清湯豚骨白醤油拉麺 LABO麺 (Labo Men in Nakano, Tokyo)

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清湯豚骨白醤油拉麺 LABO麺

High-brow ramen comes to Nakano with this French-inspired bowl. Light soup using plenty of specialty ingredients just minutes from the station. Bistro系? You’ll hear no complaints here when a seasoned chef dabbles in the world of ramen.

Chef Seiji Takenaka (竹中誠治さん) supervises the menu with his French expertise. He was a chef aboard a luxury ocean liner before moving on to Tokyo’s kufuku± restaurant, a Japanese-French fusion spot over on the Akihabara side of town. There have been a few chefs who got their experience in fine dining before heading over to the ramen world. Motenashi Kuroki and Ginza Hachigo come to mind.

The soup is a combo of pork, chicken, and dried seafood. It’s almost like a pork bouillon. Very clean tasting. These clear pork soups have been a bit of a trend in Tokyo recently. Seasoning is from a white soy sauce from Shichifuku Brewery in Aichi Prefecture (愛知県七福醸造). A solid match for the unique toppings.

The green bit in the bowl is a slice of fu (生麩), a steamed gluten dough flavored, in this case, with matcha green tea. The thin takenoko bamboo shoot looks almost like a French whiter asparagus.

Pungent yuzukosho on the side and a bit of porcini paste on the brim of the bowl for a change in taste.

It’s also good to note that though they only had a couple of choices on the menu, they do constant limited bowls throughout the year using seasonal ingredients. It also needs to be noted that the shop is lunch only. At dinner time this is a completely different restaurant serving aged ham, vegetables, and wine.

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