IKEBUKURO: Mendokoro Hanada ramen (REVISITED) for Spicy Miso Ramen!

Menya Hanada revisited with the gang... Our final spot after going to Koike for Bonenkai, wandering into my very first nudie bar in Japan then off for some Ramen to close out the night.

Here you go... 10 minutes of Stir Frying ramen with the chef.

Kenta picked out the regular Miso Ramen

Went for the Spicy Miso Ramen this night...

Much like my last review of Mendokoro it was ok I guess... but as always there was good crowd eating up their noodles here.

They sure do go thru alot of bean sprouts!  

For address details just click here:

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2012/11/ikebukuro-mendokoro-hanada-ramen.html

IKEBUKURO: Mendokoro Hanada ramen... Chinese stir-fry meets Japanese miso ramen~

Was in Ikebukuro and checked to foodie rankings for a ramen spot and came across the town's #2 ranked Mendokoro Hanada with some great reviews. 

Top left corner is all me!

Free toppings... Extra veggies, garlic and for lunch you get a tiny bowl of dry rice!

The extra garlic... about the size of a 500yen coin.

Free tiny bowl of rice was super dry... so decided to put it into my ramen soup at the end of the meal.

It was a first for me.  Saw the chef stir fried bean sprouts and cabbage in a wok then he added the base soup and a scoup of miso paste... the veggies were nice and soft but reminded me of being in a Chinese restaurant.

One slice of soft pork.

The noodles were very chunky and abit on the al'dente side thru the hole meal... didn't soften up at all due to the luke warm soup. But the soup was very flavorful probably due to the scoup of miso paste.

Free red spice

Overall I was ready to quit after half of my meal... it was an interesting concept to stirfry everything together then pour it onto the noodles but I definitely won't get any cravings for this spot.

Between lowly ranked 2.97pts Ichiban Ramen and that free standing ashray... yup dude is taking a cigarette break. 

American Eagle opening up in Ikebukuro~.

Shop: Mendokoro Hanada

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13109890/

Shop Website: http://cc-lab.jp/hanada/menu.html

Address J: 東京都豊島区東池袋1-23-8

Address E: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Higashi Ikebukuro 1-23-8
MAP:

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ROPPONGI HILLS: 3 Guys Revisit Tsukemen TETSU... normal, large and extra large noodles! All 900yen

Of course... boys will be boys and even though it is not in our best interest to eat ramen at 10:45pm we still do it.  So... I took Hiro and Kenta to one of my favorite spots in Roppongi Hills.

Kenta went for the 800yen Tsukemen Extra Large serving of cold noodles.  My friend decided to push the Extra Large portion of hot noodles "Aji Tama Atsumori Tokumori" for me but asked the nice waiter to reduce it to a simple Large... and Hiro went for the regular "Aji Tama Atsumori"

Free fried onion chips.

If you get a table its perfect for people watching... well let me rephrase... great to see all that is beautiful and stylish in J-girls. 

All 3 of our soup bases were the same.  A very deep rich flavored soup that clings to the noodles... 

Kenta's Extra-Large portion noodles.

Hiro's normal portion noodles.

And my large portion noodles.

Overall everyone was extremely satisfied and got the stamp of approval from ramen connoisseur Kenta.  The only catch is that the shop closes at 11pm so you'll have to rush out of whatever bar to enjoy this great dish... but its always a good thing to head out early and not have to catch the last train.

Ramen Tetsu Address Details Here!

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2012/05/roppongi-hills-tsuke-men-tetsu-as-thick.html

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:

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