中村屋

A legendary shop, many miles from Tokyo.

Although Nakamuraya’s ramen is available closer to central Tokyo at the West Park Cafe, visiting the main shop was on my list. Not just to try the ramen, but to meet the shop’s newest member. It’s Keizo! After 6 months at Ivan Ramen, and a year at Bassanova, he has stepped into another ramen position. You can read about his daily life over at goramen.

The #1 seller these days is the yuzu shio, a light salt ramen with some fresh yuzu citrus grated in.

The shop’s signature shake. The cooked noodles should be as free of water as possible, for the taste. But equally important is the showmanship involved.

What to say that the picture doesn’t? This bowl is superb. The pork is flame roasted, the noodles done just right, and the extras, like the hint of yuzu, just adds to it all.

The shio was some of the best I’ve ever had. I didn’t have a chance to try the shoyu ramen, and if a history of hundreds of bowls has taught me anything, it’s that I always like a shop’s shoyu more than the shio.