Recently...I have found myself eating ramen...a lot. And by a lot I mean....4 times in one week HAHAHAAA. This insane noodle consumption has now been declared (by me) as my ramen diet. Which can be defined as..."eating only yogurt at lunch to detox your body from the heavy ramen from the night before...only to be asked to go to ramen again by your coworkers and begin the cycle once more."
first on the list...
KAGARI
this place is michelin star rated and for good reason. My dear friend Camryn came in to Tokyo last week and her, being the awesome foodie that she is, knew of this place in Ginza that had amazing chicken ramen. It took us a while to find it (tucked back near an exit in Ginza staiton) but when we found it we were happy to see NO LINE (we heard rumors that people usually wait an hour) and we got our hot bowl of amazing creamy chickenness right away. It tasted like the creamiest, most flavorful chicken noodle soup you've ever had.
next up...
MENNO
One of my friends and her husband took me to this spot that I pass by all the time coming home from school...ramen Menno (NOODLE KING) and I was stoked to finally try it. I ordered the miso ramen with spicy onion on top and UHHH....IT WAS HUGE. Forsure the biggest ramen I've ever encountered. The spicyness of the onion with the miso broth was so so good. I hit a wall about 3/4 through the bowl and had to call it quits. But I felt proud of myself for getting that far haha!
KEYAKI
Oh Monday it was Steph's birthday so our coworker Mashiko took us to ramen for dinner. We went to this spot Keyaki, which is also on the way home from school. I got the miso broth and it was really yummmm especially with the moyashi (bean sprouts) and garlic on top. Nothing like a hot bowl of ramen after a long days work!
okay...drum roll for this last spot which I have dubbed...THE BEST RAMEN I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. Are you ready??....
drumroll....
RAMEN JIRO
Last week we had a holiday...but a lot of teachers still came to school. For lunch, Tamaoki told Steph and I that he'd take us to ramen Jiro..this place in Ibaraki that all the kids rave about. There are many chains of this place all over Tokyo, but apparently they are all slightly different from one another. We drove there at 1:30pm just before their last order at 2:15 (they close for the afternoon) and we saw a line outside. I could smell the tonkotsu (pork) broth seeping through the walls and out the windows....and when we got in I saw a room filled with 90% MEN! hahaha. We ordered on a vending machine and got ready to grub...
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that bowl of madness is the BEST RAMEN I HAVE EVER HAD. Being the self declared ramen-rating-expert that I am...I have a three things I look for when judging a bowl of ramen...
- THE NOODLES : the noodles at ramen jiro were just the perfect thickness...a little flat...and chewy and delicious. perfection.
- THE CHARSIU : the charsiu was SOOOOO AMAZING. Thick, tender, so full of flavor, and so fresh.
- THE BROTH : when I got the bowl of ramen, the first thing I did was take a sip of the broth and that was all it took for me to be hooked. It was quite thick, with the richest pork flavor. All that craziness on top is extra pork fat that adds to the already creamy and delicious dish!
OUTTAAA THIS WORLDDDDDDD.
So there you have it folks...the truth behind what i've been eating the last week or so HAHA.