キング製麺 (King Seimen in Oji, Tokyo)

0 Reviews

キング製麺

It’s good to be the king. In this case, it’s good to be King Seimen. Almost immediately after opening, this became one of Tokyo’s top shops. Homemade noodles in a white shoyu broth with next-level wontons. Oh, and it’s kissed with aromatic sansho oil.

King Seimen is the 3rd shop from the Koike group. The second was Nishino. The fourth (review coming someday) is President. All of them are very highly rated.

The ratings are a funny thing. I can’t be bothered to do the complete research, but I think all of these shops made it in the Michelin Guide. All the shops are up there on the Japanese food ranking site Tabelog. All the shops are in every ramen magazine. Though they are all different, they share similarities. Personally, I think rankings should only include one shop from a ramen “group.” What do you think? Are they different enough to all make it?

King Seimen is the only one in the group that makes their own noodles.

The move, take it from me, is to get the regular bowl and then a side order of double wontons. Three shrimp wonton and three pork wonton. Thank me later.

The soup is a light, umami-rich broth made from dried fish, konbu, and katsuo. The holy trinity of dashi. Go for the sansho ramen (山椒ラーメン) if you like the stuff. Fresh numbing peppercorn oil. It’s got slight citrus notes and some slight numbing effects. Not for everyone.

The description of the wontons is a study of Japanese onomonopia. ツルツル (tsurutsuru) meaning silky smooth. パンパン (panpan) meaning bulging. プリプリ (puripuri) meaning tender. Be careful with these words, by the way. You don’t want to call your girlfriend puripuri.

Another huge 5/5 shop on the Tokyo ramen scene. If I ever fix my www.bestoframen.com site I’ll put this one up there for sure.

These were some top-of-the-heap wontons. If I’m ever asked for a wonton ranking King is the king.

If tourism ever comes back, this might be one of my go-to spots for overseas customers. It’s that good.

Looking at the menu, I see a tantan mazesoba and a bunch of tsukemen options. Let’s go!

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