Tokyo: Shinagawaya Yaesu

We got into Tokyo mid-afternoon, and proceeded to take the Narita Express to Tokyo Station. We decided to stay in the Nihombashi area fairly close to Tokyo Station. Our apartment was pretty small; like really small, though it had a laundry in the basement (remember the Jingisukan?). So we took care of all of that stuff; got in a short nap. By the time we woke up the sun had set and it was time for dinner. In spite of the hustle and bustle, we really liked this area, it made travel around the city quite easy. Anyway, with my trusty pocket wifi, I looked up our first option on my map; some Oden sounded great, but there was a huge line at Otako Honten. Plan B, grab some yakitori from Isehiro, but they were strangely closed down for the night. Plan C? I dunno..... I guess we'd grab some ramen from this little shop.

Boy did they like the signs and the posters....and the lamps! Even inside. The young lady working was a joy, very friendly, and patient.

Anyway, we ordered the Max #1 ramen, large size for me, a negi gohan, and onsen tamago for the Missus who'd of course share some of my ramen.

Man, that was shredded scallion allright....with some nice pieces of pork and a quail egg.

This was actually pretty tasty as they sauced the rice. Plus, the Missus loved the egg.

The ramen was different from other versions I've had.

That broth was really fatty, the texture was almost like oil. It had some definite chicken tones and some porkiness as well....but good lord it was so rich to be almost greasy. It also bordered on being quite salty. Good thing it was quite hot or we'd have some sludge on our hands. That egg was quite good, nice flavor, and nicely soft boiled. I really enjoyed the noodles which were fairly thick, a bit flat, but had been prepared to a wonderful pull and chew. I don't know why places here in San Diego have such a hard time getting it right, when this random ramen place on the corner here in Tokyo nailed it? The pork was a bit on the chewy side, but had decent flavor.

The quail egg and the spinach was an interesting touch. Walking back to the apartment, I suddenly realized we'd just had Yokohama style Iekei Ramen. I remembered reading about the shop that spawned this style of ramen, Yoshimura in Yokohama. And the thing that really made this place a legend was that the owners of Yoshimura-ya actually gave away the recipe to anyone who wanted it!

This was actually pretty good, if a bit too greasy and salty for my taste. No complaints for a random ramen shop we found.

Sorry about the address; I couldn't find a Romanized version of it.

Shinagawaya Yaesu
八重洲2-3-9
Chūō, 東京都 〒103-0028, Japan

We walked back to the apartment with warm bellies. Tomorrow would be a rather early day as we were heading to Kamakura.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[Dennis]

Hi Kirk, hope you're doing well!
I don't think my metabolism can handle an ie-kei ramen anymore, ha. I heard the term ie-kei came from the shops names all ending in "ya" (家) which can also mean 'house' and pronounced "ie", hence house-style/type... Never been to Yoshimuraya but there are too many great bowls of shoyu to try on my bucket list and my trips are too far and few between. :_(

[Kirk]

Hey Dennis - Nice to hear from you, hope you're doing well. This was an interesting random place for ramen....that bowl was enough for both the Missus and myself....and then some! Great hearing from you.

[janfrederick]

I'm guessing that a place in Tokyo that doesn't get the noodles right would be like a place in San Diego that screws up their California burritos and expecting to stay open longer than a week...

[Kirk]

Well Jan....I bet if I was still into California Burritos, I'd find quite a few that would fit criteria A and still be open....

[Lynnea]

ooh, Kamakura! I'll look forward to that post =)

[Kirk]

Kamakura was wonderful Lynnea!