はしづめ

I recently slammed a horrible ramen place in Hiroo, one of the wealthier parts of Tokyo. Apparently the foodie community took offense, and I was quickly schooled as to where the better noodles in town are.

Schooled indeed. Hashizune is what I expected of a noodle shop in the high-rent side of town. Elegant design (you might think it was a nice sushi-ya at first glance), plenty of extras on the menu, and quality drinks. More on those in a minute.

Above is the noodle menu for the day. Shark fin, Hong Kong style paikomen, and the simple steamed chicken with negi oil all looked good.

This shop is an extension of Shinagawa-based Hashizume Seimen noodle factory. Expect a choice of specialty noodles with any order. Today’s selection was:

ごぼう – Gobo is burdock root
モロヘイヤ – Mulukhiyah is a kind of Middle Eastern herb
こしょう – Pepper
花椒 – Kasho, or Sichuan pepper
とまと – Tomato

The staff recommended the chicken. I chose the kansho noodles for a bit of kick to match the simple soup. An excellent all around bowl; nice wafu flavors with tender steamed chicken and crispy cabbage. I’ll be back for some of their other dishes soon.

The noodles were very good, as expected from a long-running noodle factory.

Hashizume can be affordable, as the noodles are in the 1000 to 1500 yen price range. Certainly above average, but nothing outrageous (though the shark fin ramen was 2400 yen). Of course, if you start ordering off the side menu, prices can get a little high. Having just finished work, a little Japanese sake was in order. A nice offering from Shimane Prefecture.

After the noodles, I still had a bit of nihonshu left, so I tried to order a small appetizer to match my sake. However, with a slight grammar error on my part, instead of ordering “An appetizer that matches well with this sake,” I ordered “An appetizer and another order of this sake.”

Oops!

Official Site Here