狼煙〜NOROSHI〜

The search for Japan’s best junk-style ramen isn’t that hard for someone living in the Kanto region. The prefecture north of Tokyo, Saitama, is where junk style originated. Junk Garage took a Ramen Jiro concept and went wild. Lose the soup, keep the msg-rich tare seasoning, and top the whole thing with whatever junk you can think of. Since the days of Junk Garage, many shops have adopted the garbage pile of deliciousness that put Saitama ramen on the map.

Some local mascot welcomes you with open arms. Noroshi makes their own noodles, so come hungry. With tsukemen and soupless mazesoba being the most popular choices, you can expect most customers to be slurping on over 200 grams of the stuff.

The menu is all over the place. Thick ramen, thinner chukasoba, tsukemen, and mazesoba as well as frequent limited bowls. Looking at this photo of the ticket machine some months later, I realize I should have gone with some of their limited kimchi topping as well. A reason to return!

Mazesoba (まぜそば) is what they are calling their soupless bowl. Other shops call it shirunashi (汁なし) or aburasoba (油そば). The yellow buttons are mostly topping choices. Go with your heart. I think I just went standard, though my memory is hazy. I see fried onion, chopped chashu, some Japanese kewpie mayo, and a bit of spice.

The noodles are made with yume chikara (ゆめちから) flour from Hokkaido. Hearty as hell. Mix the whole thing up and get to work.

Apart from the main shop in Urawa, Noroshi operates a few shops around Omiya.

Official Twitter here.

Ramen Adventures

Ramen Shop Reviews from Japan and Abroad

狼煙〜NOROSHI〜 in Saitama Prefecture

麺屋八海山 (Hakkaisan in Osaka)

支那ソバかづ屋 (Kaduya in Meguro, Tokyo)

風雲児の限定 (Limited Mazemen at Fuunji)

狼煙 〜NOROSHI〜 in Saitama Prefecture

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麺屋 八海山 (Hakkaisan in Osaka)

支那ソバ かづ屋 (Kaduya in Meguro, Tokyo)

風雲児の限定 (Limited Mazemen at Fuunji)

狼煙〜NOROSHI〜 in Saitama Prefecture

麺屋八海山 (Hakkaisan in Osaka)

支那ソバかづ屋 (Kaduya in Meguro, Tokyo)