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

View Larger Map

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

KICHIJOJI: Ramen ZERO... Jiro'esque or Tetsu'esque your choice :)

I've always randomly spotted franchise Menya ZERO1 here and there in Tokyo but never ventured inside... not much of a franchise ramen guy I guess.  

But at 2:30am all the highly ranked ramen spots in Kichijoji were closed... so the cold forced us to stop trekking around in the dark and check out Zero1.  Staring at the Japanese menu for a while when the Ramen Chef hit us up with a....

English Menu!  Nice nice.  Started with a 300yen beeru.

My View of the kitchen... L shaped counter seating.

I went for the basic "Hearty Ramen Dish" that looked so similar to Ramen Jiro and Ramen Dai... A ramen guru friend mentioned that this style of ramen was booming.  Flavor was light compared to Jiro/Dai but it hit the spot.  Side order of Garlic is free...    And my friend ordered the "New Improved Bonito Flake Tsukemen Noodles with Tonkatsu (pork)" and the soup tasted just like my favorite Roppongi Hills location Ramen TETSU.   Think I like his better.

Overall it hands down beat most of the franchise shops that are open late into the night... most of which I regret eating the next morning due to poor foodie rankings.  But if like thick chunky noodles with a heavy broth then this ZERO1 Franchise is a great place to try!

Shop: Men-ya ZERO 1 (Kichijoji Branchi).

Shop website: http://www.zeroichi.jp/menu/index.html

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1320/A132001/13095470/

Address J: 東京都武蔵野市吉祥寺南町1-5-3

Address E: 

MAP:

View Larger Map

SAKURADAI: Ramen Jiro REVISITED for smaller than small portion noodles!

Ok... my entire summer in the US consisted of baking cookies, brownies and rice crispy treats thus I returned with an added 7 kilos to the waistline!  So... tonight my craving and the 650yen price point decided to put my diet on hold for a massive 1,500 calorie "small" sized Jiro Ramen!

Mailing list if you are interested.

Cold water is free but I highly suggest ordering some black tea to help wash down the heavy oily soup base.

I sat on the corner of the "L" shaped counter next the toilet and noticed boxes of special Jiro shoyu... plus do you see that clear plastic bag with the pink stuff in it?  Well thats the fat they melt into the soup base... An yes, if you want extra just mention it along with your addition of Garlic, size of veggies and say "abura" for melted fat topping.

a

When you are lined up outside one of the Jiro guys will take your order... The guy in front of me said "Sho-Sukuname" (Size Small Ramen - Smaller Portion)... So I followed with Sho-Yasai-Sukuname (Small with Small portion of boiled beggies).    Anyways seems he missed me saying "Yasai" and assumed I wanted a Small Ramen with Smaller portion of noodles.  Actually thank goodness... I was struggling to finish the small a few days ago.  Oh, I got the normal size of veggies pictured and garlic topping pictured here.

Can you see it... Now this fatty oil from pork lard pushes this tiny small ramen over 1,500 calories!

Now not ONLY did I have these 3 gigantic chunks of tender Char-Siu pork but below the noodles there were another 2 chunky pieces... waaaay to many for me and a struggle to finish.

The additional pieces I found below after finished the 3 on top.

Here's a video of some guy ordering the extra lard "abura" on top of his ramen!  oohh the calories!

At 5:45pm on a very rainy and cold Tuesday evening the entire L shaped counter was full.. but I only had to wait about 2-3 minutes before a spot opened up.  The customers here are all business and eat their ramen in a mad-dash.  Most looked like Ramen Otaku-boys and college students this night.  Ok, this will be my last venture to Jiro until I lose those added Pounds.

1,000yen an hour if you want to work part-time at Jiro!

Shop: Ramen Jiro 

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1321/A132101/13038383/

Address J: 東京都練馬区桜台1-5-1

Address E: Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Sakuradai 1-5-1
MAP:

View Larger Map Japan, Japanese, foodie, yelp, tokyobelly, Ramen Jiro, Jiro-kei, 桜台 ラーメン二郎

SAKURADAI: Ramen Jiro... bottomless pit I struggle to finish!

Watch before you go! There is a very special way to ordering whats best for you.

Recently moved to this area and randomly spotted Jiro!  Checked the foodie ranking and it was very high... in the top 4 with very little difference among higher ranking Jiro's. 

Click here for JIRO Ranking

At 11:30am the counters were full and a line of about 6 people.

There it is... my 650yen  monster of a ramen with small portion of bean sprouts and a scoop of garlic.

Two and a half solid chunks of pork... still amazed how they can only charge 650yen for this.

Noodles were nice and chunky... People in the know either order black tea (in a small bottle) or bring one along because of the heavy oily thick Soup.

By the time I left the line started to wrap around.

Definitely worth a try if you are in the area (one stop from Nerima Station).  The 2 younger guys behind there counter were chatting away and seemed in a pleasant mood vs the usual quietness or ramen shops.  

SHOP: Ramen Jiro - Sakura-dai Station Front Branch

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1321/A132101/13038383/

Address J: 東京都練馬区桜台1-5-1

Address E: Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Sakuradai 1-5-1
MAP:

View Larger Map

KACHIDOKI/TSUKISHIMA: PoPoYa super chunky ramen noodles with a lowly foodie ranking.

PoPoYa?  I have never heard of this ramen spot before and rarely do I ever welcome massive amounts of calories without first checking foodie blogs... but it was late and we gave this spot a try.

The First rule of Ramen... if you are confused then go for the top left corner selection.  Shops will always put the most recommended item here... 

So we both went for the dish simply called "Ramen"... no fancy names here.

There are 4 free selections you can add to your dish.  Hiro went for the extra vegetables aka Moyashi (Bean Sprouts).

I asked for the free Garlic Topping... but you can also as for extra onions, thick soup base or light soup base to adjust to your style.

These noodles were monstrous   I'm a HUGE fan of thing chewy chunky noodles offered at Ramen Jiro (Jimbocho) and Kaeru Ramen (Nakano)...  The flavor was light enough and not overwhelmingly oily or thick but if you do ramen then might as well go for the "Thick Flavor" option.. I'll do it next time.

Some red pepper... I normally add this in the mid-way point so I can enjoy the soup base in all its originality.

And thus I pack on those extra calories... But was it worth 800yen?  Sure!  Spot has a very very low foodie ranking of 2.92 points but there are few ramen shops in this area this style has its followers.

If you are for some strange reason in Harumi Triton Square (major office building complex) in desolate Kachidoki/Tsukishima and craving some hearty ramen then its definitely worth going at least once.

Shop: PoPoYa Ramen

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1313/A131302/13009021/

Gnavi: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g505925/

Address J: 東京都中央区晴海1-8-16 晴海トリトン 3F

Address E: Tokyo, Chuo-ku, Harumi 1-8-16
MAP:

View Larger Map