らーめんかねかつ (Kanekatsu in Kawaguchi, Saitama)

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らーめんかねかつ

2020 was when I started hunting with a purpose. I usually choose ramen shops based on word of mouth, or things I saw in a magazine or Instagram posts. I also spent many years of my life working on completing the Tabelog Best 50 list. Well, that list was made back in 2016. The new gold standard is the Tabelog 100, which is actually 300. Tokyo, East, and West. Saitama, Tokyo’s lovely neighbor to the north, is part of the East list. I have no excuse for not having crushed all of these, but I haven’t. Let’s go!

Kanekatsu is a shrine to noodles. They’re made in-house to order and hand-pressed just before cooking. This gives them a flat, wavy shape and a chewy texture. It’s a popular move these days. If you have time to massage those noodles, do it. Kanekatsu is one of those shops where you will wait for one of their five counter seats.

While you are waiting in line, the master Otomo-san will poke his head out of a little window to take your order.

The soup is chicken and pork-based with an aged shoyu from Wakai Kura soy sauce brewer in Fukushima Prefecture. It’s a simple flavor that accentuates the noodles. Some sparse, but delicious, toppings round everything out. A top-level bowl of ramen.

I’ll probably get in trouble (again) for calling this style Kitakata. There are a handful of shops in Tokyo doing the temomi noodle thing in a light soup. Although this style feels like Kitakata, a lot of these shops say their ramen is an original creation.

Just over the river border of Tokyo and Saitama.

The shop isn’t far from the banks of the Arakawa River. Take the dedicated cycling road around 13 kilometers to 椛屋 (Momojiya), one of my absolute favorite kakigori shops in Japan. Whatever fruit is in season, this is how you should eat it.

Great day out.

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