GACHI 油そば

I like when successful shops open another branch. I like it even more when each new branch is a totally different concept. Shono, an awesome tonkotsu place just east of Shinjuku, gave way to Gachi, a fried-chicken-tsukemen spot in the middle of Shinjuku’s gay-bar neighborhood. Next came Gotsubo, a tiny shop serving vege-centric noodles, next to Shinjuku’s famous park. The latest, Gachi Aburasoba, goes with nothing but soupless noodles. Yes, in Shinjuku.

I live in Shinjuku, which made the wheelchair commute less painful than it could have been.

The concept of aburasoba is simple. Just leave out the soup, add a little extra tare seasoning sauce, and make sure there is plenty of high quality abura, fat, to bring the dish together.

Aburasoba can be hit or miss. Without the soup, the noodles need to be extra special. The larger aburasoba chain shops in Tokyo source their noodles from a factory. Not good.

Gachi makes theirs in the back. The thick ones, futomen, are outstanding. The noodle chef bills them as nama-pasta-chuka; fresh pasta Chinese style. Some of the best I’ve had.