Food Diary - Tokyo Ramen: Kagari, Tsuta, Ivan's, Kikanbou & Saikoro

During our summer trip to Kamikochi, we spent some time in Tokyo (as always), and checked out a few ramen recommendations.

We already have some firm favourites from previous trips to Japan - like Keisuke Yondaime and Fuunji, and Ikkousha in Kyoto. But there's always room for more!

After this trip, we added Kagari and Tsuta to our list of favourites.

Kagari (篝)

Kagari Honten (IG)

One of the best ramen I've had was at Kagari (篝), an 8-seat hole-in-the-wall ramen shop sandwiched between 2 buildings away in the back streets of Ginza.

Ginza Kagari tori paitan soba (IG)

The off-peak lunch queue was at least 45 minutes long. But I swear, the tori paitan soba (鶏白湯そば) is umami delicious. The sign and the menu says "soba", but it's actually ramen noodles they serve.

Ginxa Kagari tori paitan soba (IG)

The thick, comforting chicken broth is exactly what I picture rejuvenating chicken broth to be. The chef tops the bowl with slices of perfectly just-poached chicken and seasonal vegetables. There's a little side dish containing a ginger-garlic seasoning, and if you put that in the soup, it changes the flavour and helps with the richness. 

I'll even queue in the winter cold, just for a bowl.

Update: Following Kagari's success with both locals and foreigners alike, it has opened a branch, Kagari Echika fit, located within the Ginza subway station.

February 2022 update: Kagari moved to another spot in Ginza, and opened branches, one in Otemachi which we frequent since it is conveniently close to our usual hotels. The shop space was then occupied in 2018 by Menya Maishi 麺屋ま石, a tai (sea bream) ramen place, which is also delicious! Unfortunately, last I checked on Google, Maishi is stated as permanently closed! Dang! I'm really upset because my other favourite ramen place, Kazami (sake lees ramen), also shut down recently! This COVID19 pandemic..... (T_T)

Tsuta (蔦)

Tsuta (蔦), Sugamo (on IG)

Tsuta (蔦) in Sugamo was the other ramen joint that is likely to be a firm favourite. Tsuta is known for its shoyu ramen, which is a secret blend of 3 different kinds of shoyu.

Miso Ramen at Tsuta (IG)

Unfortunately, when we visited, they were already out of their signature shoyu ramen (made using a blend of 3 kinds of shoyu. But their miso ramen was also delicious.

Update: I'm so glad we managed to try Tsuta before it got its Michelin star. The queue at their honten has become insane. (It was already insane to begin with.) It's a bonus that Tsuta opened a branch in Singapore in late 2016, but I confess that I haven't actually taken the time to visit. :(

February 2022 update: We now have 3 branches here in Singapore.... And I've eaten at all of them. And I miss the Tsuta in Tokyo before all this Michelin fuss. But I am thankful that it is more accessible than before. But it's place on my list of favourites has long been overtaken by other Tokyo ramen shops, namely Kazami, Mumei, Hototogisu, Motenashi Kuroki, Nakiryu, Hayashida (ohmygawd the nodogoro ramen)...the list keeps growing. Kagari remains my personal No.1.

Ivan Ramen (アイヴンラーメン)

To get to Ivan Ramen (アイヴンラーメン), we took a longish train ride to Setagaya. Ivan Ramen is supposedly notorious, or so BIL likes to tell me. Ivan Orkin is the American who dared to open a ramen shop in Japan. It's a no-frills ramen shack with the typical vending machine. 

Special Shio Ramen at Ivan's Ramen (アイヴン ラーメン), Setagaya (IG)

I ordered the special shio ramen (特別ペシャール塩ラーメン) with roasted garlic at Ivan Ramen. The menma, soft poached egg and roasted garlic are really really really good. At least I think so. But the travel time from central Tokyo to Setagaya makes it a place where we can't go as frequently as the other ramen joints.

Update: Ivan Ramen Tokyo has closed as of November 2015. Ivan Orkin however is continuing his dream of exposing Americans to ramen in New York.

Kikanbou (鬼金棒)

Kikanbou (IG)

For those who love spicy ramen, Kikanbou (鬼金棒) would be the place. And they serve up a mean karashibi miso ramen (カラシビ味噌らー麺). There's a chart, where you choose (1) the level of spiciness (the kara), and (2) the level of shibi. The shibi, being Kikanbou's special sanshō mix. (Sanshō is the Japanese pepper, or the Japanese pricklyash, one of the 7 spices used in shichimi.)

We requested the spiciness level to be mild, and the shibi level to be low. Unfortunately, the chef's assistant mixed up our orders and we got the max spicy + max shibi bowl.

Karashibi miso ramen (カラシビ味噌らー麺) - max kara and max shibi

Hubby enjoyed his with great relish. For me, I don't like spicy ramen, so getting through my bowl was pure struggle. To me, the heavy chilli oils floating on top of the broth and the numbing sanshō is anything but enjoyable.

That's the main reasons why I dislike spicy miso ramen. The numbing-hot chilli peppers that overwhelm every other flavour, and the overabundance of heavy chilli oils that, without fail, give me the tummy runs every time. (Yes, I also dislike Szechuan malatang.) (2022 update: No longer the case as I love Szechuan mala now. But I still dislike spicy ramen.)

So why did I try it? Because Hubby likes spicy miso ramen and insisted on trying. In any case, I couldn't choose another ramen - the damn shop only serves karashibi ramen.

Saikoro (さいころ)

Ramen Saikoro, Nakano

Then there was Saikoro (さいころ) in Nakano. We had to hunt for this place... It turned out to be the bar-like spot at the corner of the street!

Clear shoyu style ramen at Saikoro, Nakano (IG)

In terms of style, it's closer to the Chinese-style, with the light and clear the broth. Light but flavourful. The charsiu was beautifully tender. More traditional in style than the others like Tsuta and Kagari which are apparently considered 'modern' ramen.

A ramen shop with a name I can't remember at a location I can't remember

Finally, we also had a decent ramen bowl for lunch at this ramen shop, which I cannot remember the name and location of. I vaguely recall it specialised in Hokkaido-style ramen.

This one was an ordeal to get to. The shop had moved from the address we had. The new address was posted on the old store, but we had a hard time locating it, and walked for around 1.5 hours in the dazzling summer heat looking. We found it in the end. Before I died of heatstroke. I was pretty pissed off with Hubby by the time we found it. Most normal human beings would be too if they've been walking around lost in the white-hot summer heat on an empty stomach for more than 45 minutes. Don't ask me why he insisted on finding this place. Not every position taken is reasonable. Or logical.

Butter corn ramen at a shop that we spent 1.5 hours searching for on foot in a sweltering Tokyo summer.

Hubby had the miso ramen, and I had the butter corn miso ramen. While the ramen was quite good, it was a bit of a letdown after the others we'd been to. And there are certainly better ones out there in just Tokyo alone.

Okay, maybe I would be less critical if I hadn't had to walk for 1.5 hours in the summer heat.