Nagi Ramen Golden Gai

We walk along the very narrow alleyways of Golden Gai in Shinjuku, Tokyo looking for Nagi Ramen until we recognize the signage.  A young male employee in a Barbour jacket is standing at the entrance of the narrow stairs that lead to the ramen shop upstairs. I say to him "ramen?" and he asks if we speak Japanese. T tells him "sukoshi." He then tells us to please head upstairs to buy our ramen tickets first and then gestures us to join the line of customers after purchasing the tickets. We look in the direction of his hand gesture and see what we did not even realize before: a line of customers standing in a very dim alleyway so narrow that it only has space for a single line. The existence of the alleyway is not intentional; it happens to be a tight space between two buildings.

We walk up the rickety and narrow stairs to the ramen shop, each step of the stairs is not wide enough to rest the entire foot on. We get to the top and buy our ramen tickets from the vending machine (it is common practice to "order" and pay for your ramen through a vending machine so that the chef does not have to handle change). Then we walk down the stairs and join the line in the alleyway.

About 30 minutes later, the young man standing by the stairs gestures us upstairs to get seated. Ramen shops in Tokyo are generally tight spaced and Nagi Ramen is literally a hole in the wall. We have no complains, it adds to better socializing atmosphere for us at this 10-seater ramen shop. Once we're seated, we don't even think about moving about. We are there just to enjoy the ramen moment

Nagi Ramen specializes in tonkotsu broth flavored with sardines. The broth is pungent and the sardines flavor is strong. The taste is unlike anything we've had before. We've had quite a lot of tonkotsu ramen but when pork bones and sardines come together in the Nagi way, it transforms the broth to a whole new flavor. Behind the counter are two employees; one prepares the ramen and the other serves the ramen over the counter.

Preparing ramen has to be precise. For each batch, the noodles are placed on a weighing scale to get the right amount of noodles. Then, the noodles are placed in boiling water and the timer starts. Having the right amount of noodle with the right cooking time ensures consistency in reaching the ideal noodle texture. We get the special niboshi ramen and the tsukemen (dipping ramen). The noodle has an addictive chewy texture that shows that the noodle is freshly made. Each bowl has a few sheets of thin and slightly wide "noodle" that is very reminiscent of gyoza skin which I like very much. The pungent broth makes it the most memorable ramen we've had, and probably one of the best we've had.

One of the employees behind the counter asks if we are in Tokyo for vacation. He then says to us, "Working?" (at least he didn't mistake us for being students). We tell him yes, and he makes a guess and says "Engineer?" A wild guess definitely but far from accurate. We tell him it's our second time in Tokyo and the city is tanoshii. He smiles and agrees with us. I point to my bowl of my ramen and say "Best." He nods happily and the other employee preparing the ramen overhears and smiles to himself.

We are more than satisfied after our meal and as we carefully walk down the narrow stairs, the employee who is still supervising the line downstairs surprises us by saying "Take care."


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Nagi Ramen
Shinjuku Golden-gai (G2 street) 2F, 1-1-10, Kabukicho
Shinjuku-ku,Tokyo

Golden Gai in Shinjuku

Tucked away in the bustling entertainment area of East Shinjuku is the inconspicuously located Golden Gai. Here, there are rows of narrow alleyways filled with tiny dive bars. The term hole-in-the-wall takes a literal meaning here with each bar seating only an average of 6 people at a time. Walking along the quiet alleyways feels like there's nothing much going on here but in fact there's an interesting world that exists behind these narrow doors and walls.

Every door is narrow; some are left open and some are close. All doors are opaque which means that for those that are closed we are unable see what is behind them. Closed doors, however, do not mean that the bar is shut for the evening. We see someone opening one of the closed doors to a bar and we quickly catch a glimpse of what's inside: there's life going on in there. This is a speakeasy scene at its best. Bars located on the second floor are accessible via narrow stairs. The bars may look shanty from the outside but word is that Golden Gai attracts even the rich and famous with many bars having their own regular customers.

Space is incredibly tiny in each of these bars but the number of them in existence (about 40) along the narrow alleyways is impressive. The sheer thought of the whole lot of speakeasy bars congregating together in this small area puts the meaning of "nightlife", "speakeasy", and "bar hopping" to shame in other countries.

We wander along and decide on having a drink at Cue Bar, one of the bars which has its door open. The place comfortably seats about 5 people (6 might be pushing it). The "chill dude" bartender is wearing a beanie over his head and R&B music is playing in the background. T and I each get uisukii to kora (whiskey and cola) and after the bartender mixes and hands us our drinks, he picks up his drinking glass behind the counter and cheers with us. A few minutes later, he opens the lid of a pot tucked away behind one end of the bar and dishes out two small bowls of Japanese chicken wing curry for us. We snack on curry and chips with our drinks. (Note: Many bars in Japan have a sitting fee though usually a light snack is served along it). We chat with the bartender-- us in our poor Nihongo (Japanese language) and the bartender in his equally poor Eigo (English). Never mind the language barrier. These are great times getting to know each other. He asks us "First time? Golden Gai Shinjuku?". We ask him if he is the owner and he replied "Staff". This bar has been open for 7 years, we learn. Later in the night, a friend of the bartender comes in and orders a drink. After she gets her drink, she picks up her glass and we all cheers while wishing each other Merii Kurisumasu (Merry Christmas). Oh, wonderful times that we enjoy so much. It feels special to be sitting at a local dive in Golden Gai like we are one of those in-the-know who veer off the very busy and bright neon lit streets of Shinjuku into this world of Golden Gai.

We see some curious tourists who walk pass the bars along the alleyways but they don't enter. As we sip our drinks from inside the bar we know this makes our night.