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

Kinryu Ramen

Standing by the street with a bowl of steaming hot tonkotsu ramen on a cold wintry evening in Osaka is one of the reasons that make going out in the cold okay and yes, even enjoyable. At this standing-only and street-side location of Kinryu Ramen, we're in our coats and getting comfort from the steam wafting through the air and towards our faces while watching the young man methodically prepare bowls and bowls of ramen.

Kinryu is easily recognizable by its signature 3-D green dragon billboard. Buy your ramen ticket from the vending machine and choose between regular tonkotsu ramen or with extra chashu pork. Hand over your ticket to the man and wait.

Bowls of chives kimchi, cabbage kimchi, and raw garlic are on the counter for anyone who wishes to add spoonfuls of these condiments over the ramen. The tonkotsu broth is lighter than the usually rich cloudy color but still flavorful enough. Sure, Kinryu may not win the most mind blowing ramen award but it still makes good ramen. And, really, this is what we need: a reliable go-to spot to refuel with a Japanese staple.

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Kinryu Ramen
1-7-13 Nanba
Chuo-ku, Osaka
Open 24 hours

Kinryu Ramen has several locations. This particular location is just outside Dotonbori. Another popular location is along Dotonbori itself and it has seating (outdoors only) on raised tatami mats.

Kinmaru Ramen

With a bigger reputation for luxury shopping and lavish dining, Ginza may not have earned a spot on the list of Tokyo areas for cheap eats or ramen shops. That is not to say that these gems don't exist in Ginza. They do. They just don't dominate Ginza. There is a place for excellent tonkotsu ramen in Ginza and that is at Kinmaru. Thanks to some web search and ramen blogs, this place is a wonderful find.

We walk in, select and pay for our choices at the vending machine located right at the door. Our ramen tickets are dispensed from the vending machine. We go up to the counter and get a seat for ourselves. Aren't ramen shops in Japan fun that way? As soon as we are seated, one of the two men working behind the counter (which is also the kitchen) walks over and takes our ramen tickets. He then proceeds to ask us a question in Japanese and of course we suddenly blank out on what he is asking. We say to him "Eigo o hanasemasu ka?" (Do you speak English?) and then to find out that he doesn't. He then proceeds to prepare our ramen behind the counter. We make ourselves comfortable on the high top seats and then of course only at this time we finally realize what he just tried to ask us: how firm we'd like our noodles to be. At Kinmaru, the noodles can be boiled up to 5 different levels of firmness depending on the diner's preference. We learnt about this from Ramenate before heading to Kinmaru and then only to forget to say bari (hard) to the young man working at Kinmaru. I imagine it to be quite a challenge for the young man, a Japanese-only speaking person, to attempt asking and describing in English the different al dente levels that can be prepared for the noodles! Note: According to Ramenate, the 5 options are: yawame, bari, bari bari (very hard), mecha bari (super hard), and kona otoshi (noodles are plunged into boiling water just long enough to remove the flour).

My bowl of tonkotsu ramen and T's order of tsukemen arrive, and the noodles are presumably boiled to a default level of the normal or popular choice. At Kinmaru, tonkotsu ramen is served with thin-strand noodles while thicker noodles are used for tsukemen. For tsukemen, the noodles and broth are served separately with the purpose of dipping the noodles into the bowl of intensely flavored bowl of broth before getting slurped into the mouth. The noodles for my tonkotsu ramen are somewhere between soft and firm; T's noodles for his tsukemen go toward the firm side. The tonkotsu broth is deliciously flavorful without the slightest hint of a porky smell that could be a potential turn-off. It's rich without being too thick if you wanted to drink the broth up until the last drop. In addition to the slices of chashu pork that have come to be expected of ramen, a spoonful of stewed pork belly is added to the bowl. The noodles for the tsukemen come with a good amount of different toppings instead of the usual plain serving of noodles. Besides the chashu pork, there are sprouts, nori (seaweed), and scallions.

How do you make a tasty bowl of ramen even more tasty? On the counter are bowls of condiments-- raw garlic cloves (with garlic press) and pickled vegetables. We press some raw garlic into our noodles and they noticeably perk up the already tasty broth. As for the pickled vegetables, I like to eat them straight from my spoon to my mouth without mixing them with my noodles. But that's just me.

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Kinmaru
1-13-10 Ginza

Look for the two standing white banners at the entrance.