ゴールデンタイガー (Golden Tiger in Kumagaya, Saitama)

0 Reviews

ゴールデンタイガー

Golden Tiger was up there on my list for a while. It’s just so dang far out of the way up in Kumagaya. Kumagaya is one of those cities that you only hear about on the news. In the summers, it regularly breaks 40 degrees up here. Newsworthy stuff here. Out of the way and swelteringly hot? Let’s hope the ramen sells this place.

One reason I’m always reminded of Golden Tiger is their sticker game. I see their shop’s original stickers everywhere I go.

Ramen stickers are a thing in Japan. Shops make limited-run stickers, and the shop staff post them up anywhere and everywhere they visit. In return, other sticker-having ramen lovers pass their own stickers to the master at Golden Tiger when they visit. If you pay attention, you may see the Ramen Adventures original sticker on your own adventures.

Golden Tiger has a huge variety, with TKM being a common denominator.

If the soup is a rainbow of flavors, the noodles are the magical pot of gold at the end. While I wanted the tsukemen, many people come here for the TKM—卵かけご麺—tamago kake men. It’s a play on TKG, a simple dish of rice topped with a raw egg and a little soy sauce. Tamago means egg. Kake means topped with. Gohan is rice. Men is noodles. Golden Tiger tops noodles with a light sauce and raw egg. Mix it all up and enjoy.

This time I went with the standard Golden tsukemen. A heavy, backfat-laden broth for those wheaty noodles. There is also a Tiger tsukemen with less fat and a tomato tsukemen with . . . tomato. All choices seem legit.

Next time I’m in town I’ll brave the heat and long line to try the TKM.

Expect a long wait. There were 15-20 people outside when I arrived before opening. This is nothing new in the ramen universe, but Kumagaya famously being the hottest town in the said universe might affect your choice to line up.

Grab a Ramen Adventures shirt on Amazon! Over 20 styles and colors to choose from! USA customers click here. Also available in Japan, Italy, France, Germany, and the UK. If you’re an artist, let’s collab on a design!

貧瞋癡 (Tonjinchi in Toyama Prefecture)

貧瞋癡 Tonjinchi is a tough-to-reach shop in Himi City (氷見市) at the end of the Himi Line in Toyama Prefecture.…

貝だし地鶏中華そばあん藤 (Ando in Enoshima, Kagawa)

貝だし地鶏中華そばあん藤えのしま店 Oceanside ramen in the tourist town of Enoshima. I actually stumbled onto this one completely by chance.…

生粋花のれん (Hananoren in Bunkyo, Tokyo)

生粋花のれん Hananoren on Tokyo's north side is a ramen shop using only choice ingredients. Everything that can be sourced…