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.

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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:

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JINBOCHO: Ramen Jiro... a full course fulfilling monster of a Ramen! Sooo Good!!

Finally thought I'd give Ramen Jiro in Jinbocho a try... the lines are always 30 deep and extends to the end of the block. But this day the line was only 15 deep... was it my timing?  Then I heard a few salarymen talking about how short the line was and they didn't notice any University students here... thats right! Its summer vacation.  Lucky me.

When you are near the door the staff will ask you what you want.  Just say "Sho" which is a small ramen thats 650yen.  But don't let this "small" fool ya... its massive!

650yen for Ramen, 750yen for a little pork and 850yen for double pork.  Not to worry the 650 yen had 2 huge chunks of charsui pork too.

Place the little blue tab on the counter when its your turn to sit.  Counter only has about 10 seats so if you go in a group you will be seated randomly in the open spots.  When you ramen is almost ready to serve he will ask you if you want "Nin-niku" (Garlic), say "Onegaishimasu" or "Hai" for Garlic or "Nin-niku Nashi" (for no garlic).

This this was massive... all this for only 650yen?!  And whats holding up the bean sprouts isn't more bean sprouts under the soup but a massive portion of thick chewy ramen noodles!  The soup is very thick and oily but clings onto the ramen so well that there is no need to drink the soup separately...  One bite and I was soooo hooked... never have I had ramen this amazing, yup amazing before.  The flavor was so rich and tasty... 

The 2 pieces of Charsui were not the usual thin slices you see at any other ramen shop in Tokyo... These were 2 huge blocks of meat and sooooo tender!  Wow...

Thick and chewy noodles... extremely filling.  

All I can say is that this ramen is as satisfying as a full course meal... never was I so fully content and for 650yen it just added a bit more... only 2 guys run this shop and you know there is some pride in the noodles that could easily command 900+ yen.  But if you go during the summer pls be prepared to sweat inside, the A/C is a bit weak.   Anyways, if you just needed to eat Ramen at one place in Tokyo this is THE place to go.

Shop: Ramen Jiro Jimbocho Branch

Hours: Mon-Sat 11-2pm and 6-9pm. Weds/Sat afternoons closed.

Foodie Website: http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1310/A131003/13010387/

Address J: 東京都千代田区神田神保町2-4-11

Address E: Tokyo, Chiyoda-ku, Kanda, Jimbocho 2-4-11
MAP:

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