Ramen Adventures

麺篠居士 (Menjo Kyoshi in Fujimidai)

2012-05-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

源烹輪麺篠居士

This shop was on the wish list for ages. Fujimidai is a bit off-center though, and the one day a week that I am out there is this shop's day off, according to the internet. Curse these Wednesdays!

But the internet is not to be trusted! They open at 11:30am on Wednesdays. Perfect to grab a quick bowl before my lesson at noon

Menjo Kyoshi is full on Chinese. Despite the sign for tantanmen, they have an extensive menu of other dishes. Things like spicy stir fried beef, lobster with sweet chili sauce, and king crab fried rice will have to wait until another day.

The tantanmen is fantastic, having a bit more one-dimensional heat than Japanese-run tantanmen spots, which tend to break the spice with some sort of creamy. Menjo Kyoshi bills itself as Chinese home cooking, using more expensive ingredients and unique methods from the home country to single itself out. The worker's Cantonese chatting from the kitchen is a nice touch.

The anindofu is a solid block of texture and flavor. If you go for this, and you probably should, skip throwing a bowl of rice into the left over tantanmen soup. That was a lot of food.

Speaking of a lot of food, they have a 3000 yen course menu, including what looked like about 8 or 9 dishes.

Official Site Here

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東京都練馬区貫井3-16-11
Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Nukui 3-16-11
Closest station: Fujimidai

Open 11:30-15:00, 17:00-23:30

世界の龍ちゃんよしき坊 (Ryuchan in Daitabashi)

2012-05-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

世界の龍ちゃんよしき坊

Local streets with some sort of theme are scattered throughout Japan. Sometimes, it's just an excuse to create a cute mascot, like Koenji's Monkey Street. Often, it is just meant to draw the right crowd, like Shinjuku's Drunkard Alley. Other times, it is a tribute to a location, like Daitabashi's Okinawa Road.

Obviously there are some Okinawan restaurants there.

世界の龍ちゃんよしき坊, aka Seikai no Ryuchan Yoshikibo, aka The World's Math Equation Monk Ryu-chan (?), from now on referred to simple as Jake-san's place, is a local hangout of Keizo from GoRamen. The place is eclectic to say the least. The counter in the above poorly-shot photo is actually a salt water aquarium. Look for Nemo in there.

And behind the counter?

A secret pull-out piano. Jake-san wasn't in the mood to play a tune, but he conveniently had a video of one of his TV appearances ready to show.

More randomness, Jake-san races souped-up Corvettes on the side.

A full selection of Okinawan beer is available. The Goya brew was the winner.

How's the ramen? Apparently, "It's a Bomb !"

Honest ramen. I don't know if I would say It's a Bomb!, but it is definitely the the exclamation mark at the end of that sentence.

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東京都杉並区和泉1-3-16
Tokyo, Suginami-ku, Izumi 1-3-16
Closest station: Daitabashi

Open 12:00-14:30, 17:00-23:00

GACHI in Shinjuku

2012-05-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

GACHI

There's only one kind of adventure to be had in Shinjuku's famed Ni-Chome!

Delicious tsukemen . . . what were you thinking?

MJ knows what I'm talking about!

Fitting with the Ni-Chome theme, gachi is a hangover killer. Eat a bowl of this after drinking, and your body will be too concerned with processing all this fat to worry about the alcohol.

If you didn't know, Ni-Chome is the famed center of gay nightlife in Tokyo. According to some accounts, it has the highest concentration of gay bars per square meter in the world. It is also one of the cheapest places to drink in Tokyo. Many of the street-side bars offer all-you-can-drink deals for about the price of a bowl of ramen.

A bowl at Gachi is the perfect post-binge meal.

Yes, that is a bowl-sized piece of fried chicken. Very greasy, very juicy. My soberness on this occasion was a crutch, and it took some time to get that thing down.

Some nice free options to add to your bowl as well. Smile!

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東京都新宿区新宿2-17-10
Tokyo, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 2-17-10
Closest station: Shinjuku Sanchome

Open 11:00-23:00
Closed Tuesday

嵐風 (Arakaze in Nakano)

2012-05-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

牛薫る麺処嵐風

After the failed attempt to find Arakaze the night before, I went home, did some research, and marked up my Tokyo street atlas. No chance of failure this time!

(the sign is from our first foray into the wild depths of Nakano)

Arakaze is a production of Hototogisu in Hatagaya, another winning shop on the West Side. The bar was set high for this one.

The bowls here are all made with beef bones and beef toppings. If it reminds you of the recent best-of shop Matador, that's because it is quite similar. Matador-light if you will.

An excellent bowl, and much closer than far-off Kita Senju, but it doesn't shine quite like the beef at Matador.

There was, apparently, a beef ramen boom a few years back. This might have only been one magazine's attempt at scooping the competition, though. Regardless, it looks like the trend was called well before it hit.

The called-trends for this year have been along the lines of super-thick with massive amounts of meat topping. Expect that in 2013.

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東京都中野区新井5-9-8
Tokyo, Nakano-ku, Arai 5-9-8
Closest station: Araiyakushimai

Open 11:30-14:30, 18:00-21:00
Friday and Saturday 11:30-14:30, 19:00-25:00
Sunday 11:30-100 bowls are served

長浜食堂 (Nagahamashokudo in Nakano)

2012-05-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

博多餃子房長浜食堂

After some chicken sashimi (and a few beers), we went to a local soba place for soba and tempura (and a few glasses of choice sake). This is a typical business meeting for people working in the food field. Also typical, we decided to get some ramen after. But alas, our slow pace got us there too late, and the hot new shop we wanted to check out was closed. I filed it's location away for another day.

The next day, actually. I usually possess an African bushman's directional memory, but this time, the only shop at my mental treasure map's X was this tonkotsu chain. Might have something to do with all the beer the night before.

But I gave Nagahama Shokudo a try anyways.

I did, so you don't have to.

'Nuff said.

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東京都中野区新井1丁目2-10
Tokyo, Nakano-ku, Arai 2-10
Closest station: Nakano

Open 11:30-15:00, 17:00-2:00am
Weekends and Holidays 11:30-2:00am