Senrigan (Ramen), Higashikitazawa

If you're a Ramen eater, I strongly recommend you go to this place: it's good, filling and fun. OK, it's a little out of the way and you will have to walk a little bit, but that resulting exercise might actually be necessary and beneficiary when looking at the amount of calories and food involved in that one bowl of noodles.

It took me a while to first enter this place, as the orange and yellow nameboard outside saying "Ramen Senrigan Ninniku" (Ninniku meaning garlic) made me think that there would be too much of that Dracula-killer in the soup. I still decided to give it a try one day, as I kept seeing people flocking in the place. Since then, I've been a fan. It's cheap (regular Ramen at ¥680), it's filling with its 300g worth of noodles and it's fun with all the mountain like toppings you can add for free.

You first buy your meal ticket at the vending machine. The choice is simple and limited: "Ramen" (¥680), "Ramen" supersized (¥780), "Buta Ramen" (Ramen with added Chinese-Style pork bbq Chashu at ¥850), "Buta Ramen" supersized (¥950), "Buta Dabulu Ramen" (even more Chashu! at ¥980) and finally the gigantic "Buta Dabulu Ramen" supersized (¥1080).
To make it easier for you, I'd recommend you go for the regular Ramen which will most probably largely satisfy your hunger.

The mountain of Moyashi

The regular Ramen's toppings consist of boiled Moyashi (bean sprout), Kyabetsu (Chinese cabbage) and Chashu. However, when the dish is almost prepared, the cook will call out your seat number (written in front of you on the counter) and ask you if you want some garlic in it.

Seat #3 waiting for the call

Check out the following video to see how that works and the impressive topping of Moyashi:



To which you can reply Nashi (for no thanks), Sukuname (for a little) and Onegaishimasu (for yes please)
You also have a choice of free toppings:
Yasai Mashi (literally More Vegies)
Abura (more fat)
Karame (stronger broth)
Kara-age (deep-fried Tempura batter Tenkatsu with hot chili powder)
Just ask for what you want, and they will add that on your bowl.

Regulars seem to go for Zenbu Kudasai (please top everything), but I tend to like my noodles simple, so I always only ask for Yasai-Mashi and Ninniku Sukuname to make myself feel better knowing that I did order "healthier" vegetables...
The result is colossal, as you can see it from the pictures.

The rather thick, almost milky-textured Tonkotsu(pork bone) and Shoyu based broth is very rich and surprisingly not garlic flavored. Add some garlic only if you like it and you want a little kick, as the soup is well good enough without. I have seen some customers down the whole artery-clogging soup, but I don't have the courage to imitate them as it's already tough enough to finish the ingredients...
The noodles are brown-colored (just like Sobas), quite thick at 3-4mm (not different from the Moyashi width) and with a good koshi (firmness). As you have to fight through 300g of them, you're pretty much full when you've finished chewing them.

The three thick slices of Chashu are wonderfully tender and melt in your mouth, if they haven't already disintegrated while sitting in the soup. They are a bit salty but the combination with the boiled Moyashi and Kyabetsu is good.

No explanations will come close to actually trying it, so if you're into Ramen, the detour is definitely worth it. For your information, "Okame" and "Ramen Yamate" are in the same street.

Senrigan is closed on Mondays and open the rest of the week
from 11:00am to 14:30pm, 17:00pm to 22:00pm Tuesday through to Saturday
from 11:00am to 14:30pm, 17:00 pm to 21:00pm Sunday and on National Holidays
Meguro-Ku, Komaba 4-6-8
03-3481-5773
It's about 500m from Higashi-Kitazawa (Odakyu Line) and Ikenoue (Inokashira Line), or 15-20mn walk from Shimokitazawa
Click here for a MAP

Ramen Yamate (Ramen), Komaba Todaimae

This place is a little far from Shimokitazawa, as you will need to walk for about half an hour, but it's quite worth the walk if you are a Ramen addict. Actually, "Ramen Yamate" being located by the Tokyo University Campus, the promenade can be quite pleasant as you could cut through the verdant school grounds to get there. The mix of old brick academic buildings and modern structures looks quite nice on photos, so if you're an adept of that particular visual art, that's another reason for you to wander through the premises.
If you have no interest in walking or photography, that's still OK, as the bowl of Ramen is interesting and good enough to go all the way there. It is also a big favorite among the college's students and you will see many of them in there.

"Ramen Yamate" kitchen

What's so special about this place is the noodles, and most of the people will agree with me in saying that they are pasta-like: they have the egg-yellow color, more or less the taste and definitely the firmness of slightly al dente Italian pasti. I think that's quite original but I know for a fact that some hardcore Ramen-eaters find that a blasphemy. Well, that's too bad for them, as the "Togarashi Ramen" (chili ramen) I had yesterday was excellent.

"Togarashi Ramen"

The broth in Ramen Yamate is Tonkotsu-based (pork bone), to which they add some Tori-Gara (chicken carcass), Konbu (tangle), garlic, ginger and Shiitake mushroom, all of which they simmer for 24 hours. This makes a light-flavored Tonkotsu soup that I find very appetizing.
Friends from college who are readins this blog (thank you) might remember our favorite "Akashiroya" in Yoyogi-Uehara (the place is gone now). Well, "Ramen Yamate" is the mother shop and tastes quite the same.

Yamate's most popular dish is the "Yuki (snow) Ramen" which consists of that basic broth with toppings of roasted garlic and onion, and a final thin layer of lard on top of the soup. That light blanket of fat, which supposedly adds smoothness to the broth, looks like snow, hence the name of the dish.
As mouth-watering as that sounds, as I said earlier, I went for the "Togarashi Ramen" which is a hot version of the basic broth, with added chili in it. The soup looks hellishly red and spicy, but that's really on the surface, and they manage to keep it very eatable. The soup actually tasted so good that I even thought for a while of downing it, but fought such calorie mega-intake with courage.

Togarashi Ramen Soup

The ramen comes with Menma (Japanese style Sungan) and a slice of Chashu (Chinese-style bbq pork) that somehow tastes a little bit and has the fibrous texture of canned tuna. Both toppings are a little too low on salt for my liking, which is a shame as they definitely need more flavor to compete with the rich spicy soup

The pasta-like noodles are freshly made on site (the "noodle factory" is next door) by the manager and were originally studied and designed as to give the best Nogo-Doshi possible (literally Passing the Throat), an important notion in Japan where firmness of food can be a matter of lengthy heated discussion. Nodo-Goshi can designate anything from firmness, smoothness or fluidity, but is really basically about how easily and enjoyably you'll down the stuff.
Even after more than 30 years in Japan, Nodo-Goshi is still a slightly difficult notion to grasp for me, so let me just say that their noodles provide a nice resistance, are tasty and are a pleasure to swallow with a little bit of soup. Once again, Ramen purist might tell you that they do not mingle well with the broth, but that's the least of my concerns.

Whether it has something to do with the fact that the noodles do seem a little "Italian", I don't know, but Yamate also offers a "Tomato Ramen" (left on the picture above), with Italian tomatoes, wine, aromatic herbs and chili-infused Olive oil, which might be a wonderful match for the "pasta". If you're in a challenging mode, go crazy...

"Ramen Yamate" (mid to far right) and the "Noodle Factory" (left)

Ramen Yamate is open everyday from 11:30am to 02:45am
You can walk there from Shimokitazawa (30mn), Higashi-Kitazawa (20mn) on the Odakyu Line or 10mn from Komaba-Todaimae (2 stations from Shimokitazawa on the Inokashira Line)
Shibuya-ku, Tomigaya 2-21-7

03-5453-7290
Click here for a MAP