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

Tabelog, Twitter (check to see their specials!), and a map

銀座 篝 (Kagari Ginza)

Ohhhh Ginza, an upscale shopping district that has it all from Issey Miyake to luxury salmon, is also home to a well written about ramen shop: 銀座 篝 (Kagari Ginza). It has been on my list for quite some time and decided it was time to make a pilgramage. Turn a corner from the glitz and you'll find Kagari indicated by a humble "soba" sign:

I arrived about 10 minutes before they reopen for dinner and there was already a small line. Knowing that there were 8 seats I counted the people in front of me and was relieved to see that I would be in their first group of dinner customers. A man came out in a pointed paper hat to usher us into the small wooded interior of Kagari. The man in the paper hat came around to take our orders. Their menu is both outside and on the table, but I knew what I wanted, chicken shio with an egg. We were each given complimentary toasted onions and fresh grated ginger for toppings as we waited in suspense.

Topped with what others have described as seasonal vegetables, this particular season was asparagus, seaweed, bamboo shoots, and what I believe to be the heart of a cabbage. Before adding anything I tried the base. Pure biddy bliss. Creamy and seductive with just a hint of pepper. I added the toasted onions for texture, but they were not needed. Nothing was needed. Chicken breast roasted to perfection and an egg seasoned well. I even thought the asapragus was good and it is not my first vegetable choice. This bowl perfectly emulates its surroundings of designer handbags and shoes by being a unique and perfect bowl of ramen. 5/5

Map and tabelog 

らぁ麺やまぐち (Ramen Yamaguchi Takadanobaba/Waseda)

This week I was still questing after the top ramen shops listed by Tabelog and I ended up at a shop near Takadanobaba, らぁ麺やまぐち (Ramen Yamaguchi). They have made it to the top a couple years running and of course proudly display their awards. Their minimalistic shop has no condiments and a kitchen tucked away in the back. I actually really enjoy watching ramen chefs at work, so this was a slight disappointment. I managed to sneak a peek from my vantage point:

It seemed to take longer than usual for a simple shio, but out came my bowl complete with 2 slices of chicken, a sparse gathering of baby greens, thinly sliced negi, menma, and an egg:

OK, sometimes I forgive a lack of condiments if the bowl is truly deserving of no alterations, but I would have been happy to add some pepper. What Yamaguchi really has going for it is the base. A bountiful banty flavor that was both complex and light. Thin buckwheat style noodles were slightly overcooked for my liking, but the additional bowl of egg noodles was spot on. However I was unimpressed by the cook on both slices of meat. The white meat had a gummy feel and the other slice lacked any flavor at all. Sadly, the egg was also overcooked. I felt a little disappointed as I finished and wondered how Yamaguchi made it into the top 50 twice. Not my cup of tea, but perhaps someone else's? 3.5/5

Tabelog, their official blog, and a map!

鶏喰 （～TRICK～）(Niwatori Trick Yokohama)

Recently Tabelog (kind of like the Yelp of Japan) announced its top 50 selection of ramen shops. One stood out right away because of an English word: Trick. Was it a trick? What did this mean? There were too many questions for me to answer. On the very next day,m after reading the list, I noticed an instant ramen in the local Family Mart of the same name! Were my eyes playing tricks on me? I hastily bought the instant ramen and thought that it was pretty good. This experience intrigued me. I made my mind up to visit Trick as soon as possible.

Open from 11-2 and then again for dinner at 6, I thought my best bet was to try to go on a weekday during lunch. There was still a line of people waiting outside on a rather chilly February day, but I diligently waited to try Trick's ramen. They have been in the top 50 for a few years and proudly display their awards in the window for the waiting patrons to see:

How exciting! Offering both shio and shoyu flavors with their signature chicken meatball and 3 kinds of meat, Trick is certainly a unique shop. It is also quite small with a hightop counter and one table that was most likely an after thought due to their popularity. I ordered the shio and sat watching chef Noboru Nishigaki work his magic. In fluid movements olive oil was placed in bowls, meatballs and dumplings were transformed into toppings, eggs were cut with string, and just like that it was over. A tall bowl of shio ramen was placed in front of me:

Topped with one slice of red onion, thinly sliced negi, nori, roast beef, pork, chicken, a chicken meatball, a wonton, an egg, and baby greens, Trick's bowl is no joke. It is a bowl bustling with flavors. Is that rosemary on the chicken? Yes. Is there olive oil in the wonton? Yes. Each element brought its own flavor. The noodles were also a standout here.

