Ippudo Noodle Express, Tokyo Soramachi

赤丸豚骨ラーメン - Tonkotsu Ramen

    Weaving through the crowds over at Tokyo Sky Tree on a Saturday evening can be fun, but the chances are you'll be waiting outside for a while if you want to go to a restaurant. Luckily there is also a food court inside the Soramachi building that is separate from the restaurant floor and home to Ippudo Noodle Express.
    As you can imagine,  there is very little waiting time here. They obviously have a simplified menu and can just keep churning the bowls out, although the easier menu didn't prevent the staff from messing up our order. This meant we waited about 2 minutes... Not too bad.

     The akamaru tonkotsu ramen here is actually quite different to the regular branches. It had a little less punch than the ordinary Ippudo and quite a bit more abura floating around the top of the soup. No problems getting to the end of it though.

   You can't expect a lot from a food court and this ramen probably exceeded those expectations, but I would much prefer to wait the extra five minutes.

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Ippudo Homepage

ラーメン凪 煮干王 - Nagi, Shibuya

味玉煮干しラーメン- Niboshi Ramen with Egg

     I'm well aware that I have reviewed the Golden Gai branch of Nagi, but being one of my favourites I couldn't help visiting the Shibuya branch after hearing about it. It opened in February so I can't say I was completely on top things but got there eventually. Like the Shinjuku store it's a pretty overpowering smell of niboshi but not enough to keep the customers away... We arrived just as they opened on a Sunday evening but by 10 past 5 all the seats were full. Almost as tempting as the ramen itself was this button...

    It was a long wait for the ramen with this, but once it arrived my mind was quickly back to business.

   And the obligatory close(r)-up.

   So it's basically the same as the other branch but seems to be presented a little differently with a dollop of some special sauce on the chashu. It also includes the signature ittanmomen (いったんも麺) which is a very flat, wide noodle. Not the easiest to slurp... 

    Finished. But this bowl will leave you thirsty for the next few hours.

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Nagi Homepage

Japanese Soba Noodles 蔦 - Tsuta, Sugamo

味玉醤油そば - Shouyu Ramen with Egg, ￥850

    With the weather starting to cool down the ramen magazines are back on the shelf introducing all of the new shops and some of the old, and Tsuta is the store taking home all of the accolades after opening in January 2012. The master's father once owned a famous ramen shop and despite his son's best efforts to not follow in his footsteps, after a stint in the corporate world, he returned to the ramen world. It was also a return of sorts for me having lived in this area a few years ago.

    With a pretty wide variety on the menu (including a red chili and tomato ramen) it can be a hard decision to make, but I went with shouyu ramen. I think it is a pretty good barometer as it can vary quite a lot, as opposed to miso ramen which is always good. Anyway, a pretty simple looking bowl can hide lots of things and this was no exception with the standout being the noodles which are made in-house. They had a very natural taste and seemed quite similar to soba. Could be something in the name after all...

   A nice bowl and definitely worth checking out if you're in the area. It's another shop following the recent trend of 'posh' ramen, but there is nothing wrong with that at all.

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Tsuta Homepage

三田製麺所 - Mita Seimen, Shimbashi

つけ麺 - Tsukemen ￥700 (plus toppings)

     Friday night in Shimbashi is usually just a sea of white shirts wandering around trying to find a place to eat and drink, and this particular evening was no different as we made our way to Mita Seimen, a reasonably well-known chain around Toyko. These guys have done away with a ticket machine but everything else is standard ramen, well, besides the basement seating. It's almost semi-Izakaya.

   The menu wasn't very descriptive and the tsukemen didn't seem to have (m)any toppings so we decided to go with recommended chashu, menma and egg side dish... Too much for one photograph...

    As it turns out, there was plenty of stuff hiding under the surface of the soup. I guess pork bone soup isn't that transparent after all. To be honest I was pretty pleased with Mita Senmai, the soup was very solid, the noodles chewy and sticky and I didn't leave with a feeling of regret. Not bad. Although I do remember the soup wari being pretty average.

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Mita Seimen Homepage

ソラノイロ - Sora no Iro, Kojimachi

特製ベジソバ - Special Veggie Soba

    Since opening in June 2011, Sora no Iro has been one of the most hyped shops in Tokyo with some hailing it as the best new store of the year. Having a master that graduated from the famous Ippudo certainly doesn't hurt either... Anyway, it was probably about time I visited.

    With a bright and lively atmosphere inside and bottles of alcohol on the counter it almost a resembles a small Izakaya where you can stay and have a chat, but the jar of rubber bands on the table to help customers keep their hair out of their food suggest that people are here for serious eating business.

      Although I visited during the Olympics while they had a special 'Olympic' tsukemen, I went for the Veggie Soba which I had been craving for 12 months... Don't let the name fool you though - The Veggie Soba is as vegetarian friendly as your regular bowl of ramen.

    See?

    But that's not so say that there aren't a lot of interesting and different vegetables here. I can safely say that this was the first time I have had broccoli and capsicum in a bowl of ramen (definitely the first time together). The soup has a home-cooked vibe to it that wouldn't be out of place on a cold winter day while the noodles are wider and flatter than normal.

   A thoroughly enjoyable bowl and I'm glad I made the trip, but I ended up leaving thinking that I probably won't be back if I'm craving ramen. As much as I love the fact that you can add anything to it and call it ramen this seems a little too far. I did savour the experience though...

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麺や 七彩 - Shichisai, Tokyo Ramen Street

喜多方ラーメン - Kitakata Ramen

     Another visit to Tokyo Ramen Street that again happened by chance so why not, eh? This time to Shichisai which is a pretty popular store - particularly for it's chashu... Although the hype does semm to have died down a little and on a busy Sunday afternoon was one of the least crowded stores in the strip.

    They had a pretty large variety of different soups and I went for the Kitakata ramen. The first time I had this style of ramen was actually in Kitakata in Fukushima prefecture, but that was before my ramen nerd-dom had really kicked in so I can't remember much about it. I do remember liking it though... This one seemed pretty good too.

   And the obligatory chashu close-up.

   The most distinguishable feature of Kitakata ramen is the noodles which are flat and curly. They also tend to be pretty chewy... and delicious.

   I was pretty impressed with Shichisai. The soup was quite simple which suits this style of ramen and the chashu was, as expected, right up there with the best - very tender. Would I go there again? Probably...

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Tokyo Ramen Street Homepage

麺屋武蔵 虎嘯 - Musashi Koshou, Roppongi

味玉つけ麺 - Tsukemen with Egg


     If you think the name looks familiar then it probably does - This is the third shop from the Musashi family that I have visitied. Although these visits are more of a coincidence than a desire to search them out specifically. This one was just stumbled across when looking for something anything to eat for lunch. Despite carrying the same, in my experience each Musashi differs greatly from the others. The do each seem to have a theme though. This one is tigers.

     Being right in the heart of Roppongi you would expect Koshou to cater to the clubbing crowd, but since it closes up at 10pm you might have to stop by before you hit the tiles. (If that's what you're into.) It did seem to have a healthy stream of people coming through and the ticket machine ranks high for ease of use. It has pictures on the buttons!

    The tsukemen itself was pretty good. A shoyu soup that was quite refreshing in the warmer weather and noodles similar to the store in Ueno. Albeit a little more natural tasting... The soup wari was also very refreshing and a nice way to finish it off. Although it did cause another sighting of the tiger...

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Musashi Kosho Homepage