ラーメン二郎八王子野猿街道店2 (Ramen Jiro in Hachioji, Tokyo)

0 Reviews

ラーメン二郎八王子野猿街道店2

The search for great ramen is a search for the best. This, the Hachioji branch of Ramen Jiro, is considered by many Jirorians to be the best of the bunch. If you know a few things about Jiro, you’ll know that fans are ravenous. With 40 or so shops in this ramen family, it is seen as a right of passage to visit them all and decided for yourself. Personally, I visit only a handful of Jiro-style shops a year and will never, unless some unforeseen circumstances require it, visit all the Jiro shops.

Thank goodness for rankings. I’m fine trying the top five or ten in my journeys around Japan.

Jiro is, for the uninitiated, ramen featuring an intense pork broth, thick noodles, pork back fat, and garlic. The soup is made roughly, meaning the scum is rarely skimmed. All that congealed fat and what not incorporates back into the soup. It’s arguably the most unhealthy ramen on the spectrum. Most customers don’t drink any of the soup, and most shops only give you a spoon if you ask for it. Don’t drink the soup is good advice.

Always, and I don’t say this lightly, order the small size if you don’t know what you are getting into. Trust me, the small is larger than most normal bowls of ramen at other shops. Don’t get extra pork if you don’t know what you are getting into. The amount of fatty chashu pork at Jiro shops is more than most normal bowls of ramen have. Do get some of the shop’s other toppings, as these are one way different Jiro branches distinguish themselves from each other. Here they have shoga, fresh ginger.

The line at the opening was about 15 people deep.

Just check out this bowl of ramen. Wait, there are no noodles in there!

This Hachioji branch is one of the few to offer tsukemen. The massive bowl of soup and garlic and fat is just for dipping.

Honestly, and this is from someone who isn’t a huge fan of this style, this one was great. The noodles were that perfect texture. The toppings felt fresher than normal. The added ginger cut some of the grease floating in the bowl. Sure, you’ll still stink for 24 hours after eating here, but it is worth it.

So there you go. If you only visit one Jiro shop and don’t mind a little trek out to the west side of Tokyo, this one is a solid recommendation.

As of May 2021, this shop is ranked third behind Yokohama and Hibarigaoka, albeit by a hair of a point. I should note that Jiro fans tend to over-rank their bowls, forcing any Jiro or Jiro-style or Jiro-inspire shop to the top of any ramen rankings in Japan.

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