SHIN Tammachi

If last week was the height in sophistication at Ginza, this week was the height of comfort in Tammachi. Though this area is small, it packs a punch with 4 shops in the top 5000 across Japan according to Tabelog. Well now I have eaten at 3 of them! A few doors down from Ramen Stars, SHIN was the shop I wanted to visit, but was out of what I wanted, and I wanted their famous fried chicken ramen. Their shop also has a tantanmen and a menu constantly changing with new specials. I over heard some regulars talking about a keema curry mazesoba that was supposed to be unveiled this weekend. It seems that SHIN is a local favorite and right before they reopened for dinner there was a line.

I ordered fried chicken ramen and took a seat. Because SHIN makes everything to order there is about a 10 minute wait. Fortunately there is a lot to look at like red and black accessories, framed thank you notes from customers, and a busy chef in their open kitchen.

Watching the preperation of ramen is almost as good as eating it! At SHIN their shoyu consists of oil, shoyu, and stock all made to order with huge hunks of fried chicken or chashu if you want to go that way. The secret to their stock is freshly peeled yuzu, which I noticed being added with the other key ingredients. After watching and waiting I was served:

Freshly fried chicken, an egg, menma, a buried peice of naruto, green onions, and yuzu topped the bowl at SHIN. The cook on their chicken is fantastic, crispy and juicy with well seasoned breading slightly melting into the  base. Their egg was cold, but pre sliced and delicous. Standing out was their stock, highlighted with yuzu to give it a bump of suprising citrus. Their noodles, which I believe to be home made, are a flawless firmness. You can't compare SHIN with Ramen Dream because SHIN is a completely different animal. They are both fantastic and better than Ramen Stars. If pressed to choose I might return to SHIN to check out their ever changing specials. 5/5

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