大つけ麺博 Here are the six bowls of tsukemen from the first week of the festival, in the order I would rank them. Enjoy! 麺屋あっ晴れ (Menya Appare) is a gritty, intense tonkotsu gyokai. The quail eggs are a nice touch. This bowl was worthy of the long line. Over an hour at times. 稲葉 (Inaba) is…
And this is what the entrance looks like. Let me break it down. Be sure you buy your ticket before lining up. One ticket works for any shop. You’ll probably want the blue one. The pink is ladies size (smaller and ladies only), and the yellow one is for a 0% alcohol beer. There are…
Ramen Live Hype Show! We did an hour long Google+ Hangout to promote the upcoming Grand Tsukemen Fest! On hand, some fellow ramen nuts from around the world. We had Ben from Osaka (http://www.friendsinramen.com/), Sam from California (http://www.ramenshop.com/), and Hans from Washington (http://www.theramenrater.com/). With MC George Williams, we also had Tomita-san there to discuss the…
スクール革命 School Revolution. You guessed it, a panel of famous people watch videos and talk about them. Shinoyama-san is the son of a very famous photographer. His character is that of a spoiled school boy at a prestigious university. Yeah, every one of these talents has a specific character. This one was a little strange.…
Announcing the official English page for the 2013 Grand Tsukemen Fest! Now you can see which shops will be serving their signature tsukemen each week of the festival. Warning, this page will make you hungry! Will Tomita, Japan’s #1 ranked tsukemen shop and winner of last year’s Grand Tsukemen Fest, defend their belt? Or will…
知っとこ “Wa-su-a-pu?” Satomi Shigemori’s character is cute and clueless. A well-known idol / talent / bikini model, if you watch TV with any regularity in Japan you should see her face pop up. As always, we took her around to some ramen shops. This time was a double dose of ramen-loving foreigners, with Abram and…
Congratulations to the winners of the 2013 Grand Tsukemen Fest preliminary voting. The winners are from all over the country, so I haven’t been to most of their shops. Stay tuned for a lot more info, but for now . . . Are you hungry? These are the 24 that you can sample at this…
大つけ麺博 It’s almost that time of year again. Time for all of Tokyo to revel in tsukemen! But what exactly is a Tsukemen Fest? Here’s a quick Q and A to whet your appetite. Q: Tsukemen? What is tsukemen? A: Tsukemen is just like the ramen you know and love, but the noodles are separate…
京都 Shops along the Kamogawa river set up decks during the summer, serving up moderately priced set menus in the hot evenings. The ancient capital of Japan boasts its fair share of wonderful things. The World Heritage temples and shrines. The famous festivals. And the food. The food in Kyoto is part of the experience.…
News Every It looks like I have on lip gloss! And my subtitles make me sound girly. Not to self, stop saying めっちゃ and ヤバイ. That’s girly talk in Japan! News Every is a daily news program. For this show, you guessed it, I took the talent around to some ramen shops. The subtitles say…