NERIMA: Hokkaido Ramen Himuro... boring boring blah blah

Trying to hunt down a ramen shop at 3am can be quite a task in somewhat countryside Nerima but luckily we found a place that was quite busy...

Most of the menu is pictured... they have Miso, Shoyu and Shio ramens.

Can select how you want the soup style of your noodles... normal or hard.

Free large portion of noodles for Tsukemen orders.

300yen Gyoza... nice and crispy on the outside.

Lots of submenu items... all Japanese.

Counter seating with quite a few drunk guys in this shop... the dangers of staying open past the last train for any food establishment.

George's Tsukemen...

I went for the recommended Spicy Miso "Orochon" Ramen... 

There it is... a reddish miso soup with very small chunks of pork and what seems to be dark jellyfish?  Hmm... 

Well... after a few bites I really didn't like this ramen.  It was just simply too boring... and later when I got home I realized the feeling among many foodies was the same with its extremely low ranking of 2.99 points.  The noodles were curly and lacked any texture, the soup seemed like they just put a scoup of miso paste into hot water and swished it around... I honestly was ready to give up half way thru the meal but Scott picked up the tab so at least tried to eat all the noodles.

Check it out! Looks like a pro-wrestler stopped by on my Bday! Anyways... the ramen here really really sucked on par with low budget store bought generic ramen noodles.  People! Don't Go!!

Shop: Hokkaido Ramen Himuro - Nerima Branch

Shop Website: http://www.4tops.co.jp/

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1321/A132102/13017074/

Address J:  東京都練馬区豊玉北5-32-13 菱新ビル 1F

Address E: Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Toyotamakita 5-32-13
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KOENJI: Yakiton Ton-Kichi for some great Chicken Butt and Liver!!

So where to randomly hit up to kill 30 minutes?  Best idea is to look for a spot filled with old people that look like regulars... and this spot fit the description.  Lots of older salarymen and retired looking folks.

Otoshi

Ice cold bottle of Sapporo

This was on tonights menu.  Friend (http://ameblo.jp/aikaokame/) was performing in this somewhat oddly titled Play in Koenji.  About how Sh*t and Lobster (an intimate sexual position) evolved out of Japanese history... wacky?  Hell ya... wacky and very very weird.  Who combines these two unrelated words? Jumbled Jinglish.

I'm a huge huge fan of Bonjiri (Chicken Butt) thanks to Mari... crispy on the outside and a nice light chewiness on the inside.  Its not gross so give it a try! You'll definitely like it and its soooo something foreigners rarely get to try.  Oh, the liver was tasty creamy... 

Nankotsu... Cartilage... not a fan.  Just too hard and flavorlessly crunchy for me.

A really nice little local spot but be aware... if there were fire alarms in this place they'd be going off left and right as the ventilation system for the yakitori was non-existent and we were consumed in white smelly smoke! 

I'd probably go back here... had a nice old rustic feel with a big older clientele following.

Shop: Yakiton Tonnkichi - Koenji Branch

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1319/A131904/13073185/

Address J: 東京都杉並区高円寺南3-58-17

Address E: Tokyo, Suginami-ku, Koenji Minami 3-58-17

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IKEBUKURO: Yama-chan's for Miso Wings and junk!

Yama-chans... had a nice ring to it.  Owner must have named the shop after himself. Anyways I had a small Bonenkai (year end dinner) with some J-Italians... There are groups of Japanese in this country that instead of studying English in the US they go off to Italian Universities and language schools~.  A motley crew mixing up Japanese, English and Italian.

2 Type of beer... plus I had to get the Bottle Beer

And this bottled Asahi was massive... plus it was warm!  Shoulda started with an ice cold draft.

Thats Michi... Japanese who sings Italian Opera.  She's auditioning for Julliard in March!!

Wish her the very very best http://www.juilliard.edu/

When you drink with guys Sake will always appear... finished off 3 bottles.

Fried nankotsu

Rei-Hi-Le... you know what that means!?  Its Manta Ray!

Oh gawd... bean sprouts with sausage.

Oysters

Chicken with peppery seasoning

Everything pretty much was boring Izakaya food except for the house special.  Miso seasoned juicy chicken wings!  This was not toooo bad :)

Japanese love cucumbers

Ice Cream Janken Game... if you win you get an extra from the super kind waitress.

Overall would I go back... Hmm... I think if I had some foreign guests then for sure because everything on the menu was pictured and they could have a Japanese Izakaya experience.  Oh, Japanese foodies gave it a very lowly 3.00pts on Tabelog. 

Shop: Sekai No Yamachan - Ikebukuro South Ikebukuro Branch

Shop Website: http://www.yamachan.co.jp/shop/shop_detail.php?number=35

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13021126/

Address J: 東京都豊島区南池袋1-16-20 ぬかりやビルB1F

Address E: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Minami Ikebukuro 1-16-20
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