煮干しつけ麺 宮本 Miyamoto: high fidelity

Rounding out our tsukemen September is one of the brightest new shops that opened last year. Miyamoto is yet another high-quality tonkotsu-gyokai, this one coming from a master who trained at the highly regarded Itto.

Gokuko (ultra thick) niboshi tsukemen (830yen)

The signature tsukemen is a broth of rich and briny sludge. What separates Miyamoto from other refined tsukemen is the concentration on gyokai over tonkotsu. Some people might not go for it, but this is a nice alternative to the pork-intensive dipping soups of most Tokyo bowls. The broth is intensely dense, maybe the thickest standard tsukemen broth we've ever had, but surprisingly slurpable due to the lack of meat concentration.

The noodles, supplied by Itto, are immaculate. With great bite and thickness, these are maybe the best thick-cut tsukemen noodles outside of only a couple of those shops mentioned above. The only downside here is you need to order a larger portion, as the standard 200g is less than your average tsukemen noodle pile. This was one of the rare times I wanted more noodles to sop up the thick broth.

Miyamoto also serves up a couple of regular ramen, with a light option for those looking for a less intense bowl. The chukasoba is also niboshi-heavy, though without any pork bone broth to cut the fish, the broth is a little too sour.

Gokujo (ultra quality) niboshi soba (780yen)

Great thin noodles are a nice match for the lighter soup, but you should really get the tsukemen.

One thing that must be mentioned is that the chefs and staff really know how to turn over a counter. There were maybe 10 people ahead of us, but we waited only about 20 minutes to get seated and served. Despite that, we didn't feel rushed and the staff greeted us on the way in and out.

Very good bowls enhanced by a professional operation makes it easy to see why Miyamoto made so many best-of lists in 2015, despite being out in Kamata (also the hometown of Ishii Isami, mangaka of 750 Rider!).

Tokyo, Ota-ku, Nishi-Kamata 7-8-1
Closest stn: Kamata

Open from 11am-230pm and 6-9pm (closed Wednesdays)

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