3 Ramen Places to Try in Shinjuku , Tokyo
Shinjuku is a popular pit stop for visitors of Japan. Finding something to eat isn't difficult. You get food establishments in every corner, including those convenience store will equally good quick meals. Though everything seems delicious in Japan, I still have the habit of trying to zoom in on those tried and tasted (to be good) ones.
I am a big ramen fan and I've done a google map with various ramen places to try before the trip. As it's too ambitious to fit everything into the trip, I gotta to pick what had appealed to me the most.
If you have a day or two in Shinjuku, you may not want to miss out on the first two fresh picks and the 3rd one which is popular joint for both locals and tourist.
1. AFURI 阿夫利
What's attracting me to this ramen? It's YUZU! Yuzu can't go wrong in Japan.
I chose the Yuzu Shio Ramen which I think have a very good balance of salt (Shio) and pleasant sourness Yuzu in the pork based soup. The char siu surprised me with the burnt taste similar to that of Hong Kong style's roast meat.
There are several Afuri outlets in Japan. I had tried the one at Lumine 1 at Shinjuku. English language menu is available.
Ebisoba originates from Sapporo, Japan. Ebi = shrimp which is my favourite seafood. Shrimp soup based sounds very appealing, like the local Singapore prawn noodle soup.
There was only 1 branch in Tokyo and that's here in Shinjuku. This is small joint here, with about 10-odd seats, in a rather quiet corner north of Shinjuku station. Though I had to queue, the customers turnover pretty fast.
Customers were given choice of soup base and noodle. My choice was miso added to the original prawn-pork soup base. Such Umami taste! It resembled the Singapore prawn noodle soup a lot! Add miso to Singapore prawn noodle soup and you may get this Ebisoba version. Why had I expected it might be somewhat different in the first place? If you like prawn noodle soup, you will like this as well.
Ichiran is a famous pork-bone (tonkotsu) ramen from Fukuoka. It has established many outlets all across Japan. Despite so, one still may have to queue at one of the two outlets at Shinjuku.
Besides offering a good bowl of ramen, it allows consumers to customise the ramen to their personal taste. For instance, you may choose the level of salt, spiciness and hardness of the noodles. In addition, it provided a unique Japanese working-class dining experience.
I am a big ramen fan and I've done a google map with various ramen places to try before the trip. As it's too ambitious to fit everything into the trip, I gotta to pick what had appealed to me the most.
If you have a day or two in Shinjuku, you may not want to miss out on the first two fresh picks and the 3rd one which is popular joint for both locals and tourist.
1. AFURI 阿夫利
What's attracting me to this ramen? It's YUZU! Yuzu can't go wrong in Japan.
I chose the Yuzu Shio Ramen which I think have a very good balance of salt (Shio) and pleasant sourness Yuzu in the pork based soup. The char siu surprised me with the burnt taste similar to that of Hong Kong style's roast meat.
There are several Afuri outlets in Japan. I had tried the one at Lumine 1 at Shinjuku. English language menu is available.
2. Ebisoba Ichigen えびそば一幻
Ebisoba originates from Sapporo, Japan. Ebi = shrimp which is my favourite seafood. Shrimp soup based sounds very appealing, like the local Singapore prawn noodle soup.
There was only 1 branch in Tokyo and that's here in Shinjuku. This is small joint here, with about 10-odd seats, in a rather quiet corner north of Shinjuku station. Though I had to queue, the customers turnover pretty fast.
Customers were given choice of soup base and noodle. My choice was miso added to the original prawn-pork soup base. Such Umami taste! It resembled the Singapore prawn noodle soup a lot! Add miso to Singapore prawn noodle soup and you may get this Ebisoba version. Why had I expected it might be somewhat different in the first place? If you like prawn noodle soup, you will like this as well.
3. Ichiran 一蘭
Ichiran is a famous pork-bone (tonkotsu) ramen from Fukuoka. It has established many outlets all across Japan. Despite so, one still may have to queue at one of the two outlets at Shinjuku.
Besides offering a good bowl of ramen, it allows consumers to customise the ramen to their personal taste. For instance, you may choose the level of salt, spiciness and hardness of the noodles. In addition, it provided a unique Japanese working-class dining experience.
Comments