食煅もみじ

Every so often a destination ramen shop comes along. For those living in Tokyo, these are usually in the form of Saitama restaurants. Saitama is Tokyo’s kawaiso neighbor to the north. They have a reputation for being uncool, unhip, and very undesirable. Rice paddies and endless stretches of pachinko parlors.

Those rice paddies, though, can be quite a sight. Remember, Tokyo folks, green is a natural color and is nice to see. Shikitan Momiji sits smack in the middle of a few rice fields. Approaching this shop hypes you up. Do we even have farms in Tokyo?

I drove the motorcycle. Momoji is a solid hour drive from central Tokyo and a solid hour and a half by public transportation. This includes a bus ride, meaning it will probably take two hours if you don’t time it perfectly. Expect a wait as well when you line up at the shop. All in all, you are looking at half a day’s journey for this bowl. And though I have nothing against Saitama (I lived there the first year of my Japan life), there ain’t nuthin to do in this part of the prefecture.

If you notice my ranking for this shop, it is a solid five out of five. This means that it has to not only blow me away, this humble American posing as a ramen critic, but it has to also blow away the real Japanese ramen critic community. Spoiler, it did.

The shop is a reformed old soba restaurant. Exposed wood paneling and lacquered Japanese chests are everywhere. It’s a beautiful scene.

The ramen ain’t too shabby either.

I was actually just the slightest bit skeptical. The perfectly laid-out noodles with a maple leaf-shaped piece of seaweed looked like Instagram porn. Gimmicks work around the world. Was this just another bowl for the gram?

Not at all. Noodles were on point. Matched with a light soup made with Akita brand chicken.

Kakuni stewed pork from local Sainokuni (彩の国黒豚) brand pork. Noodles are made with Hokkaido wheat and served in some mysterious liquid. When I asked the master, he told me it is made from kelp and nori seaweed. It isn’t as vicious as the trendy konbusui that shops are using these days, giving a little extra ocean umami and a little extra slip to the noodle’s slurp.

The master trained at the famous Manya Musashi for around 14 years. The stewed pork is an homage to that classic Tokyo shop.

They also have chukasoba, but the tsukemen is the one to go with. Get the tokusei tsukemen (特製つけそば) if you want the extra pork and egg.

Lunch only, like so many of these destination spots.

Ramen Adventures

Ramen Shop Reviews from Japan and Abroad

食煅もみじ (Momiji in Saitama)

つけそば九六 (Tsukesoba Kuro in Izumi-Tamagawa, Tokyo)

らーめんしょっぷ中吉 (Ramen Shop Chumachi in Ayase, Tokyo)

マグロ卸のマグロ丼とラーメンの店ウミノイロ (Uminoiro in Ginza, Tokyo)

食煅 もみじ (Momiji in Saitama)

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つけそば 九六 (Tsukesoba Kuro in Izumi-Tamagawa, Tokyo)

らーめんしょっぷ中吉 (Ramen Shop Chumachi in Ayase, Tokyo)

マグロ卸のマグロ丼とラーメンの店 ウミノイロ (Uminoiro in Ginza, Tokyo)

食煅もみじ (Momiji in Saitama)

つけそば九六 (Tsukesoba Kuro in Izumi-Tamagawa, Tokyo)

マグロ卸のマグロ丼とラーメンの店ウミノイロ (Uminoiro in Ginza, Tokyo)