麺屋歩夢

The search for junk-style ramen continues. I’ll admit it, this time I finally met my match. It turns out cycling 70 kilometers for a bowl of spicy pork back fat, cheese, and carbs isn’t something my body is built for.

Ayumu is another Jiro-style shop that has a following for its soupless style. What makes soupless ramen junk ramen? Your answer is as good as mine. For me, it’s as much visual as it is logical. Mazesoba and aburasoba are both soupless, but junk ramen . . . you just know. It’s a feeling.

I went for the spicy version (辛い小汁無し). The smallest size of course. Please remember, anything in the Jiro universe is large, and small size is anything but. Topping choices are plentiful. Here they are in no particular order:

生卵￥50 – Raw egg

生卵W ￥100 – Double that raw egg!

のり￥100 – Nori seaweed

のりW ￥200 – Double that nori!

味玉￥100 – Half-cooked egg (or flavor egg or whatever you want to call it)

魚粉￥100 – Dried fish powder

ショウガ￥50 – Ginger

ショウガW ￥100 – Double that ginger!

チーズ￥100 – Cheese

チーズW ￥200 – Double that cheese!

粉チーズ￥100 – Powdered cheese

カレー味￥50 – Curry powder

豚1枚￥150 – Another slice of pork

Very interesting shop. As I mentioned, I cycled here from my home in central Tokyo. It was around 35 kilometers each way. I’m in relatively good shape when it comes to cycling, but this time I hit a wall. On the return trip, at around kilometer number 60, my knees started hurting something awful. Luckily, cycling is fairly low impact, so you can just slow your roll. Tokyo is flat as well, so I made it home in one piece, albeit a rather mushy piece.

Maybe it wasn’t my fitness level, but my level of fittin’ all this ramen in my mouth. As with any Jiro-style, you can pick and choose the amount of the free toppings. Extra pork back fat (背脂) and a normal dollop of minced garlic. I usually ask for no veggies, but it comes default on the soupless ramen here and you’ll have to specify when you hand over your ticket if you want that bowl without moyashi bean sprouts.

Small size with ginger and cheese. Mix that bad boy up!

Well, I should not have ordered the spicy. This one was just above my comfort level. It was also a bit too much food. Yes, this is a small size. No, it isn’t small. If I went back, I would try the normal soupless bowl. And I probably wouldn’t cycle so far. Honestly, though, the ride along the outskirts of Tokyo and the Tsurumi River was beautiful. Damn these old bones!

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Ramen Adventures

Ramen Shop Reviews from Japan and Abroad

麺屋歩夢 (Ayumu in Fuchinobe)

ラーメンの店どでん北浦和店 (Doden in Urawa, Saitama)

中華蕎麦とみ田 (Chukasoba Tomita in Matsudo, Chiba)

ベジ郎 (Vegiro in Shibuya, Tokyo)

麺屋 歩夢 (Ayumu in Fuchinobe)

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ラーメンの店 どでん 北浦和店 (Doden in Urawa, Saitama)

中華蕎麦 とみ田 (Chukasoba Tomita in Matsudo, Chiba)

ベジ郎 (Vegiro in Shibuya, Tokyo)

麺屋歩夢 (Ayumu in Fuchinobe)

ラーメンの店どでん北浦和店 (Doden in Urawa, Saitama)

中華蕎麦とみ田 (Chukasoba Tomita in Matsudo, Chiba)