厚木本丸亭

Ramen Adventures has covered just shy of 500 shops in Tokyo. Quite a feat for an overseas native, perhaps, but this number pales in comparison to some people I’ve met around town. One such guy was at a recent one-day-only ramen collaboration. A ramen-data encyclopedia who had visited in the thousands, I asked him for some recommendations near stations I would be working at in the coming month. Stations far, far away.

Hon-Atsugi station is about an hour west of Shinjuku. I’ve been here a few times, but always remained seated as my train sped past.

It may be far off, but good ramen can be found anywhere in Japan.

Good ramen indeed.

Shio is a tough nut to crack. There is a reason noodles in clear chicken soup is reserved for cheap cans; the delicate flavors simply don’t work when slurping. At least, they don’t work as well as something thicker in viscosity or stronger in taste. But every so often, shio is done right. The toppings usually stand out as top quality, the noodles are just right, and the aroma is unmistakably umami.