IKEBUKURO: Menya Musashi... Late evening Tsukemen! FREE Noodle Upgrades!!

Once again I follow my ramen connoisseur friend into the Ramen battle grounds of Ikebukuro... this night we hit up Menya Musashi.

All three of us went for Tsukemen... and the greatest thing about tsukemen is that upgrades in noodles are normally always free vs ramen.  Regular, Medium, Large and Extra Large portion of tsukemen noodles were all the same price.  I went for the Medium "Chu-Mori"

All counter seating

The noodles had a nice shine to it... Unless you ask for it the noodles will come out cold to hold its texture but if you prefer hot just ask for atsu-mori.

Only if I could remember what the soup tasted like... from vague memory (had a few too many beers prior to this at Koike Izakaya) it was a medium slightly light broth.

There were very small chunks of tender pork in the soup.

And of course always great to have a little red pepper to spice up the flavor... less boring.

After you are done with your noodles don't drink all your soup!  Ask for soba-yu (hope its the correct word)... they'll add hot soba ramen water to the soup so the flavor isn't as intense.  Great stuff.

Overall how can you go wrong with paying the same price for huge upgrades in noodles~.  Great atmosphere and nice and clean... I'm sure I'll be back.  There are locations all over Tokyo http://www.menya634.co.jp/

Shop: Menya Musashi Ikebukuro Branch

Ikebukuro Branch: http://www.menya634.co.jp/niten.html

Musashi Website: http://www.menya634.co.jp/

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13005593/

Address J: 東京都豊島区東池袋1-2-4

Address E: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Higashi Ikebukuro 1-2-4

MAP:

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SAKURADAI: (CLOSED - Building to be Demolished) Ramen Hagan "shiru-nashi" (soup less ramen)... What a wonderfully new experience!

Unfortunately Hagan has permanently closed.

I've passed by this shop many times on my way to Ramen Jiro but never thought about entering... the thought of having Shiru-Nashi ramen just didn't appeal to me.  I love ramen soup!  But anther thing was that you could also add Soup-Wari (water used to boil the ramen) to the bowl whenever you wanted... but I just wasn't too sure how to go about this.

But not craving the massive 1600 calories and even less desire to battle the long line of Jiro I decided to give Hagan Ramen a try.  Of course always always go for the top left hand corner button... without fail it is the shops most recommended selection.  650yen for 200 grams of ramen but next to that you can also go for 300grams for the same price!  

Red spice for alittle kick.

Lots of different instructions.  Nice to see everything written out so clear and detailed... perfect for the 1st timer.

And there it was... 

The pork was grilled to perfection... crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.  It was like they gave me free Yakiton with my Ramen.  Sooo good!

The noodles were covered seasoning much like Yakisoba... thick and chewy.  It was honestly just good.

On the bottom of the bowl there was some very very flavorful soup but as all the foodies recommend at some point you have to add the Soup-Wari (on the counter in large silver pitchers) to mellow out the flavor and start to enjoy the bowl like traditional ramen.  

This place always has a nice steady line and the flavor was just great.  Ranks neck and neck according to the foodie rankings with Ramen Jiro in Sakuradai so you really can't go wrong.  Give it a try for sure!!

Returned on 3.30.2013 with a friend and managed to get a little video of the Chef in action.

Shop: Ramen Hagan

Restaurant J: らーめん破顔 桜台本店  - まぜそば

Shop Website: http://ramenhagan.hippy.jp/

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1321/A132101/13051251/

Address J: 東京都練馬区桜台1-5-11

Address E: Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Sakuradai 1-5-11
MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/uoeygLJHwUh6xpnt6

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油そば・まぜそば, 桜台駅, Japan, Japanese, foodie, yelp, tokyobelly, ramen, shirunashi, shiru-nashi, Sakuradai Station, Nerima, dinner, 

HIBARIGAOKA: #1 foodie ranked Ramen Jiro in TOKYO! Salty salty! Thirsty Thristy! But Friendly Friendly!

Got an invite to try out Tokyo's #1 foodie ranked Ramen Jiro in Hibarigaoka!!  Its so popular that if you Google "Hibarigaoka" it appears in the top 3 results~.

40 minutes and 300yen later I arrive at Hibarigaoka Station at an early 11:13am for my earliest ever Ramen lunch :)

We arrived at Jiro about 11:35am, walked inside and noticed 2 open seats side-by-side at the counter only seating... super lucky as they seat you as seat open up meaning you rarely get to sit next to friends.  If you go with friends the earlier the better so you can chat while slurpin'. 

Went for the least expensive 650yen "ramen"...  chips pops out of the dispenser and just set it on the counter.

There was red pepper and white pepper to help you out~... Friend recommended adding red spice to give you a second wind as you slowly get stuffed~...

And there it is!  This is the regular size ramen with 1/2 veggies and no-garlic.  It was way too early in the day for me to have the taste of freshly chopped garlic linger in my mouth for hours after the meal but if its your first time do ask for it!  1/2 size veggies because it such a huge mountain of a pile that takes me too much time to  get down to the delicious chewy noodles.

Hidden under my boiled bean sprouts was the super soft...

...PORK!  The pieces were much smaller than #2 Ranked Ramen Jiro in Jimbocho but just as tender.  And if you go with a girl then you'll surely get a nudge to help her finish some pork and noodles due to the volume.

Hours and Menu... click to expand. 

Overall another very filling Ramen Jiro lunch but does it deserve to be #1? Hmm... I think we came to the same conclusion that the soup was way too salty (shoyu based) and will leave you craving tea throughout the meal... If you want a truly amazing ramen experience then you need to go no further than Jimbocho Jiro!  BUTTT hands down the service was Excellent... Ramen chef threw out so many "welcome" and "thank you"'s that he displayed an unusual appreciation for people going out of their way to have his ramen... 

Shop: Ramen Jiro Hibarigaoka-Branch

Foodie Website: http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1328/A132801/13024745/

Address J: 東京都西東京市谷戸町3-27-24 ひばりがおかプラザ １Ｆ
Address E: Tokyo, Nishi-Tokyo, Ichitani Tomachi 3-27-24
MAP:

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