Year: 2013

東京ラーメンショー Time again for the annual Tokyo Ramen Show! I said I wouldn’t go this year, but the nice weather meant that I should probably leave the house. 10am is a good time to show up, as the lines weren’t too bad. You can safely jump in the longest one at this time, and only…

Well, the 2013 Grand Tsukemen Fest is finally over this week (November 6th, 2013). Twenty-four shops made the trek out to cook, serve, and compete in the all-tsukemen fun. My ranking for the fourth week is as follows: 錦本店 – Nishiki, from up north in Akita Prefecture, brought an awesome bowl of thick niboshi tori…

Week 3 気むずかし家 – Kimuzukashiya really brought it with this surprise winner. Beautiful fried chicken, made from local birds from the Shinshu region of Japan, were standard. They could easily have charged 300 yen for this exquisite topping. The soup was just light enough to balance with the tartar sauce and homemade pickles. And the…

大つけ麺博 Here is the order I would rank the 2nd week’s entries. I have to preface it, though, with the weather. The weather has been either frigid and rainy, or humid and warm these days. This plays a huge roll with the Grand Tsukemen Fest. The bowls are plastic, and you are sitting outdoors. Thus,…

Don’t worry, these shots are from the first week of the event. There are still plenty of opportunities to have some delicious tsukemen this year. This is what happens when you have great weekend weather and a lot of hungry people in Shinjuku! 売切れ – Urikire –  means sold out! http://dai-tsukemen-haku.com/en http://dai-tsukemen-haku.com/en http://dai-tsukemen-haku.com/en http://dai-tsukemen-haku.com/en

大つけ麺博 Here are the six bowls of tsukemen from the first week of the festival, in the order I would rank them. Enjoy! 麺屋あっ晴れ (Menya Appare) is a gritty, intense tonkotsu gyokai. The quail eggs are a nice touch. This bowl was worthy of the long line. Over an hour at times. 稲葉 (Inaba) is…

And this is what the entrance looks like. Let me break it down. Be sure you buy your ticket before lining up. One ticket works for any shop. You’ll probably want the blue one. The pink is ladies size (smaller and ladies only), and the yellow one is for a 0% alcohol beer. There are…