ROPPONGI: Ippudo Ramen for Akamaru! I finally made it!!

Ippudo is a favorite among my foreign friends but as my ramen repertoire expanded I stopped frequenting these large chain ramen shops in favor of owner/chef style spots... well when I'm sober that is.

Free toppings.

English Menu's

This place has great mini-gyoza's with a side of yuzu spice paste.

Soup was very flavorful... charsiu very tender... and the thin noodles had a great chewiness to them.

Spicy boiled bean sprout topping for free! Gives a nice kick to the ramen.

The Chef!

For some reason I've always met friendly people at Ramen shops...

We'll be back!

Shop: Ippudo Ramen - Roppongi Branch

Ippudo Website: http://www.ippudo.com/products/menu.html

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1307/A130701/13005378/

Address J: 東京都港区六本木4-9-11 第２小田切ビル

Address E: Tokyo, Minato-ku, Roppongi 4-9-1
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NERIMA: Isshi Ramen for a bit of Exile BGM and "Ippudo-esque" Noodles

On the hunt for a ramen shop that doesn't close pre-midnight in Nerima and came across Isshi.  Probably one of the most visually appealing ramen exteriors ever.

Open til 6am... phew.

Osusume was the Tonkotsu-Black-Ramen 750yen. 

Onigiri's on deck.  One thing I noticed was the Exile BGM and the friendly Ramen Chef kinda looked like he could be one of the guys in this popular Japanese all guy group.

Free toppings

The only question that will be asked is how you like your noodles.

Friend mentioned its very similar to Ippudo Ramen

If you "LIKE" their Facebook page and then you can get a free topping... slice of Char-sui, egg and a few others.  Went for an extra half of egg.

FB LINK to the Isshi Page.

Very flavorful charsiu

And if you want a refill of noodles "Kaedama" its just 100 yen.  Overall the ramen was quite boring and volume lacking compared to most spots... it just didn't do it for me and later looking at the foodie ranking of "3.00 points" I realized many others felt the same.  But I think this place could be easily a hit with the ladies with Exile BGM playing and super friendly Exile looking ramen chef.  Mostly counter seating but there are a few tables in the back for couples.

Ramen Shop: Ishii Ramen

Shop Website: http://nerima-isshi.com/

Foodie Website:  http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1321/A132102/13137646/

Address J: 東京都練馬区豊玉北5-17-1

Address E: Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Toyotamakita 5-17-1

MAP:

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