know, these chinese-inspired pork slices with a red edge) that did not taste anything special and were therefore quite superfluous.

Toppings: Wonton, obviously, and good ones! With a strong taste of lemongrass. Also, some soft menma with a classical taste.

As the cook explained, both broth are made by a mix of niboshi dashi (I'm not sure if it was the tare, or another soup) and torigara/tonkotsu clear soup that they mix at the last minute. The only difference between the side-bowl of the shirunashi tantanmen and the soup of the wantonmen lies in the mix – there is more niboshi dahshi in the side-bowl, obviously.

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Menya Susuru Ni (Tokyo-to, Meguro-ku)

麺や すする 弐
めんや すする に
Meny Susuru Ni

Abura soba: 15 / 20

This low-key restaurant was conveniently located for me and had abura soba on the menu - which I was in the mood to try more, after trying the solid Abura Gumi the day before. As I arrived there, I discovered that this was not the speciality of the shop, which prides itself for its very spicy ramen and tsukemen. Whatever: abura soba I wanted, abura soba I ordered.

Noodles: Firm and a bit thicker than at Abura Gumi, very good!

Meat: A slice of lean and braised meat, quite good.

Toppings: A raw egg. Some white and green negi. Some hot bean sprout sprinkled by bonito flakes. Some thin slabs of menma, sweetish and mild (they did not have the typical taste of preserved bamboo), quite good I must say. Some dried ramen noodles, like at Junk Garage.

This experience was quite interesting: although basically all ingredients were better individually than at Abura Gumi (especially the noodles!), after mixing everything, I obtained a nice but not so remarkable mix - some ingredients (like the dry ramen) became just undetectable. However, adding the vinegar, some pepper, and especially the spicy home mix, made it much more enjoyable. Interestingly, this seems to be quite low in salt. The whole thing had a less carbonara feel than the day before, and more Asian notes thanks to the spicy mix. Towards the end, the taste of bonito became more concentrated. A good option to try abura soba if you are in the area.

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Menya Sou (Tokyo-to, Meguro-ku)

麺屋宗 -sou- (中目黒店)
めんやそう
Menya Sou

Shio ramen with ajitama: 16 / 20

One month ago, I could try Meny Sou at the Ramen Expo in Bampaku kinen koen in Osaka and had been hugely disappointed. I could not believe that their ramen would be that unremarkable, so on the first occasion I went back to Tokyo, I ran there to try it at one of the real shops. Good idea: it was WAY better.

Broth: A very good shio broth, intense in taste, with clear onion notes (there are actually bits of dried onion in the broth).

Noodles: Slightly curly, neither firm nor soft, they have an interesting texture in mouth - they get soft a bit too quick to my taste though.

Meat: A very good slice of firm, lean braised meat.

Egg: A good egg, with a very well infused white part, slightly sweet, but a bit too soft. The yolk was well cooked, gooey on the liquid side.

Toppings: A long menma with a curious jagged shape, soft and mild - but with a distinctive classical taste, infused with the broth. Some mizuna. You can also help yourself with pepper (I recommend it!) or plum vinegar (I’m less convinced by this one).

Definitely, this had nothing in common with the uninteresting broth I got at the Ramen Expo one month earlier. I really think that ramen events, although fun and sympathetic, are not the best way to discover a good ramen - except maybe for ramen with a powerful broth (my two niboshi ramen there - Katoya and Nagi - were great experiences).

Anyway, this is one of the great ramen of the capital city - I may prefer Mendokoro Ginzasa or Shirohachi, but it follows closeby. As some of the ramen blogs below have pointed, this is better than the more famous AFURI - indeed, way better.

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Other reviews: Ramenate, Ramen Walker, Ramen Adventures (for a limited edition), Ramenislove (limited edition also), Go Ramen!, Ramen Tokyo, Tokyo Family Guy.

AFURI (Tōkyō-to, Meguro-ku)

AFURI(中目黒店)
あふり
AFURI (Nakameguro-ten)

Yuzu shio ramen: 13 / 20 
(ゆず塩麺)

I had been thinking for some time of contacting the two currently most active English-speaking ramen-bloggers in Japan, and I finally put myself to do it, sending emails to Brian from Ramen Adventures and Ben from Friends in Ramen. Both answered me quickly, and my new trip to Tokyo was a good occasion to eat some ramen with Brian. He had plans to go to the new Usagi shokudo, but it was closed on Monday, so we switched to nearby AFURI. I had been there some time ago, but was curious to try it again, in order to complete my current shio experience - although they unfortunately did not have a shio tsukemen (only a shoyu one). I ordered the classical yuzu shio ramen, in its assari, "Tanrei" version (you can also order a thicker "Maroaji" version), and Brian some special winter miso bowl.

