IKEBUKURO: ROCKanDO Ramen... friendly bowl of ramen with a hint of 50's Rock and Roll decor.

A brand new Ramen shop opened up in Ikebukuro on April 2014 and a friend of mine mentioned their 450yen price point... just had to check it out.

I've never seen this before... there are loads of regular style ramen's but on the far right a 450yen button!  Shoyu Ramen "Nami" (regular) or "Oomori" (Large) for the same price. 

Noodles are made in house (look below for pics of the machine), no preservatives, all natural.

"L" shaped counter that was immaculately clean.

Salt and pepper in mini Coca Cola bottles.

There it is!  Simplicity with out the mess of toppings... My friend who always says ramen should be judged on the soup and noodles.

We chatted up the owner and he mentioned their style is very similar to the great Hawaiian Ramen Hulu-Lu spot in the area.  Click here for that review:

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2013/06/ikebukuro-hulu-lu-hawaiian-ramen-you.html

It was just a great simple ramen that hit the spot.  Noodles were thin and had a solid texture to them.  Shoyu soup very mellow and deeply flavorful.

The incredibly friendly owner Mr. Watanabe... chat him up if you want to know more.

This is where the home made ramen noodles are prepared everyday. 

A great spot with a solid Tabelog foodie ranking.  I'll 100% definitely be back again to try their other selections.  Just can't beat the friendly owner, super clean interior, great 50's decor and a satisfying bowl of 450yen ramen.

Restaurant: ROCKandDO Ramen

Tabelog Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1305/A130501/13167610/
Ramen Database: http://ramendb.supleks.jp/s/75032.html
Address J: 東京都豊島区東池袋2-57-2 コスモ東池袋 101
Address E: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, East Ikebukuro 2-57-2
MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/t3Nec

麺屋 六感堂, ラーメン, 池袋, 無化調, Japan, Japanese, noodles, tsukemen, ramen, shoyu, shio, cheap, lunch, dinner, lumix lx5, foodie, yelp, tokyobelly,

NERIMA: 24hr MUSCLE GYM for a 500yen protein shake! Membership only 5,000yen!!

Gym in Japan easily run in excess of 12,000 yen (Over $120) but lucky me I stumbled upon MUSCLE Gym in Nerima that only charges 5,000yen a month and its always open 24/7!

http://musclegym.jp/

I headed to the gym at 6:30am and was chatting up the super friendly 2nd in charge "Buchoo" who offered me a free Protein Drink.  Nice!

A bit of strawberry and yogurt... it was the perfect breakfast drink during my workout.

Some shots of what 5,000yen can get ya!

There are also Boxercise lessons.

2 showers in the Mens changing room.

Price list of the different memberships.  I'm not into KAATSU but this membership includes one on one training with a certified instructor.

Overall the MUSCLE GYM establishment was started by 1-2 guys that loved to exercise and wanted to open up a reasonable gym membership spot for the locals.  Currently they have 3-4 locations but expanding to Ekoda and Central Tokyo soon via Franchise.  Great staff, great management, convenient 24hr gym... you just can't go wrong!  A MUST!!

And down the street is ADLER with some very nice exotic sports cars... Porsche GT3 was in the showroom today.  https://www.facebook.com/AdlerJapan

GYM: MUSCLE GYM

Website: http://musclegym.jp/

Address J: 東京都練馬区豊玉北5-24-2 パシフィックニュー豊玉ビル2F

Address E: Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Toyotamakita 5-24-2
MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/yupIw

マッスルジム, 練馬, 加圧, フィットネスジム, Japan, Japanese, gym, shake, protein, drink, golds gym, fitness, aerobics, boxing, cheap, lumix lx5, tokyobelly,