麺や麦ゑ紋

The seventh district of Nishi-Shinjuku is one of Tokyo’s ramen battle zones. You’ve got tried-and-true shops like Menya Musashi, Nakamoto, and Nagi. Big chains like Ichiran are there. Top-ranked shops like Menya Sho call the seventh their home. Of course, you could walk half a kilometer in any direction and be in another ramen battle zone, so the whole concept isn’t as serious as it was in the days of old when these zones were connected to markets or a large working-class population. The point is that opening a shop in Nishi-Shinjuku-Seven requires some confidence that you can compete.

Mugiemon brings the goods. Ramen and tsukemen, with the tsukemen being the one I went for.

Two types of noodles are served. The darker one is made with wheat high in nutrients (kaibun 灰分) like calcium and iron. This is also known as the ash content. The lighter-colored noodles are made with Hokkaido wheat, stone-milled flour from the Shinshu (信州) region of Japan, and salt from Okinawa. These noodles are produced by the Kanno Seimen (菅野製麺製) noodle factory.

The broth is a heavy shoyu sauce flavored with niboshi. Pork bones are cooked with dried salmon flakes from Hokkaido.

But wait, there are more noodles. For an extra 150 yen, you can get another noodle to dip. These ultra-flat noodles (極平麺) are the shop’s third type. They also make a different style of noodles for the ramen and a different style for the limited bowls when available.

The egg was on point.

Mugiemon is part of the INGS group that also runs Hosenka and Hayashida.

Official site here.

Official Twitter here.

Ramen Adventures

Ramen Shop Reviews from Japan and Abroad

麺や麦ゑ紋 (Mugiemon in Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo)

中華蕎麦時雨 (Shigure in Kannai, Kanagawa)

HACHI in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture

らぁめん冠尾 (Kamuro in Ebisu)

麺や 麦ゑ紋 (Mugiemon in Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo)

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中華蕎麦 時雨 (Shigure in Kannai, Kanagawa)

HACHI in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture

らぁめん冠尾 (Kamuro in Ebisu)

麺や麦ゑ紋 (Mugiemon in Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo)

中華蕎麦時雨 (Shigure in Kannai, Kanagawa)