らー麺あけどや (Akedoya in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture)

0 Reviews

らー麺あけどや

Akedoya is a highly ranked miso ramen shop out on the border of Tokyo and Chiba. The hunt for great miso ramen is a hard one. Miso can be too funky or too salty. For many ramen hunters, it’s the easiest to find fault in. For this ramen hunter, Akedoya was a great bowl with one major fault.

Like most miso ramen shops (Hokkaido-style at least) there is a range of choices. Thick miso, spicy miso, soupless tantanmen, and shoyu ramen. And tsukemen. And a bunch of toppings. And rice bowls.

There are also limited bowls to try. Ichikawa Station is along a major commuter line, so this shop could easily be a weekly stop for regulars. Go for the thick miso bowl if it is your first time. Or maybe the spicy version.

I ate this one live on Twitch. A year later and I still have the same number of viewers. It’s a fun hobby, though.

My complaint with the miso here lies on top of the noodles.

Corn. I hate corn.

Corn as a topping is all well and good. Put it as an option for customers to choose. I won’t choose it, and I’ll probably enjoy the bowl. Having to work around each kernel, my lunch turns into more of a task than a meal. I really hate the stuff. Freshly shucked corn isn’t the worst thing on earth, but in Japan, 99.9% of corn is genetically modified junk from imported cans. It’s unhealthy, full of bad sugars, and probably bad for the environment. I also think it just tastes bad.

The soup itself is made from a blend of five Japanese miso pastes. It’s quite nice, and the tender chashu on top almost made me forget about the corn.

This is why you shouldn’t listen to so-called critics. A bowl that is probably a four or five-point feast becomes a lowly two in my mouth when I have to look at that corn. According to the expert critics at TRY (Tokyo Ramen of the Year) magazine this one was a big hit in 2019 and 2020, though they were left out of subsequent year’s miso rankings.

Still reading? Did you know that I released a ramen cookbook? It’s available wherever fine cookbooks are sold, aka Amazon. Can’t wait to see what recipes you come up with!

Click here!

ラーメンかいざん (Kaizan in Chiba Prefecture)

ラーメンかいざん Kaizan's ramen is a mix of fatty pork, oily soup, and bits of seabura (pork back fat) alongside fat-neutralizing…

麺尊RAGE RENEGADES in Koganei, Tokyo

麺尊RAGE RENEGADES Ramen Renegades is the 2nd shop from mega-loved Menson Rage. The style of ramen and vibe of the…

航海屋 (Kokaiya in Shinjuku)

名代らーめん航海屋 Kokaiya was recommended in the comments of an entry I wrote many months ago. Like all suggestions, it went…