Ivan and friends...

Day 1300:

Cheese dog.

Turkey wrap.

A REAL ramen burger.

Ivan Ramen Plus.

Matsumoto.

Ume-shio Hiyashi Ramen.

Ivan and friends.

Looking forward to the new Ivan Ramen opening up in New York. Perhaps we can work together again...

A dream connection...

Day 1001:

あっら～めん！

Sakura Shokudo (桜食堂) in Kyodo opened about a year ago with little or no hype.

But I must say that this Shoyu Ramen (醤油ら～めん) is one of the better bowls I've had this year.

It's clean. And by clean I mean crisp and refreshing. An impressive blend of old-school and new-school.

Looking at the chefs uniform, I thought he had some connection with FDNY so I asked him. It turns out he doesn't. Apparently, a uniform shop in Shimokitazawa has these shirts numbered 1 through 4 and although he currently works alone, he thought it would be cool to have his staff where these with a different number. Ha! Now that's some inside scoop! lol.

Anyway, this night was all about the dream connection.

Four years ago, it started with a bowl of dreams...

And then a trek to Sacramento to slurp one of the best bowls of ramen in NoCal.

Yup, Shoki Ramen in Tokyo!!! After a great dinner, Ueyama-san wanted to check out IRP so I took them.

Thank you Ueyama-san!!!

Name change...

Day 976:

What used to be Seisyomaru (つけ麺 中華そば 清勝丸) in Kyodo is now Shogunmaru (つけ麺 中華そば 昇輝丸).

Different name...

Same mediocre tsukemen.

Apparently they stopped making their own noodles and perhaps that is the reason for their name change?

Aomori niboshi...

Day 948:

Goukaku (青森煮干し中華そば ごうかく) recently opened a shop in Kyodo after having weekend-ramen success at their motsu/guts restaurant in Gotokuji.

Having been open for only a couple months, the specialty here is the Aomori Niboshi Chuukasoba.

It's a light shoyu ramen with a distinct niboshi flavor and just enough bitterness.

New toppings for the Hiyashi Basil Soba!

By the way, do you like our new bowls?

GCS!

Hide me...

Day 795:

I heard through the ramen vine that Ivan moved back to New York. Interesting...

Whatup Jamie!

Since Boom has never been to Plus, we decided to come here on our break.

The Shio Ramen was something I had yet to try.

And now I can say I tried it.

With something still feeling empty, Boom and I decided to grab a second bowl at nearby Ramen Hide (らあめん英本店).

Not to be confused with Hide-chan, but it's kinda similar.

Pork is king.

This was probably one of the better bowls of tonkotsu that I've had in awhile. I wanted to kaedama, but the previous bowl wouldn't let me.

I need to hide me more often...

Garlicked...

Day 731:

Two years to this day, I started my first day of ever working in a ramen shop. By pure coincidence, I found myself grabbing a bowl at Ivan Ramen Plus so I could return something that I borrowed from Jamie.

Plus, Jamie kept telling me about the new Garlic Shoyu Abura Men (ニンニク醤油あぶら麺). Today was also the debut of the new Stamina Oyako Don (スタミナ親子丼) so I added it to my noodles.

Good flavor, a tad too salty, and way too much garlic for me. haha. What I would like to see though is the chicken from the stamina-don on top of the abura men. I think they would go well with each other.

Anyway, I messed around with some garlic at work too....burnt garlic.

On this day it might have been a good thing that my girlfriend is in France...

Shuga's last day...

Day 660:

I stopped by Ivan Ramen Plus to say hello to Jamie.

And I noticed there was a new Agodashi Ramen (二代目あごだしラーメン).

Now this, I really enjoyed.

Chicken blends well with flying fish.

Go Ivan!

And now...I give you Shuga's last bowl. Yes, I got to eat the last bowl that Shuga's hands touched.

Good luck Shuga!! Good luck Kimura-san!! I'm sure our paths will cross again.

I guess it's time for me to quit baseball and go back to the game I love...

Ramen Plus...Animal!

Day 585:

During the weekends, my express train to and from work makes a stop in Kyodo. And with today being Saturday, I decided to stop by and say hi to some familiar faces. To my surprise, I was greeted by Jamie. Apparently, he will be working here for awhile to hone in on his recently learned Ramen Gakkou skills. Go Jamie!

The reason I came here today was because I heard there were new bowls to slurp on the menu.

Like this shoyu ramen that contained more than just fish in the soup.

Not that my opinion really matters, but I'm glad Ivan did this.

I'll try to make it back for the other bowls someday.

And I'll definitely be back for the meatballs.

It was an anxious day, but in the end it turned out just as I had imagined it would.