A light and thin buck wheat cooked on the softer side really held the shio for a satisfying slurp. I confirmed with Chef Noboru Nishigaki that what I had tasted was correct and he was all too happy to answer me. He also complimented me on my slurping skills. Trick serves up a friendly atmosphere and a truly unique bowl of ramen. If you ever find yourself in Kannai take a walk down the road and visit Trick. 5/5 

Twitter, facebook, tabelog, a link to the top 50 Ramen Shops, and as always the map!

鶏そば 三歩一 (Torisoba Sanpoichi)

Takadanobaba (Baba for short) is a ramen hub written about many times on many other ramen blogs, but I still haven't been able to explore the area properly. I was visiting a friend who attends Waseda this week and knew it was my perfect chance to try some of the ramen that Baba had to offer. But where to start?! There are an abundance of shops. However we were quite famished so the closer to the station the better and decided on 鶏そば 三歩一. Ok, so my Japanese, especially kanji reading skills are not the best so the rough translation for 鶏そば 三歩一 is Torisoba Sanpoichi If anyone has a better suggestion please let me know! As we were ordering a friendly staff member asked us if we needed any help. But we said we were OK and took a seat.

After we took our seats we noticed that this shop makes its own noodles. This is impressive, as I have been told that most shops order their noodles directly from companies after specifying the size and shape. It is indeed soba, but a soba that's so fine! The noodles really are a very good delicate buckwheat, techinically soba, but served ramen style. We watched the noodle making process while we waited for our bowls.

I ordered thick cut chicken with negi and green onion toppings as well as a side of egg noodles. I had to wait for my extra egg noodles to arrive, but it was totally worth it because I was able to dump them into my left over stock. I found that they had a richer flavor than the regular noodles and believe them to be the highlight at Chicken Soba. The base was light but not complex and slightly on the bland side, but I did really enjoy their thick chicken slices which were juicy, tender, and plentiful. I added some spice and felt a little more satisfied with the base. They certainly had a lot of fans waiting outside and so this kind of delicate stock must be a hit. But I think it's probably the egg noodles because I saw more than one serving go out! Torisoba gets a 4/5 because of a bland base balanced out by great chicken and a friendly atmosphere. I can't wait to visit more shops in the Baba area!

Tabelog and Map!

節骨麺たいぞう 池袋東口店 (Bushikotsumen Taizo Ikebukuro)

Ikebukuro is a strange, but interesting place within the metropolitan Tokyo area. It has been hailed as the female otaku alternative to Akihabara because there are several shops that specialize in Yaoi manga. If you are unfamiliar, click the link. I like Ikebukuro for its strange charms and the lesser visited "other side of the tracks" west exit. Usually I try to avoid chains, but Bushikotsumen Taizo is a relatively small one, with only 3 shops, one of them being near the west exit.

Japanese ramen bloggers also seem to really enjoy this shop. Right away I enjoyed the busy and excited atmosphere. The shop staff at Taizo is super genki. I went with a friend so I could have a chance to do a double review. He chose the pork and chicken base and I chose the seafood because I can't seem to get enough of that deep salty fish flavor.

The noodles and toppings are basically the same for both bowls: negi, chashu, nori, bamboo shoots, and egg. Standard and classic. However the pork/chicken bowl had minced garlic and a complex meaty flavor. The seafood bowl was an excellent strong bonito. True standouts here for me are their noodles and chashu.

The noodles come from Hokkaido and are a perfect texture between soft and firm. I can not stress how much I liked Taizo's noodles. Some of the best to date! Their fatty chashu basically melts in your mouth and made me wish that I had selected the chashu ramen. How about condiments? I am happy to report that Taizo fresh garlic that you can press yourself, hot sesame oil, pepper, and condiments for the gyoza that you can order. The gyoza was fairly standard and I recommend going for their ramen alone. I can't seem to find anything bad about Taizo so it's going to get a 5/5 for a genki staff and delicious chashu.

Map and links: official site, tabelog