Gantetsu

Time for my next shop in Tokyo! This time I visited Gantetsu in Waseda and got the Niku Shoyu.

東京の次のラーメン！今回巌哲に行って、肉醤油にしました。

The Bowl
Do something simple, but do it right. This was a good clean shoyu, with some light fish undertones. The noodles were square and slurpable, with a great bite. The chashu didn't do anything special, but it fit the bowl just fine.

シンプルのラーメンは上手に作ると最高ですね。あっさりとしたよくできた醤油で、ちょっとした魚介系の味がしました。麺はしかくて、歯ごたえがよかったです。チャーシューはよく見るタイプなんですけど、ラーメンの相性が良かったです。

Would I Go Again?


Should You Go?


Information
ラーメン 巌哲

Otsukaya

A couple of years ago, one of my favorite shops in Tokyo closed. Kururi was a great miso shop, with thick noodles and an even thicker broth. Luckily, though, shortly thereafter it reopened only in its original location as spicy miso ramen sho Otsukaya. I ordered the standard spicy miso ramen.

この前に大好きな東京にある店が閉店しました。くるりという味噌専門店の麺が太くて、スープはドロドロとしました。運が良くて、閉店してから本店の場所で辛い味噌専門店「大塚家」という店で開店しました。辛味噌ラーメンにしました。

The Bowl
Sure enough, Otsukaya is not too far from the original. It was a spicy red sauce covered in red pepper flakes and onions. One by one I fished the fat, short noodles out, enjoying the hot broth until I was full. The chashu came in fat cubes, also absorbing the spicy soup.

大塚家の味は本店のとそんなに離れていません。辛い赤いソースみたいで、唐辛子フレークとネギがたっぷり乗っていました。お腹がいっぱいまでに太い麺をどんどん釣りました。辛いスープに沈殿したチャーシューも美味しかったです。

Would I Go Again?
Yes. I can't say I like it quite as much as the more standard Kururi, but I would like to go back.

くるりとやっぱりちょっと違いますけど、また行きたいです。

Should You Go?
Yes.

はい。

Information
大塚屋

Sugoi Niboshi Ramen Nagi

On another December trip to Tokyo, it was only right that at some point I had a drunken bowl of ramen. I was drinking in the Golden Gai, which meant that bowl was Nagi, one I've had before and hope to have again, but have never blogged about. Without the dexterity required to take notes, I entered and ordered the sardine ramen.

１２月の東京の旅行に酔っ払いラーメンを食べることになっちゃいました。ゴールデン街にいたので、噂の凪に行きました。何回も行ったことありますけど、なぜかブログにまだアップしていません。メモを取るやる気がなくても入ってみました。

The Bowl
For a bowl in the middle of a bar district, Nagi does not deserve to be as good as it is. It does not hold back on the sardine, but it keeps everything else in check: the salt, the oil, the fat. The fat, curly noodles, too, are perfect even though the soup isn't as thick as you'd normally expect to match. Piles of negi and nice spice finish off the bowl that's just as good sober as it is drunk.

バー街のど真ん中なのにちゃんとした美味しいラーメン屋さんでビックルします。煮干し味がすごく強いですけど、「やりすぎ」という感じが全くしません。麺は太くて縮れています。もっととろみがあるスープと合いそうですけど、煮干しスープとバッチリです。ネギと辛いソースもうまくて、このラーメンは素面でも酔っ払いでも最高です。

Would I Go Again?
Yes.

はい。

Should You Go?
Yes.

はい。

Information
すごい煮干ラーメン凪

Yatai Ramen Takaryu

To finish out my trip to Tokyo, I wanted to stop at one last classic ramen shop. I tried to go with friends to Kururi in Iidabashi. The line was super long, so we gave up and went to the one in Takadanobaba. That one was also too busy, so we were in a rush to find a shop that we could stop in and I could still make my shinkansen back to Osaka. We ended up at another shop I went to when I first lived in Tokyo, chicken ramen shop Yatai Ramen Takaryu.

東京の旅行の最後の日にもう一回美味しいラーメン屋さんに行ってみたかったです。飯田橋のくるりに行こうとしましたけど、列がすごかったです。高田馬場支店に挑戦してみましたけど、同じようでした。新幹線に乗らないとだめだったので、もっと入りやすいラーメン屋さんを探しました。東京に住んでいたときに一回行った鶏専門店「屋台らーめん鷹流」に行きました。

The Bowl
Takaryu's ramen was a clear chicken shio. It was salty with some rough edges provided by the fried garlic mixed in. More than a normal bowl of ramen, it tasted like Vietnamese pho ga. The noodles were thin and slurpable, but they too were on the salty side. Of the toppings the bamboo was the most interesting; it was sweet with a nice crunch.

