濃菜麺井の庄

Let’s take a moment and switch gears. Though we can all agree that a thick tonkotsu-shoyu soup is ambrosia, the nectar of the gods, we might not be able to agree on which god is slurping away up in his (or her) kingdom.

If you look at my ancestry, it’s a Jewish gd. If you look at my recent travels, I am a devout Buddhist. If you look at the hip hop on my iPod, I associate with Muslims. I’ve chanted with cults, sang gospel in churches, and been audited by Scientology. This stuff fascinates me, and when I have the time, I will listen to people’s religious spiel.

I ran into a group of 20 year old Mormons on their mission out on the Seibu line. Japan . . . not a bad place to be stuck for 2 years! Land of soy sauce and Mothra. They seized the chance to tell me more about their passion, and I took the chance to do the same. And that is how Elder Prince, Elder Zamarripa, Elder Reynolds, and I ended up at Inosho.

Inosho has a fairly famous shop in Shakujikoen. Their spicy tsukemen has been ranked on the short-list of Tokyo’s hottest. I was completely unprepared for the Inosho in Nerima.

Jiro-kei?

It would appear that way. I’m not the biggest fan of the garlic-ladden, male-sided Jiro style, but I’m in the clear minority. Inosho’s stand-out difference was the atmosphere. Relaxed and friendly.

Get the ベジ topping. It’s a bowl of cabbage and bean sprouts and extra that you dump in your ramen for a kick. The extra in question comes in 4 varieties. The ジロベジ was suggested by the staff. You can probably guess what comes with that.