松屋製麺所 (Matsuya Seimenjo in Ibaraki Prefecture)

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松屋製麺所

Noodle heaven at Matsuya Seimenjo. Not only is this shop at the base of beautiful Mt. Tsukuba, but it is also in an old wooden factory. It’s magical.

The shop is technically a noodle factory. Half of the interior customer space is devoted to selling fresh noodles and the other half is a small area for ramen.

Bags of Japanese flour (and cornstarch here) litter the floor.

Get your ramen order in and check out the noodle factory. The ramen here is only 550 yen. That’s the same price as a beer. And though that beer is a bit overpriced, that ramen is cheap as chips!

You can buy fresh noodles to take home. All the styles are here. Thick tsukemen noodles make a great replacement for creamy Italian dishes by the way.

Thin ramen noodles. Some of them come with soup concentrate to make your own bowl at home.

These high-output noodle machines are so cool. Ramen shops that make their own noodles use machines that cost around $20,000 and make 100 servings an hour. These beasts at the factories cost as much as a house and can do 1000.

Over at the ramen shop, the noodles are hand-pressed before cooking to give more spring. Up here in Tochigi, many shops use this method.

The ramen is simple. Fresh noodles in a light chicken, pork, and seafood broth.

For 800 yen you can have it with half a dozen slices of pork chashu. Go for it!

The shop opens at seven in the morning and closes around five. For the ramen, though, they usually sell out. It is best to arrive well before lunch if you want to eat. You can always get some fresh noodles at the store and try your hand at home-cooking. Personally, I’ll do both.

When the noren curtain is backwards, the ramen is done.

Located seconds from the RinRin Road (つくばりんりんロード), a cycling path that extends 40 kilometers from Kasumigaura Bay. If cycling is your thing the route continues around said bay for a total of 180 kilometers of flat cycling road. Epic.

Actually, I’ll be going here to cycle for the first time next week. Check the post in a year when it goes live online!

Matsuya Seimenjo is also at the base of the road to Mt. Tsukuba. This is one of the famous Hyakumeizan (日本百名山) or the 100 mountains of Japan. Definitely, one of the easiest to conquer with the use of the ropeway!

These 100 mountains are a minor goal of mine in life. I’m only at around 20, so I’ve got a ways to go. Last year I met an old man on the slopes of Mt. Yotei in Hokkaido. He was in his 80s and Yotei was number 99 for him. There’s still hope!

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