AFURI 中目黒 (Nakameguro)

I have walked by AFURI quite a few times during visits to Nakameguro, a popular area for strolling and shopping. Maybe I'm really an old man inside, because the ramen shops that I enjoy are usually small, slightly crowded and full of old men and/or teenage boys. AFURI is anything but that. It is clean, modern, and as its sign boasts "fine ramen":

AFURI is adorned with bare bulbs and an expansive natural wood counter encloses a spotless stainless steel kitchen. This is the kind of place that looks like it belongs in Manhattan, or somewhere that isn't exactly Tokyo. As I have learned, this kind of shop attracts a more varied clientele and I observed fashionable young ladies as well as mother and son. Your general salary man ramen shop this is not. However, this atmosphere encouraged me to use my new camera and try interesting angles to capture their ramen in all of its beauty:

Beautiful right? Of course beauty does not make the bowl. I ordered the yuzu ramen. For those unfamiliar yuzu is a citrus fruit popular in Japan that has a sweeter lemon taste. It is really lovely.
The yuzu was the real standout of this bowl, elevating a simple, light base. Apparently this is their signature dish and have been doing it from their flagship in Ebisu for over 10 years. AFURI uses a nice grainy tonkotsu style noodle and I was excited to see some mizuna (a japanese mustard green) as a topping. Delicate as it was I should not have been surprised that there was only one half of an egg and a very thin slice of chashu. I can understand aesthetic, but I think this was all just far too delicate for me! Despite the hip atmosphere and great yuzu taste I'll have to give AFURI a 4/5. There was just something lacking that I can't put my finger on. Maybe I truly am an old man, more comfortable in a back alley shop than anywhere else!

Links to the tabelog, Time Out Tokyo's review of their flagship in Ebisu, and a map to their shop in Nakameguro!

太陽のトマト麺Next サンシャインシティ (Taiyo Tomatomen Sunshine City)

Along with Japan's myriad of ramen shops are its malls. Yes, I said malls. It seems as if every station of substance has a mall attached to it or near it and the larger the station the more malls it has to offer. Ikebukuro is no exception. Many people say that Ikebukuro is kind of like an undervitsited area of Tokyo, but it is also known as female otaku hotspot, and hosts one of my all-time favorite malls, Sunshine City, which houses two sections of mazelike shopping adventures. Recently a friend of mine wanted to check out Taiyo Tomatomen in Sunshine City. Tomato...men? I had no idea what that meant because most traditional ramen is made with meat stock. My curiosity piqued, I went with my friend to Taiyo Tomatomen before shopping at some of my favorite places in Sunshine city. Taiyo Tomatomen is a boutique ramen chain. There aren't many if any salarymen hunched over on stools to slurp ramen here:

Despite the decoration cans of tomatoes and wine bottles in a wooden crate, the prices remained standard. With a set you can choose one out of six kinds of ramen (one of them being pesto), and if you so desire you may also add gyoza and rice. I decided on the cheese tomatomen with a full set of gyoza and rice. We ordered from the laminated menu outside of a fairly busy lunch rush. Once seated in a comfortable diner like booth I noticed that this was indeed, no ordinary ramen shop. There were families and teenage girls along with people on dates. Boutique for sure! The perks of such a place are excellent customer service, and a whole pitcher of delicious jasmine tea.



I think part of the appeal of this kind of shop is also that the stock and ingredients are considered healthier. The stock is a tomato and chicken stock, and it is also served with chicken instead of pork. I think the clientele also reflect Sunshine City's normal patrons.

We didn't have to wait long for our ramen to be served and I was excited to have a new flavor of ramen:

The closest thing I can compare this to is chicken cacciatore with wavy capellini noodles (if there are such a thing). That's not bad, but the flavor profile screams Italian. The cheese also melted really quickly, so it wasn't easy to evenly distribute it. I kind of wished there had been some oregano and red pepper flakes on the table. Overall I think that this was very tasty, but very strange. I am still not sure what to make of it. Taiyo Tomatomen is really good for a date before or after shopping at Sunshine City, but it might make you crave Italian food! Overall a 3.5/5 because of my confused taste buds and the sticky cheese.

This is a chain and all of their shops can be found on their official site! Here's the map!!

つけめん あびすけ 日吉店 (Tsukemen Abisuke Hiyoshi)

This is rated as the number one ramen place in Hiyoshi according to Tabelog, but before I knew that a friend of mine suggested going there. Going in I had no idea what to expect. My friend had described a tsukemen place where you cook your own soup and one of the options was curry. It was a curious description so before I had to run to my アルバイト last week I decided to check it out. This was a strategic move because Abisuke is usually packed when I walk by. The machine had many options, but I decided that I wanted to try the black sesame and I added an egg from the extra toppings available.

I took my seat and the only staff member working seemed a little annoyed at trying to explain what I should do with the hotplate in front of me. I assured him I was ok in the best Japanese that I could muster and turned on my hotplate when he brought my soup out. Initially I was not impressed by the cold soup, but as it cooked I was getting more interested. Stirring the bubbling soup I noted that the white chunks on top dissolved. I beleive they were corn starch because as they melted the soup became more viscous. Then my noodles arrived. They looked way more like udon than any tsukemen I have ever seen, but because of their thickness they held the soup quite well:

The black sesame had a nice salty flavor and, after adding pepper flakes, a desired level of spice. It was a very rich taste, wtih a texture you might expect from ground black sesame. Because of the thickness it was perfect for tsukemen, as it would have been way too heavy for any kind of "normal" ramen. What impressed me most was the egg! WOW! It was perfectly preseasoned and soft boiled, so the yolk ran out after I busted it open. They are probably able to keep them cold too because of the way the soup is served and individually cooked. INGENIOUS! Abisuke's pork wasn't all that impressive and I felt they could have done more with it. It was just a thick slab of meat swimming in the soup. They have a point card system and I plan on coming back to try the curry flavor. Overall because of the unimpressive pork and sort of unfriendly staff (I want to go back when it's more busy because this is based on only one guy helping me) Abisuke of Hiyoshi gets 4/5. There are other locations as well in Shinjuku, Sumiyoshi, and Higashiyamata. 

Links to tabelog, their official site, and a map!