麺屋音 Oto: a noise within

Kitasenju is well-known for Matador and its Miso sister, but there are a lot of solid shops that most people don't bother with since the area is so far out of central Tokyo.

Tokusei niboshi soba (990yen)

Oto, serving up another smooth as silk niboshi, usually has a small line of diverse clientele: salarymen, office laides, teenagers going home from cram school, hostesses about to begin an all-night shift represent this lively part of town. Oto, though, is refined, with a corridor that would befit an expensive kaiseki restaurant.

The glamour doesn't stop at the entrance. You are given an oshibori hot towel, and your ramen is served on a lacquer tray flecked with gold specks.

The ramen? Great stuff, with an assortment of toppings and seasonings to vary the flavor. The broth is surprisingly mild, given a freshness with bits of chopped scallion, onions, and yuzu peel, and the thin noodles are a nice match for this soup.

A standout is this chicken meatball comprised of bits of nankotsu, or chicken cartilage, which give the usual mushy texture of the meatballs a nice crunchiness.

Oto means "sound" in Japanese, and the day I visited the shop was noisy with the chatter of a couple young hostesses talking non-stop about non-ramen things. I'd imagine, though, that this austere setting would typically be a quiet meal amidst the bustle of the Kitasenju crowd on most days.

Tokyo, Adachi-ku, Senju 3-60
Closest stn: Kitasenju

Open from 1130am-3pm and 5-11pm

Hearts

信玄 南６条店 Shingen Minami 6-Jo: shogun of Susukino

Our ramen journey in Hokkaido continued. After going to Saimi, we went to Susukino in Sapporo. This area seems just like Kabukicho in Shinjuku. Two bowls of ramen sounded crazy for my tiny woman’s body, but we came all the way here, so my doubts blew away very fast. Hearts got a few local beers in Susukino, and after it got dark, we headed to Shingen. Shingen is originally from Ishikari, midwest Hokkaido. Because of the fishermen in this cold area, Shingen is famous for Ishikari-nabe, which is a miso-based hot pot. The miso ramen must be popular after drinking, but they serve various kinds of ramen. Here are parts of the menu.

Echigo---Kara miso(spicy)

Shinshu---Koku miso(rich)

Tosa---Assari shio(light)

Satsuma---Kotteri shio(rich )

Owari---Assari shoyu(light)

Mito---Kotteri shoyu(rich)

These interesting names are feudal domains in Edo era of Japan. Not coincidentally, Shingen is also the name of a legendary daimyo whose attempts to rule the country have been chronicled in films, dramas, and video games. Conquer all the bowls and become the Shogun of Susukino.

We heard the shio at this Shingen was their specialty, and since we also we just ate miso at Saimi, we both ordered shio. Tosa (light)...

Tosa (735yen)

...and Satsuma (rich). 

Half Satsuma (525yen)

I prefer Satsuma more than Tosa. Even the half-sized bowl was bigger than I expected; just seeing it made my stomach stuffed, but once I sipped the soup, I oddly kept eating. The rich bowl has what appears to be a soup closer to tonkotsu in its consistency, but the shio tare gives the bowl a creamy, buttery flavor that is strangely not salty at all.

I had never eaten such a creamy shio before, and the curly egg noodles go fantastically well with the soup. The noodles seemed like they were dancing on my lips. 

When I hear “shio,” I always imagined a transparent soup, but Shingen's creamy shio was shockingly good. I cannot describe Shingen in Susukino as beautiful, but I really like the sticky, oily floor and its old-time shokudo (cafeteria) atmosphere. What both Hearts and I liked more is that we can order half-sized ramen. It is a really reasonable choice for ramen hunters, small eaters, or as post-drinking ramen. Even after a couple months have passed from our trip, Shingen stays in my heart.

Sapporo, Chuo-ku, Minami 6-Jo, Nishi-8

Closest stn: Higashi-Honganjimae

Open from 1130-130am

Lum

麺屋 彩未 Saimi: the rambling guitarist

Sapporo is known not just for great ramen, but great food in general, from fresh dairy to grilled lamb and value revolving sushi. The city's claim to fame is miso, so Lum and I trekked over to the top-ranked shop in the city. Saimi is the highest rated miso shop on Tabelog and numerous ramen ranking sites in all of Japan. Get there well before it opens on a weekday and the lines won't be too bad.

Miso ramen (750yen)

Saimi puts out a refined miso in the vein of Sumire or Sapporo Junren, but without the added layers of back fat that tends to weigh those bowls down. Saimi goes heavy on fresh ginger to cut some of the fermented saltiness of the miso, and adds in several little touches to vary the texture, from the chewy bits of pork to the thin and crunchy menma. They also use a very high quality miso blend, with a tonkotsu soup that is also cut with some gyokai broth. The result is a bowl that is smooth to the very end, without any cloying miso aftertaste, and one of the very few miso bowls I didn't get sick of midway through.

