Category Archives: Ramen

Due Italian

by Afra

The name of this restaurant in Shimbashi might not suggest a Ramen place. Just in case some of you aren’t familiar with the term, ramen is a hot savory Japanese noodle soup dish that is considered an easy lunch or dinner in Japan. There are many different types of ramen, but the ramen you will find in Due Italian is a very unique fusion of Japanese and Italian style of cooking.

Their restaurant is relatively small like many places in Japan yet very comfortable with outdoor seating for nice weather days.

Photo Nov 12, 13 49 02

They have two signature ramen dishes and my friend and I decided to order one of each. The first one is the tomato ramen which is served cold and sweet with lots of tomatoes and some strawberries on top of it. The dish tasted deliciously fresh and I was quite surprised at how well the tomato juice and strawberries complemented each other.

 

Photo Nov 12, 13 24 59 (1)

The second signature dish is the hot ramen which is served with melted fromage cheese. This dish is very simple but the soup is exquisite. You mix the cheese and the noodles so they blend together and melts in your mouth. We just stopped talking until there wasn’t a drop left in our bowls. It was that good.

Photo Nov 12, 13 25 14

I would recommend this restaurant for a quick lunch place or if you are looking to try a unique type of ramen noodles. Prices are on the cheap side around 1000-1500 yen. So this is one of those cheap and cheerful eateries that I would definitely recommend.

Price : $

Due Italian
Tokyo, Minato, Higashi-shinbashi, 2-9-6, SAN Bldg 1F
Phone:(+81)3-3436-5337

ABURA SOBA

by Bianca

Let me introduce you to my new favorite ramen!. I visited their tiny restaurant in Ginza and fell immediately in love. Abura soba’s noodles are different. They might call themselves soba but the noodles are actually from the ramen family and instead of the usual hot broth, they come lathered with different oils and sauces.

IMG_3566

The restaurant only has a 10 seat bar counter so there is usually a line outside but the waiting time is very short. You order your noodles from the machine at the entrance. Of course everything is encrypted in kanji so ask for an english menu, it is available. You have a choice of salty or spicy miso. I love the spicy miso and I add an extra half boiled egg to it. I then mix the noodles until they look like this…

IMG_3569Absolutely delicious !!!.

Abura soba has a few outlets but the one in Ginza is 2 streets behind the Matsuzakaya department store and this is how the facade of the restaurant looks like.

IMG_3564

A bowl of noodle with extra egg is about 1000 yen. I am so in loveeeeee….

Price : $

 

 

 

Ramen makes you happy at IPPUDO ramen, Yoyogi.

by Bianca

And it certainly did.

I decided to drop by this ramen place for lunch today because this branch of the famous Hakata ramen chain is the first to specialize in miso broth instead of the usual tonkotsu kind.

The design of the place was actually rather funky for a ramen establishment although they did try to incorporate some of the old-style Japanese ramen shop details into it. Hip music was playing in the back ground as we entered and you were to order your ramen on this machine…

Red or white ? I chose the red hoping it would be the spicier choice.

Then came this huge red bowl filled with a myriad of things that would definitely make me happy. The miso sauce was delicious although I have to say, rather safe. Maybe because of the red bowl I expected something really spicy it would make my ears hurt. Not saying it wasn’t good though, I finished the whole thing and did walk out of the place happy.

Ippudo Miso
5358-2033
Yoyogi 1-45-4. Open 11am-1am daily.