Broth: Very simple, and the taste of yuzu, despite being the trademark of the shop, was rather subdued – weaker than at Hirugao!

Noodles: They quickly became too soft.

Chashu: Firm with some tasty fat (which could be more melting though), a good chashu overall.

Egg: Half of an egg with a very soft white and a nicely cooked yolk.

Toppings: The menma were thin, small, crunchy and extremely mild – might they be non-fermented bamboo shoots? The sheet of nori became quickly too soaked. They were also some mizuna, very light in taste.

Maybe I was a bit unlucky with my ramen on this day and the cook missed something in the dosage - in my memory (about eight months ago), it had a stronger yuzu taste. This bowl was not unpleasant but relatively standard, and saved by its relatively good chashu and egg. It would deserve a 14/20 with more yuzu or harder noodles, and a 15/20 with both, but you can find many better choices of shio ramen around Tokyo - like Shunmen Shirohachi, Hyottoko, Mendokoro Ginzasa or Menya Sou (review to come!). Brian's miso ramen was apparently not so tasty.

Anyway, we went to a cafe thereafter and had a great talk about ramen and philosophy - two of my passions in life, it case you didn't get it from the title of this blog. Was good to finally meet Brian, this guy is a real living ramen-encyclopedia!

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Other reviews: Ramen Adventures (new), Ramen Adventures (old), Ramenate, Ramen Love, Chubby Hubby, Gastrolust, Ramen Walker, Tokyo Belly, No Ramen No Life, Eataku, Do you even eat, Ramen Tokyo

Zyurumen Ikeda (Tōkyō-to, Meguro-ku)

づゅる麺 池田
づゅるめんいけだ
Zyurumen Ikeda

Shio tsukemen: 15 / 20
(塩つけ麺)
[Shoyu] tsukemen: 14 / 20
(つけ麺)

My shio tsukemen comparison project brought me to Zyurumen Ikeda in Meguro. I ordered the shio tsukemen with ajitama, my friend the shoyu tsukemen, and we shared three gyozas. While waiting, you can learn from some explanation sheet above the counter that their broth is made of chicken, vegetable, bonito and samma - and they use apparently organic ingredients, in case that matters for you. They also make their own noodles, a different kind for each dish. Here comes the shio tsukemen:

Broth: A cloudy broth with some special taste, thicker than a classical shio broth (although not very thick); it coated very nicely the noodles and made them remarkably slippery - a very interesting consistency. Not the best broth you'll find around but good enough. The soup wari at the end pushed it on the gyokai side, although it was still too concentrated and undrinkable.

Noodles: Kind of tagliatelle-like, flat and curly, very similar to the ones I had the day before at Hirugao.

Meat: Some bits of very regular chicken in the soup.

Egg: Excellent, in a classical way.

Toppings: Some thin and long menma that had a surprisingly mushroom-like softness. Some crunchy cabbage. A small bit of lemon that you can press to add some zing.

The alchemy between the noodles and the broth was remarkable, and for this reason, this ramen must be recommended.

The shoyu tsukemen was a bit less to my taste. The noodles were more spaghetti-like (and cut into pieces! if you're Italian, try not to faint, please...), and the broth sticked less harmoniously to them, but otherwise it had the same chicken, cabbage and final twist with the soup wari. Still good though.

Oh and I'm no expert in gyoza, but I was not especially impressed by their taste, despite their elegance.

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Rakkan (Tokyo, Meguro-ku)

楽観 (武蔵小山店)
らっかん

Palu ramen: 16 / 20

This ramen shop would deserve to be better known. Five minutes away from Musashikoyama station (two stops west from Meguro), it features both a shoyu and shio ramen with evocative names. I chosed the shio - aka 'pale' (palu) - ramen.

Broth: A surprisingly sweet shio broth, sprinkled by many bits of white negi - the harmony with the both was really interesting.

Noodles: Very well cooked, katame noodles.

Meat: A robust, thick, very lean slice of meat. Very tasty, although a little bit of melting fat inside would not have been unpleasant.

Toppings: Thin, very salty menma, with the kind of taste you would find in preserved food. And as I said, an ocean of negi - never seen so much negi in a ramen before!

The restaurant also feature a special version of each ramen, with more meat and an egg, but frankly speaking, the slice of meat was already quite big and more than enough for anyone in a non-suicidal mood. Finally, you can get the oomori (bigger) version for free at lunch - I sticked with the namamori (regular size) though, I eat enough ramen already!

Anyway, it was overall a very original and tasty ramen. I even hesitated to give it a 17, but halfway into the bowl, the strength of ‘neginess’ becomes a bit too pronounced to my taste. However, if you’re a fan of raw onion, then you should not hesitate, run there!

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Other review: Ramen adventures