ただいま変身中 (Tadaima Henshinchu in Nakano, Tokyo)

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ただいま変身中

Ramen can be whatever the chef wants. I’m fully fine with that thinking. As long as you have some nice slurpable noodles and am umami-rich soup, you do you. That’s why I’m on board when a former French chef makes a creamy oyster broth topped with oysters and flying fish roe. This shop is I’m Home and in the Middle of Transforming.

Tadaima Henshinchu (ただいま変身中) might mean something else. The shop’s exterior has a sign reading Transforming Now but that doesn’t make much sense either. Nothing makes much sense in Nakano Broadway, come to think of it. This shopping mall was built during the bubble era in hopes of becoming the next Roppongi Hills. The next premium place to live. Fancy boutiques with high-end apartments above. The whole thing was a disaster. Nakano Broadway is now home to nerd culture and expensive watches. It’s a place you should visit.

The ramen here is something else. They use 15 kilograms of Hiroshima oysters every day to make their soup. These thousands of bivalves get blended with a sea bream (鯛) soup made with konbu from Ehime Prefecture. Oyster sauce and soy milk round it out. The whole thing is hit with a hand mixer to froth it up before serving. Some people call this cappuccino-style. Remember, ramen can be anything.

Toppings are oysters, tobiko flying fish roe, sous vide pork, and a slice of baguette.

Sides include a rice bowl topped with more of the same.

A very interesting bowl. Easy to crush if you like oysters.

They also do frequent seafood gentei bowls, like a premium sea bream tantanmen (Nakano version) that was sold out when I went. I’ve seen crabs and other shellfish bowls on the internet.

If I lived in the aforementioned apartments in the tower above, I might make a stop here every so often to try the new bowls.

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