麺屋 優創 Yusaku: you don't suck

Seafood ramen can be hit or miss. Yusaku bills itself as the "real ramen."

We shall see.

Their claim to fame is a seafood ramen, with a dashi comprised of shrimp, clam, and crab. The seafood bowls come in miso...

Gyokai miso ramen (880yen)

...or shoyu.

Gyokai shoyu ramen (880yen)

The miso is the clear winner here. Rich and creamy essence of the sea, its like eating ramen in a lobster bisque. Those who avoid seafood should avoid this bowl like the fish plague. 

But those with seafood gullets should flock to this bowl. Yusaku uses a special flat noodle for these bowls, which works very, very well. If the soup were a bit thicker, it would be like eating a bowl of Japanese tomato-cream, seafood fettucine.

There's also a pretty good tonkotsu shoyu, and its less oily than similar iekei bowls. 

Tonkotsu shoyu ramen (680yen)

But the clear attractions here are the fish bowls. I only wish there were seafood toppings like whole grilled shrimps and scallops, salmon roe, and king crab legs.

Tokyo, Shinjuku-ku, Hyakunincho 2-19-11

Closest stn: Okubo

Open from 1130am-9pm (closed Wednesdays)

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