光来 Korai: cheap thrills

I was walking around Shinjuku and, as usual, was starving. But I had a plan to dine out with friends that night, so I needed something cheap and light. It also needed to be ramen.

And I got you, Korai, you unseemly-looking ramen shop on the west side of Shinjuku. The only problem was that the place was filled with ojisan, or old Japanese men, eating their ramen while drinking bottles and bottles of beer. I am a brave ramen soul, though, and entered anyway.

This...is...cheap! Or rather, very reasonably priced ramen. The most expensive item on the menu is 730 yen, and their standard shoyu ramen is only 400 yen. Cheap...light...perfect.

I also happen to love this type of old-school chukasoba. No unnecessary ingredients.

Chukasoba (400yen)

Curly noodles with good texture that absorb the soup. Even though it's cheap, the quality of the noodle flour, as well as the taste of the egg, were pretty good.

Japan plans to keep raising the sales tax, so cheap and tasty ramen like this might disappear in the near future. But to me, Korai Ramen is what ramen has always been about. I hope they keep serving and entertaining their regular ojisan customers for a long time.

Tokyo, Shinjuku-ku, Nishi-Shinjuku 7-14-12
Closest stn: Shinjuku

Open from 11am-3pm and 430-9pm (closed Sundays)

Lum