麺やBar 渦 (Menya Bar Uzu Honkugenuma)

One stop from Shonan beach you will find a top rated ramen shop and bar. Like an oasis rising from an otherwise residential stop on the Odakyu line, Menya Bar appears.

Inside this ramen bar oasis is a friendly relaxed atmosphere offering both bar and table seating as well as a some traditional Japanese seating in the back. A humble ramen shop this is not. Offering imported beer and full dinner and lunch menu options, Menya Bar has something for everyone. On my lunch visit I ordered their current special, a cold soy milk ramen and a beer set.

Their lunch beer set came with 3 small salads: whitebait, maitake and okra, and a spicy tuna salad. All delicious and refreshing. The cold soy milk ramen was topped with cucumber, a tan tan style ground beef, clams, and chili oil. If served warm this might have been a winner, but the congealed ground beef and cold soy milk broth made for a strange unappealing texture and taste. I was determined to try again, and again I did. But this time I wanted their take on shoyu.

Possibly the best chashu that has ever melted in my mouth tops this complex bowl of shoyu. At Menya Bar they use a mixture of chicken stock, sea salt, and two kinds of shoyu to complete a sophisticated unique flavor. Everything else was just right rounding out Menya Bar at a 4.5/5 for a dubious special and a superb staple.

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胡心房（こしんぼう） (Koshinbu Machida)

The first year I lived in Japan, I lived in what the Japanese might call inaka, meaning countryside. However I lived close enough to a mini city on the outskirts of Tokyo called Machida. I went there often to go shopping, have a good burger, and to eat ramen. I remember it fondly. One of my favorite memories is when I ate a bowl at Koshinbu. It was before I had developed any kinds of thoughts on what a bowl of ramen should have and it was delicious. Will Koshinbu stand the tests of time? Open since 1998, it better. Located so close to the station that you can see the tracks from their window, Koshinbu has one table, but mostly counter seating with a view of the kitchen.

As usual I ordered ramen with an egg and decided on extra greens for a topping.

If I were to order again I would order the extra chashu and skip the greens. If you want a salad on your ramen go for the greens, but for me the champions of Koshinbu are the base and the chashu. Cut to deli meat thinness, their chashu is off the wall tender and scrumptious. Crack open the egg and mix the soft yolk to make a perfectly creamy bowl of soy milk ramen.

With a grind of pepper you are on your way to a luscious ramen experience. Basic noodles in an otherwise fantastic bowl give Koshinbu a 4.5/5, but it is definitely worth a go!

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