Sunday, January 23, 2011

Tatsunoya



The first time I went to Tatsunoya, a Hakata-style ramen shop in Shinjuku, was in early 2010 soon after they opened their Tokyo location. I enjoyed the fare but never found it a priority to stop by regularly as it was good but not overly impressive. Later in 2010 I went to Tatsunoya on a whim and was very impressed! The interim allowed the restaurant to hone their craft and it went from a 6 to a 10! Since that visit, I've made a point of visiting Tatsunoya more often and it's yet to disappoint.

Tatsunoya isn't so large, it is mostly bar seating and there are two small tables at the back, one which can accomodate a couple and one which can accomodate a party of four. There's only been one or two times when I've stopped by, unable to get a seat at the restaurant. Most of the time, however, there have been two seats together open so that Micah and I can enjoy a tasty dinner (or lunch!)



Once you enter Tatsunoya, there's a vending machine where you can chose which ramen you want. Micah and I both bought the ramen kokuaji, which costs 850 yen per bowl and is one of their standard offerings. Once you purchase your ramen, you give your ticket to one of the staff and they will ask you how you want your noodles, we both ordered futsu (regular), but you can also order katame (firm) or yawarakame (soft.)



While you wait for your food you can snack on some spicy moyashi and read about the popular ramen choices in on a laminated pamphlet on the table.



Sitting at the bar, you have a clear view of the staff putting together bowls of ramen for you and the other patrons. Watching them make your food heightens the anticipation and when your bowl is finally delivered to your seat, you're definitely read to chow down!



A short wait later and here's my ramen! A bit hard to see, but there are fat globules floating in the broth. As a Hakata-style ramen, the noodles are thin and straight and the broth is tonkotsu. The fixings include chopped negi (spring onion), boiled egg, chashu, moyashi (bean sprouts) and kikurage (auricularia auricula-judae.) It's the perfect mix of noodles, fixings and broth!


Tabemasu!

Here's the thing about the eggs at Tatsunoya. They are cooked to perfection! The yolk is slightly runny though the albumen is fully cooked. However, despite being fully cooked, it is not rubbery, meaning it is not overcooked. In many cases I find that the quality of a ramen shop can be judged by its eggs. A perfectly cooked egg usually comes with top notch ramen. If an egg isn't perfectly cooked, I generally cannot stomach it. However, I eat the egg in Tatsunoya's ramen every time.


Micah enjoying the egg!

Tatsunoya ramen deserves to be finished, drink it all down because it is delicious! So make sure you go to the restaurant hungry because it's so worth it!





Tatsunoya
03-6304-0899
7-4-5 藤野ビル 1F
11:00 - 0:00
Click here for map

1 comment:

  1. I'm so jealous! I want to go there and order my ramen 「かため」! I also love how happy Micah looks (his face is like "ohboy! ohboy!") in the photo in front of the vending machine :)
    Hooray ramen!

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