麺創房無敵家

Mutekiya is a legendary shop in Ikebukuro that has a solid reputation as being popular with travelers. Yes, this shop’s line will be mostly from other Asian countries. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Creamy pork bone soup with tender chashu is usually what the weary traveler wants.

In line, you’ll be given a menu in your language of choice. English, Chinese, and Korean seemed the most popular. Judging by the warnings outside, they also might be able to give you Thai and French. Merci!

For anyone wondering, it is a general rule that you don’t save spots in line in Japan. Just respect this and don’t ask questions. Certain shops have different rules, so the whole thing is on a case-by-case basis.

Can you complete the 450-gram chashu challenge? Maybe sneak in a Tupperware container and bring some of that meat back home with you. FYI, shops in Japan generally don’t let you take food out, so do it on the down low.

The standard Mutekiya bowl is probably the way to go. It comes with a couple of extra slices of thick-cut chashu and an egg. For return customers, there are a slew of topping and flavor options, like spicy miso and kanimiso (カニ味噌). Crab miso is actually crab brains, which sounds strange, so let’s stick with the Japanese word. Tsukemen, mazesoba, and side dishes like gyoza and wontons are available as well. The shop does limited bowls for the adventurous.

The pork soup is boiled for a long time and strained twice to remove impurities and odor. Noodles are made with Haruyokoi (春よ恋) wheat from Hokkaido. This wheat grows in the Spring just after the snow melts. Hence the name 春よ恋. Spring love. Aomori garlic, Kujo negi green onions, and domestic pork all go into the bowl. The nori seaweed with printed letters makes every Instagram post an advertisement. How do they make those anyways?

Creamy pork soup with soy sauce and green spinach seems very Ie-kei. Even the name Mutekiya (無敵家) has the 家 character in it. So is this a Yokohama-style Ie-kei shop? Ie-kei started in 1974 and Mutekiya started in 1994, so the dates match up. Mutekiya claims no relation. Sure enough, there are subtle differences that only the most staunch ramen nerd would bicker about, but bicker we shall. For you trivia fans out there, the shop was originally called Kanto Ramen (関東ラーメン) before changing in 1998 to Mutekiya, meaning the invincible home. There have been some offshoots of Mutekiya in Tokyo that were related to the head shop but then disowned because the flavor wasn’t up to par. There may also be Mutekiyas overseas, though none of these are recognized by the one and only Ikebukuro shop.

On a personal level, Mutekiya may be responsible for Ramen Adventures in a sense. Years ago I would frequent the Junkudo book store before jumping on the Tobu Toju train line back to Kawagoe where I first lived in Japan. From the 8th-floor foreign language section, you could easily see Mutekiya’s massive line. For over a year I scoffed at the idea of waiting for mere noodles. One day in 2008, I was jobless with nothing but time on my hands and decided to brave the line. Half an hour later I had a revelation in the form of creamy pork soup and juicy chashu. I was hooked. Soon after I started hunting the best ramen shops Tokyo had to offer, blogging about these adventures on my brand new blog. I’d been back to Mutekiya only a couple of times since and was underwhelmed. This time, in 2023, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a bit rougher than the other foreigner-hyped shops Ichiran and Ippudo. Maybe give it a try.

To be honest, the reason I returned this time was that I realized I had never documented this shop when I was editing a YouTube video. Check it out!

Official site here.

Ramen Adventures

Ramen Shop Reviews from Japan and Abroad

麺創房無敵家 (Mutekiya in Ikebukuro, Tokyo)

厚木家 (Atsugiya in Atsugi, Kanagawa)

博多一風堂 (Hakata Ippudo in Shinjuku)

味仙 (Misen in Nagoya)

麺創房 無敵家 (Mutekiya in Ikebukuro, Tokyo)

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厚木家 (Atsugiya in Atsugi, Kanagawa)

博多一風堂 (Hakata Ippudo in Shinjuku)

味仙 (Misen in Nagoya)

麺創房無敵家 (Mutekiya in Ikebukuro, Tokyo)