The Shimokitazawa food diaries: Rishin (Ramen), Shimokitazawa

I tried the other day this new ramen joint which opened last March next to the nice Izakaya (food serving japanese style pub) "Zakoya". "Rishin" is the offspring of the Ramen shop "Kunishin" in the northern Nagano prefecture, and the name of the restaurant comes from the owner's daughter name (which contains the chinese character 莉 "ri").
The place looks nice, japonesque, and rather classy for a noodle joint with its black wood structure inside and outside the building. They do serve drinks as well, making it a ramen meets izakaya hybrid eatery.

I went for their recommendation "Negi Chashu Men" (ramen topped with leek and chinese-style bbq pork) which I supersized for free, as they let you

a) supersize the noodles or

b) have a bowl of rice or

c) have a bowl of rice topped with Tororo (grated Japanese Yam potato)

with no charge.

The big bowl that got to me was rather impressive in size and the first thought was that they're quite generous on both the white leek and the pork.

The soup is light brown, quite dense and salty with a thin layer of lard floating on the surface (not as much but a little bit like the famous chain Kazuki). I assume it is a Shoyu and Torigara (chicken carcass) based broth: not bad, except that the pork is very salty, so if you don't have a glass of water to wash it down, you're on for an intense NaCl experience.

The pork, though too pungent, has a very nice texture, keeping a good balance between the firmer flesh and the tender fat. Really too bad it felt so salty.

The mountain of thinly chopped white leek is seasoned with Rayu (chili infused Chinese style vegetable oil), the whole thing combining really well with the noodles and the soup. Just make sure you don't have any meeting or date on the same day as you're guaranteed to knock out your precious interlocutor with your breath.

The squiggly noodles are about 3mm wide, slightly flat and with a medium firmness. I think they go well with the dish, but a hint more koshi (firmness) might add a little more character to the dish. I'll be fair to the shop though: I did spend some time tasting the pork and the leek before I attacked the noodles, so maybe they got softer during that time.

They do have other recommended noodle dishes as well, so if you're interested, please give it a try. The ramen I had was so-so: I found the whole thing too salty and dense, but might be good if you're into pungent broths!