Another reason this bowl is so strong is the chewy yellow noodles, a staple of most miso bowls. These are springy and full of hearty bite. Some of the best noodles of any bowl I've ever had.

Whether or not Saimi is your number one is all a matter of taste and perspective, but at worst, this is a very accessible bowl that doesn't inspire haters, and at best, is one of the smoothest, most balanced bowls of miso in the country.

Hokkaido, Sapporo, Toyohira-ku, Misono 10-5-3-12
Closest stn: Misono

Open from 11am-315pm and 5-730pm (closed Mondays)

Hearts

Umami Dashi Noodle 素良 Sora: real [CLOSED]

Anyone can use social media to spread out anything very easily to world nowadays. I also always see a lot of people who use or put a phone on the table when they eat. I personally don’t like those kinds of behaviors because I really want to concentrate on the meal, enjoy conversation, and not look at unnecessary information while I eat. So I'm sometimes disappointed to see people looking at their phone in front of wonderful meals.

Sora is a ramen shop where you can just enjoy and concentrate on the food without caring about the behavior of others. You're not allowed to use phones, apps, or cameras inside. Mr. Miyazaki, the owner of Sora no Iro, quietly opened this shop in February in the old Salt and Mushroom location. He didn't promote it heavily, didn't allow any media sites to come and hype the shop up. He just really wants customers to enjoy ramen by activating their five senses thanks to the clean ingredients and fresh produce from local suppliers and farmers.

For Hearts and me, his rules aren't strict at all, but some might be put off from having to be untethered from their phones. Some people seem eat to take a photo in order to get “likes” or to improve their restaurant review site. They are surrounded by so much information but they haven’t even tried the ramen yet. Here, we can hear the sound of the cooking, the conversation between staff. 

We were allowed to take photos for a special five-year anniversary of Sora no Iro. It was also a fundraising charity drive, where all proceeds from the anniversary bowls would go towards the victims of the Kumamoto earthquake. For this special day, Miyazaki-san whipped up a special bowl. 

A shio broth enhanced by cod dashi, several types of domestically and sustainably grown chashu and vegetables, sautéed oyster mushrooms, bright orange seasoned egg, and topped with a mushroom espuma that came from a collaboration with Sapporo's MEN EIJI and Seto's Menya Katabutsu. The curly handmade noodles were excellent and reminiscent of a Kitakata style bowl.

Isn’t ramen so beautiful? I thought we could enjoy this so much more than usual without the typical technological disturbances. Since this was a one-day only special, you'll have to visit the shop to see what high quality bowls Sora puts out on a daily basis.

Hearts and I really agree with Mr. Miyazaki’s concept. We kept talking and talking and talking after we finished eating at Sora, being truly satisfied with good ramen. I think directly because of our modern times we need to enjoy and appreciate meals. Ramen can teach us what is truly important.

Tokyo, Chiyoda-ku, Kojimachi 3-4-3

Closest stn: Kojimachi

Open from 12-3pm (closed Sundays and Mondays) 

Lum

中華蕎麦 蘭鋳 Ranchu: serenity

Ranchu has been on our radar for some time now, but they have weird hours and it's always been a little bit of a chore to get there. They serve a polished niboshi shoyu with some of the best chashu in the city.

Ajitama soba (900yen)

Unfortunately, there was no chashu-men, so I settled for a bowl of chopped chashu covered in scallions. Meaty and paired well with the crunchy scallions, this appetizer would have been even better with a beer, but it was only noon, a good hour before I usually start my Tuesday drinking marathon, so Lum and I just munched on them sober.

A subtle niboshi flavor permeates this bowl, but after experiencing some recent other gutsier shops, I was expecting a little more punch. The noodles, from Mikawaya Seimen, were excellent. The chashu was as good as advertised, rare and pink and tender when it arrived. The only problem with this kind of slow-roasted pork is that you have to eat it within the first minute or two; otherwise, it will get cooked in the soup into a less appetizing hard beige slab.

Ranchu's well-balanced bowl is served in a quiet setting despite being on a busy thoroughfare, and the customers inside were intent on savoring the chefs' handiwork. A serene atmosphere for appreciating ramen.

Tokyo, Suginami-ku, Horinouchi 2-13-13
Closest stn: Honancho

Open from 12-2pm and 6-9pm (12-3pm on Saturdays, closed Sundays)

Hearts