麺処ほん田 (Honda in Akihabara, Tokyo)

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麺処ほん田秋葉原本店

Ramen king Honda recently made the move from somewhere up in Oji to the middle of Akihabara. Top-level thick homemade noodles are the star of the show. Go for the shoyu or shio. Dip and slurp and go shopping for the latest weeb collectibles. This one’s a winner!

Absolutely massive menu. Most buttons are just different versions of the same dishes or topping add-ons. Come hungry and go for one of the top choices. And go for the tsukemen. The ramen choices are fine and all, but you should really bask in those glorious Honda noodles. Homemade!

The English menu is an easier read. I recommend the Soy-sauce dipping noodles with egg.

What makes Honda so special? Honda-san himself trained under the legend Yamagishi-san of Taishoken fame before opening his own shop. Dozens of accomplished ramen chefs can claim this, but Honda can add that he went solo at the age of 21. Went solo isn’t really the right way of saying it. The infamous ramen group Menya Koji helped out in a big way. This group is responsible for dozens if not hundreds of shops around Japan and now the world (check out this infographic). While they provided the help, they let Honda-san control the flavor. His delicious ramen, as well as the fact he was only 21 meant the media fell in love. His shop was a huge success.

At age 33, he was asked by the Japan Rail (JR) group to open a shop inside Akihabara Station and he jumped on the chance. It was also a way to renew the menu, something a lot of top ramen chefs have done in recent years.

A benefit of being with the Koji Group was the access to quality noodles. At the new Akihabara shop, though, noodles are made in-house with Hokkaido flour. They are the epitome of “perfect” noodles. Hungry boys and girls can go for larger servings. Be warned though, the quantity of even a small bowl is massive.

Expect a bit of a line, as this shop is only about 30 seconds from the Akihabara Station ticket gate.

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