本丸麺 - Honmarumen (Tonkotsu Shoyu), ￥780
Mutekiya is never without a line. Every single time I have walked past there has been at least 3 people waiting. One can only assume that with so many willing to wait that the ramen must be pretty good. This place has been on the list for quite a while but knowing that I was going to have stand outside always put me off. In the end, I just waited for a stormy day to make the wait even more pleasant.
It's pretty much shoulder to shoulder inside, so if people slurping all around you isn't your style, it might not be for you.
Someone will come and take your order outside so it's not just a matter of hitting and hoping on the ticket machine. The good part about this is that they have refined the system to an artform and the ramen arrives almost instantaneously. I opted for the flagship, honmarumen, in favour of the not-so-common kanimiso bowl.
There is a lot to like about this bowl - It offers up some more wonderful Tokyo style tonkotsu, which is often a pleasure to look at as a basic-looking simple bowl and it also has room for the use of nanohana (rape blossom) as an unusual ingredient. It offers a very fresh, healthy contrast to the abura-laden tonkotsu soup. The noodles here were some of the better ones I've had.
You can also find some gyokai powder on the counter if you want to change things up a little and add a fishy flavour to your soup.
Maybe I added too much... Or perhaps it was the amout of seabura floating around the soup. Almost got there though.
I can understand why people are keen to wait outside, but it would certainly depend on the length of the line. Remember, this is Ikebukuro and there are plenty of places where you can slurp away. However, If you are willing to wait...
I loved it - the unbeatable store.
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