You may have noticed that I’ve been in Tokyo for a while, but I haven’t written about ramen yet (no? Nobody noticed or cares? Yeah, that sounds about right).
Obviously I’ve been eating ramen. I’m in Tokyo. I’m not a maniac. But rather than bore everyone with several individual posts, I figured I’d gather them all into one massive mega-post. So you can look forward to that.
But I feel like Ramen Jiro is so insane, it kinda needs its own post.
I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with the ramen at Ramen Jiro — a shop that’s been around since the ’60s and now has over 30 locations — but it’s absolutely bonkers.
It’s quite popular, too — I showed up just after 10:00 AM on a Tuesday morning, thinking I’d beat the crowds. As you can see from the photo of the line, that was a bust. This particular location is the original one, so it’s quite possible that other locations might not be as busy.
You order via the obligatory vending machine, and there are only three options — ramen on its own, ramen with pork, or ramen with double pork (you can also get a large size of any of these three, but given how monstrously large the default portions are, you’d need to have a death wish to do this). Pretty much everyone was ordering ramen with pork, so I did that too.
A few moments after I sat down, one of the guys behind the counter asked if I wanted garlic. Sure, why not? Go big or go home, right?
(Oh, I should also mention that the place is the hole-in-the-walliest restaurant in the history of holes in the wall. It’s about the size of a large walk-in closet and looks like it’s been completely untouched since the ’60s, other than the occasional wipe-down.)
Then the bowl comes, and it’s a towering behemoth of noodles, pork, garlic, bean shoots, and cabbage, resting in what is effectively pure, liquified pork fat. It’s… it’s something, that’s for sure.
They don’t even bother giving you a spoon, because clearly, you’re not meant to actually consume this “soup.” If it sits for more than ten seconds or so, a layer of pure grease settles on top that’s at least a couple of centimetres deep. It’s madness.
The thing I love about the best bowls of ramen is how complex they are. The flavours are so well balanced, and there are nuances to discover right up until the last sip.
This isn’t that. This is the literal opposite of that. It’s a fatty, salty, porky, garlicky assault. It’s a shotgun blast to your taste buds and to your senses. It’s tasty, but holy moly, it’s exhausting to eat.
It also might just be the unhealthiest thing I’ve ever eaten. I’m pretty confident I’ve shaved a few months off my life with this one bowl.
I haven’t even mentioned the pork yet. The bowl comes with five slices of profoundly fatty pork, each approximately the size and thickness of my palm. They’re quite good, but I think one of these would be more than enough for any rational person.
And of course, the medium-thick, moderately chewy noodles are basically endless. They’re piled up right to the top of the large bowl.
I’m really not sure how this place is so popular. I mean, I enjoyed it for what it was, but aside from the fact that it feels more like a fun novelty than an actual meal, how do they do repeat business without murdering their regulars?? It’s basically a heart attack in a bowl.
Location: 2 Chome-16-4 Mita, 港区 Minato-ku, Tōkyō-to 108-0073
How to find it: There’s no English, but look for the bright yellow sign and the two vending machines below it.