Happy Birthday Bassanova!

Day 321:

Eight years ago on this day, Bassanova was born. Happy Birthday Bassanova!

After my usual morning chat with friends, I decided to explore for ramen shops in a different direction. My original plan was to go to a shop in Sakurajosui, but that shop was having plumbing problems and had to close early. So I ended up riding my sorry excuse for a bike to Shimo-Takaido and eating at Menya Nishikidou (麺屋 錦堂 下高井戸店) instead. Yeah, I hate my bike and need a new one badly. But that's a whole different story.

Nishikidou also has another branch in Sakurajosui, where I was initially, but stupid me forgot about it and came here. No matter, the ramen was decent and fairly good. The thick gyokai blend wasn't too fishy and had a nice feel.

The noodles were super chewy and matched the soup. I've heard that the Sakurajosui branch is better. Maybe someday I'll do a comparison.

When I arrived at work, Shuga had stopped by a local festival and bought some takoyaki. Woah, there's nothing like fresh takoyaki from a matsuri!

Later on, I got a visit from some followers of my blog who arrived this morning and came straight to Bassanova for their first bowl. F'ing awesome! I apologize if I get your names wrong (I'm terrible with names), but Justin (middle) and Lukas came from Chicago and New York, respectively, to travel around and eat ramen for a week. Justin had done his research too. With the help of my blog and Brian's, he had his tour totally mapped out. Impressive! Have fun dudes!

Alright, time for some natto-chazuke. Mmm...natto!

As Shuga and I were getting ready to close up shop, surprise surprise look who shows up....