らぁめん一福

I had been here before, back when the shop was hidden down a maze of back streets. There were both stairs and a pedestrian tunnel involved in getting to this bowl. This may be minutes from Shinjuku and its modern towers, but some of these back roads look like they belong in the 40s. Crazy, it always felt like an adventure into the past.

The new shop is a shiny place that is no problem to get to. Still very much a local shop, visited by locals. I will miss the old hard-to-find spot though. There was something . . . special about it.

The irorimen, iron fireplace ramen, is what to get. A miso ramen in a technical sense, this bowl includes medicinal Japanese sake, crunchy shark cartilage, and other secret ingredients meant to promote health in a way that only medicinal foods can.

The magic thing about this bowl is how the flavor develops. The first sip is borderline boring, but it slowly gets creamier and more flavorful. By the end, you’ll have no problem draining the bowl.