Hello summer...

Day 940:

The basil is live...

During break I went back to Ramen Nakamura (らーめん中村) and tried their Sakana-dashi Wafu Tsukemen (魚だし和風つけ麺).

Not bad, but not great either.

I think I'll stick with their miso ramen from now on.

The ramen addiction...

Day 939:

After spending a few hours last night with Jiraigen boss, we both realized that we tend to favor the same type of ramen--old school shoyu. So after mentioning many of our favorite shops and agreeing on them, I woke up with a craving for Kanchintei (漢珍亭) in Ogikubo.

So I went...

And satisfied that craving.

To say that this is an addiction may be accurate, but it is more than that. It is passion...pure ramen passion.

The boss...

Day 938:

I started the day making adjustments.

Then relaxed over some abalone.

And gyoza.

Then I got a call from Hiroshi.

And a couple hours later I was hanging out with one of my idols. Jiraigen Boss!!!!

I'm still beside myself...

Splendidly sour...

Day 937:

Lunch with the prez!!!

Tempura!!!

Tekkinro (躍金楼) has been serving the finest tempura since the Meiji Era.

Thank you mister president!

And the rest of the day went something like this...

Taisho!

Pops!

Secret menu!

Vinegar (酢) Ramen

Splendidly sour!

Cold summer noodle...

Day 936:

During summer, just about every ramen shop serves a cold noodle for those that don't want to deal with the heat. This is my contribution: Hiyashi Basil Soba (冷しバジルソバ). It's actually quite refreshing. Come give it a try!

Meanwhile, Jake-san brought some of his shiodare for us to try in our tonkotsu.

Hmm...our regular tonkotsu is better!

Unagi with mom!

Somehow I ended up at Doma Doma too. Doma Doma Ramen (土間土間ラーメン)??

In collaboration with Setagaya, this Doma Doma Ramen was...

...not...exactly...the...best...and...probably...closer...to...the...worst...

Anyway, come try my Hiyashi Basil Soba!! There's still time!!!

Almost there...

Day 935:

I needed to clear my mind before work.

Okay, I think I'm almost there.

But it needs something fresh...

Stomach hold...

Day 934:

When a famous pro-wrestler opens a ramen shop, you better be careful what you say about it or you just might get caught in a Stomach Hold (胃袋掴味 Stomach Hold). Thankfully, the ramen here is not that bad.

It's actually a Yakitori shop at night that converts into a chicken-based ramen shop for lunch. I guess it makes perfect sense. You can choose from shio ramen, shoyu ramen, or tsukemen.

I chose to go with the most popular Tori Shio Ramen.

Simply satisfying is all I can say. Leftovers have never been treated so well.

Yoshihiro Takayama can put me in a stomach hold anyday. Just kidding!

Talk about a stomach hold! I gotta stop having burgers after ramen! haha.

Okay so this is what I've been working on now.

It's something cold for the summer...

Shoyu stained...

Day 933:

Look!

Gamushara!

I love how the shoyu...

Stains the noodles.

This is a great bowl.

A good day...

Day 932:

Koujitsu (好日) is a small shop in Higashi-Nakano that is run by an all-women staff and claims to be ”mukacho” (無化調), in other words "no msg." Although I enjoy my daily doses of the controversial chemical, I guess sometimes I can do without it.

The Tsukemen seems to be the most popular.

IMHO, Marucho-kei is better than Rokurinsha-kei.

The Ramen here is also very good. In fact, I think I prefer the ramen over the tsukemen.

The soup is light with just enough shoyu flavor and the noodles are overly chewy almost like udon. They kind of reminded me of Suzuran.

Anyway, I've decided to give up on the miso ramen for now.

Actually I'm not giving up. I'm gonna start working on something else first.

Salty chashu...

Day 931:

I used to enjoy Tetsuya (てつや), but over time I guess things change.

Perhaps it is the ramen or perhaps it's just my tastebuds.

Anyhow, overly salty was an understatement.