Even more らーめん

I knew my new favorite ramen restaurant has a branch in Ikebukuro and it happens to be only a few blocks from the hotel. The guy at the front desk was surprised when I specifically asked for directions to that restaurant (in English since the hotel caters mostly to foreign travelers). With less than 2 full days left in Japan I'm going to have to cram in a couple visits at least. This place had a line of about a dozen people around 5:30PM but it moved fast. Inside it was similar to the Shinjuku location but with a bit less space. I *really* wanted to try their Arctic ramen but went with their signature dish that's midway up the spicy scale again. Half the fun of the place is watching people mechanically deal with the spiciness of some of the food by grabbing more tissues, wiping themselves down with a towel, downing glasses of ice water, etc.

More らーめん！

A big thanks to a conversation partner who recommended an excellent ramen place in Shinjuku that I never would have found on my own. The translation is something like Moko Tanmen Nakamoto and they have a couple locations in Tokyo. Some other guy wrote a much more detailed review of the Ikebukuro location here. Upon walking in you place and pay for your order at the vending machine and get in line. The place seats around 18 and like the other ramen places I've seen they have pitchers of ice water and boxes of tissues. As a guy got up to leave he wiped the sweat of the back of his neck with a wet towel...Once seated, I noticed the woman next to me had a napkin bib/apron from shoulders to thighs to protect her clothes from the slurping and was blowing her nose every couple minutes. She had ordered what I think was the "Arctic Ramen" which is the hottest ramen they sell. The guy next to me ordered what looked like the hottest thing on their menu, and he too had tissues, and a wet towel used to keep the sweating under control, and had to clean his glasses...I had the 蒙古タンメン (upper left of menu) which seemed to be safe enough and a signature dish. At halfway up their spicy scale it would definitely be considered spicy for most people and it was really, really good.

らーめん！

One of the reasons for coming to Japan was to find good ramen. In researching this important topic I came across Go Ramen! a few months ago. At the time I only paid attention to the Thai green curry ramen review and thought, wow this sounds good. So last night, besides learning why it's important to pay attention to whether a train is special express or limited special express (or any other type) I headed out to Bassanova ramen somewhere to try some. Little did I know that Keizo, the author of goramen is now working there full time and came from LA (and a UC) to learn the art of making ramen and bring it back to LA. It was great talking with him and the ramen was awesome. Check it out if you're ever in the area.