BASSANOVA (Tokyo, Setagaya-ku)

BASSANOVA
ばさのば

Green curry ramen: 18 / 20
(グリーンカレーソバ)

Tonkotsu-gyokai ramen: 17 / 20
(豚濁ソバ)

BASSANOVA is something of a fame among ramen lovers, as this is the place where Keizo from 'Go Ramen!' has been working for some time. I had been in BASSANOVA during my one-month stay in Tokyo, and it was my firm intention to come back there to try their green cury ramen. Thus, a visit at Shimokitazawa was the perfect occasion to complete my discovery of this great ramen shop. I ordered the green curry ramen:

Broth: A very smooth and creamy, quite spicy green curry broth. Divine.

Noodles: Curly, katame in a curious way - not really elastic, they break into small pieces when you bite them. It’s an interesting change though.

Meat: A couple of marinated chicken pieces, quite good, with a very pleasantly flavored skin.

Toppings: Some negi and hot chili, and probably the longest menma I’ve ever seen - a kind of small, branching menma tree!
 
My friend had the tonkotsu gyokai ramen (the top left choice on the machine, as I remember):

Broth: A mix of fish and pork, quite good, thinner than - and overall quite different from - the classical tonkotsu gyokai you would find out there.

Noodles: Typical tonkotsu-style noodles, thin and long, they become quickly too soft for my taste though.

Meat: A delightful slice of chashu, braised, with some crunchy fat - so not melting, but excellent though.

Toppings: The menma, crunchy and mild, were also quite different from the one you can find in the green curry ramen.

Both bowls were excellent, but my personal preference goes to the green curry - I’m partial to Thai food, so having it skillfully adapted to ramen was a great experience (even if the chashu in my friend's bowl was a bit more to my taste than the chicken meat of the green curry ramen). This is a much better experience than any curry ramen I've ever tried (I’m not a big fan of japanese curry, I must say). Interestingly, the green curry broth has the same base as the tonkotsu gyokai broth, with some added nampura (fermented fish) sauce - and, obviously, green curry paste. The cook was extremely friendly and I appreciated that he took so much time to answer my questions.

At just one station from the hip area of Shimokitazawa, it would be a mistake not to run there. Another one on my Tokyo's top 10!

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Go Ramen!, Ramen Adventures, Etaku.

Ivan Ramen Plus (Tokyo, Setagaya-ku) (CLOSED)

アイバンラーメンPlus (Ivan Ramen Plus)
あいばんらーめんぷらす

Cheese mazesoba: 14 / 20
(I recommend to avoid the 全部のせ version, see below)

If you are at least slightly into ramen, you have probably heard about Ivan, the famous first gaijin-ramen-master. I had tried his now-classical shio ramen at his first restaurant, Ivan ramen in Rokakoen, but was not really convinced - it was good, but nothing really remarkable. I wanted to explore more the extent of what he is doing though, and once I was visiting Shimokitazawa, I pushed a few stations further west to go to Ivan ramen plus, his elegant second restaurant. They specialize in many dises, including a cheese mazesoba and a shio ramen. As a big fan of mazesoba, I had to try this one.

Sauce and egg: A good sauce including four different kinds of melting cheeses - mix it with the egg, and you really get some kind of carbonara sauce with a japanese twist.

Noodle: Linguine-shaped, to enhance the italian feel.

Meat: Unfortunately, because of my poor nihon-go skills, I did not understand that 全部のせ meant ‘a bit more of everything’ (I thought it was ‘with all toppings’, and I didn't want to miss any kind of topping), so I ended up with three thick and large pork slices. Way too much, especially given that the meat, though not bad, was nothing exceptional - and too fat for my taste.

Toppings: Some cold bean sprouts which brought a really pleasant fresh touch to the whole dish - I would have enjoyed more of them!

So yeah, it was good, but not up to the hype I heard around it - pretty much like the shio ramen in the mother shop. Maybe it would be a more exotic experience for someone who’s not used to eat carbonara spaghetti. Anyway, it is a good restaurant for sure, so if you are in the area, it’s worth checking.

Now, I have a concern, that would hold for many ramen shops, but that I am going to explain here. Ivan is apparently committed to make healthier ramen dishes, reducing salt content, etc. As someone who wants to enjoy the diversity of ramen taste but is still a little bit concerned about his own health, I applaud those efforts! But then, why does he put prominently, on the ramen machine, the 'mazesoba 全部のせ' rather than the regular version of the mazesoba, which is certainly much healthier, with less meat included? (it is well known that most of us eat much too much meat for a good health, especially if you are a ramen lover like me!) Given the modest difference in price (1030 yen versus 830 yen), I doubt that Ivan makes any substantial money on selling the 全部のせ version rather than the regular one. It is also well documented by cognitive psychology that people are heavily influenced by default choices - and as it happens, in a ramen shop, the default choice is the top left, as it is generally the shop’s recommendation. So if Ivan is concerned about serving healthy food, then I would recommend him to put the regular mazesoba on the top left, and the 'mazesoba 全部のせ' just below. He would prevent a few premature deaths (statistically) by doing so, those who crave massive amount of meat could still order the 全部のせ version, and for people who chose the default, their pleasure in eating his dishes would not be decreased (generally, the less you have in your plate, the more you concentrate on enjoying what you have). My two cents.

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews at: Ramen Adventures, Ramen Tokyo, Like a fish in water, I am gourmand, Go Ramen, Japan Stripes.