鷹流のスープは透き通った鶏塩でした。塩辛かったですけど、揚げニンニクでちょっとバランスがとれました。普通ラーメンよりベトナム風フォーガーの味に似ていました。麺は細くて、スルッとしました。トッピングの中に特に気になったのが竹でした。甘味がすっきりとして、サクサクでした。

Would I Go Again?
There are too many shops in Tokyo; I don't see myself making it here again.

東京に店が非常に多いので、また行く機会がなさそうです。

Should You Go?
If you're in Takadanobaba looking for shio, it's a solid spot.

高田馬場の塩ラーメンを食べたければ、お勧めします。

Information
屋台らーめん 鷹流

Menya Sho no Gotsubo

Continuing my trip to Tokyo, on one night I ended up meeting a friend by Shinjuku Gyoenmae. It was after I got back from Yokohama, and I needed some dinner. In Osaka I now have the problem of occasionally running out of new ramen shops at certain stations, but not in Tokyo. Some checks of my favorite ramen blogs and I found Menya Sho no Gotsubo. Gotsubo makes "veggie tsukemen", which means tsukemen that features vegetables - vegetarians beware: there is meat in the broth. In particular, the choices are shrimp tomato or chicken ginger, the latter of which I chose.

東京の旅行を引き続いて、新宿御苑前で友達と会いました。横浜から来て、お腹が空いていました。大阪によく行く駅の周りに行ったことがないラーメン屋さんがない場合がありますけど、東京はそうでもないです。いろいろなブログをチェックして、「麺や 庄の gotsubo」が見つかりました。gotsuboの名物はベジつけ麺。ベジタリアンに残念ですけど、結局スープに肉と魚が入っていす。海老とまとと鶏生姜のがあって、後者にしました。

The Bowl
The plate was laden with a colorful garden, all meant to be sampled with the chicken ginger dip. The broth itself was a thick and creamy potage. It overpowered the vegetables at first, but as the flavors of the vegetables were mixed in, it balanced to a nice, mild medium. I particularly enjoyed the light and crispy pieces: potato and lotus root chips, and watery but crunchy radish. A bit in the direction of more normal toppings were a juicy bit of pork, and an egg that tasted slightly of ume. A wild experiment combining a heavy tsukemen with a panoply of vegetables, and a successful one at that.

お皿の上に庭みたいな野菜の盛りが乗っていました。スープはこってり系のトロ〜としたポタージュでした。最初に濃くて野菜の味があまりしませんでしたけど、だんだんスープに野菜をつけたらマイルドな感じになってきました。特にさっぱり野菜が好きでした。サクサクとしたポテトとレンコンのチップとシャキシャキの大根が好みでした。普通的なトッピングもありました。ちょびっとの焼いたチャーシューと梅のちょっと味した玉子も置いてありました。かなり変わっているつけ麺でしたけど、めっちゃうまかったです

Would I Go Again?
Yes.

また行きたいです。

Should You Go?
Yes.

行ったほうがいいです。

Information
麺や 庄の gotsubo

Kururi

A three day weekend means it's time for a trip, and this time, a trip to Tokyo.  A trip to Tokyo means Tokyo ramen.  Last year when I visited Tokyo, I used it as an opportunity to try ramen shops I hadn't had a chance to go to when I lived there.  This time so much time has passed that I've used it as a chance to revisit shops I thought were great, and see if they hold up.

Kururi is a famous miso ramen shop near Iidabashi.  I had been to the main shop and the Takadanobaba branch when I lived in Tokyo, and both were amazing.  Kururi stood tall as one of my favorite ramen shops in all of Tokyo.  How would it fare on another visit?

Information
くるり
4-13-10 Takadanobaba

The Bowl
Just as amazing as I remember!  The broth was a thick, hot, rich miso that is almost more like a sauce than a soup.  I remember when I first came here I was a little put off by the fact that the soup was so thick that it could barely be drank, but it's so good that it didn't matter in the end.  The noodles were fat, similar to the kind you would expect to see in a thick tsukemen.  The chashu slices were super tender and pretty tasty.

Would I Go Again?
My time in Tokyo is limited, but this place is so good that I hope I can go back.

Should You Go?
Yes.