Foodie Friday: Nakiryu - Tokyo's Second Michelin Starred Ramen Restaurant

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So for my trip to Tokyo this year, not just one but then, I managed to experience two distinctive ramen restaurants that are awarded with a prestigious Michelin Star. The first one is Tsuta (click here) and the second one is this one - Nakiryu, which I am going to elaborate further in this post. 

#1: Nakiryu - World's Second Michelin Starred Ramen Restaurant

Frankly speaking, I know nothing about Nakiryu until my travel partner brought me here. He does the planning, and I just follow cause I'm not the type of traveler that will roaming further just for the sake of food adventures, unless I happen to be in the nearby neighbourhood. And because of its location sat on the non-touristic area, no surprise I wasn't aware of this ramen restaurant at all.

So which dish of Nakiryu causing it to receive the coveter French honor? It's their signature "Tantanmee", a kind of noodle inspired from Chinese Sichuan served in spicy broth and yet, it's so delicious and rich in flavours. And guess what, a bowl of this signature Tantanmee cost only 850 yen (approx. to RM31) which is slightly cheaper than the famous chain restaurant of Ichiran, or even Ippudo.  

#2: Open kitchen with 10-seater bar

Similar to Tsuta, Nakiryu is a typical small Japanese restaurant houses with 10-seater bar. When we went for the very first time, luck wasn't on our side cause we're late and it closed. Hence, we decided to come back again during the dinner time. We arrived 30 minutes earlier before its opening time at 6pm and glad that we're among the first batch to get into the restaurant. The process of ordering ramen is alike most regular ramen shops - purchase a ticket from the vending machine inside the shop. However, I encounter difficulty when ordering it as there is no English menu available but with the help of the boyfriend, I told him my ultimate choice would be none other than the signature menu which is the "Tantanmee".

#3: The signature "Tantanmee" in a spicy broth topped with minced pork (850 yen)

#4: Also the signature "Tantanmee" but with additional topping - charshu (braised pork) - cost 1,050 yen

My choice - Tsuta or Nakiryu? I choose the latter one - okay, I have to be honest I'm biased cause I love spicy food more. Although Nakiryu is famed for its spicy noodle, the boyfriend who has lower tolerance to spicy food, he approved this ramen and turns out to be his favourite one too. The  texture of the handmade thin noodles are so chewy and springy at the right level. And with its spicy broth mixed with peanuts (do take note if you are allergic to nuts) making it is undeniably creamy, rich and packed with flavours, oh boy - this is the real definition of a perfect bowl of happiness. 

Unfortunately, each patron is only allowed to order one bowl of ramen for the convenience of other customers who are in the queue. But don't worry cause you are allowed to add noodle (kaedama). 

#5: Nakiryu instant noodle - available in any 7-eleven. But of course, dining at the restaurant itself would be better. 

HOW TO GET TO NAKIRYU

The most closest station is Otsuka under JR Yamanote Loop Line and 5 minutes walk on the south exit of the station; or
Under Tokyo Metro Line, alight at Shin-Otsuka Station and get off Exit 1. Walk until you see the traffic light and across it to MiniStop convenience store. Keep walking and turn left for first junction and Nakiryu at the end of the building. 

Opening Hours: 11:30 am to 3:00 pm 

                           6:00 pm to 9:00 pm 

Be sure to get there at least an hour before the opening time cause I came across someone ranted that they waited for almost 2 hours.

READ ALSO: Tsuta - World's First Michelin Starred Ramen Restaurant

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World's First Michelin Starred Ramen Restaurant - Tsuta, Tokyo

When comes to travelling, most of the times I will always prepare a list of "What To Do & See" in the respective cities/country that I intended to visit. However for the food list, I don't normally do so cause I prefer to eat whatever that's convenient for me. I'm not the type that will purposely travel all the way from the west to the east, or even from the north to the south for the sake of food adventures. 

Not until my recent trip to Tokyo lately, my new travel partner in crime is very particular when comes to food, or should I say he tends to be more picky than me. And this is where I got to know more about the prestigious Michelin-starred restaurants. So I thought why not give it a try at least once in any of these Michelin-starred restaurants since I was in Japan - it's better to experience myself rather than reading all these reviews and comments in blogs and social media, right?

WORLD'S FIRST MICHELIN-STARRED RAMEN: TSUTA
To initiate my virgin Michelin-starred experience,  I gave it to Tsuta - Japanese Soba Noodles. In case you are wondering, Tsuta is the first ramen restaurant in Japan to be awarded one Michelin star dating back in 2015 which drew national and global attention. It is the only ramen shop in the world to be awarded for three consecutive years - 2016, 2017 and 2018.  

#1: Tsuta - Japanese Soda Noodle, the first ever ramen shop in Japan to be awarded a prestigious Michelin star. 

Majority of the shops in Japan don't operate for long hours. Their business hours are mostly around 3 to 4 hours only during lunch and dinner time. My partner and I decided to try our luck to reach at least half an hour earlier before their opening time. And guess what? By the time we reach, we're kinda surprised to see the queue was relatively shorter than what we thought. But here comes an issue. According to the blog I read, you must get the queue ticket which distribute in the earling morning. Yes, in the early morning. That sounds so insane, right? So how now? Should we just leave or continue queuing up and decide later? After thinking that we have came far for this, we might just go ahead queue with the rest and pray for a better luck. 

Well after waited for almost 30 to 40 minutes, a waiter came and asked how many of us? Wait, that's mean we're allow to dine in regardless whether we have the queue ticket or not. Yes, thank goodness! Once both of us are called to enter the shop, we ordered the ramen via the vending machine. Take the ticket, pass it to the waiter, get the seat and wait for a piping hot scrumptious ramen serve right to you. Sitting at the 9-seater bar area while waiting for the ramen, one can watch the chefs work meticulously put together all the ingredients just to serve a bowl of the greatest ramen. 

#2: The menu in English. Tsuta makes our life easier

I always thought those restaurants after receiving the coveted French honor tend to very pricey but I was wrong. As what you can see from the menu, you can get a bowl of ramen from as low as 800 yen (approx. to RM30) just like any other typical ramen shops have to offer. But of course, I would highly recommend you to order the first one in the list - Charsiu Wonton Ajitama Shoyu Soba cause that's the signature dish of the restaurant. You can have everything in a bowl of happiness - four slices of perfectly cut charsiu (barbecued pork), seasoned egg, wonton (dumplings), bamboo shoots and seaweed cooked in soy sauce based broth on black truffle flavour.


#3: Tsuta's signature ramen - Charsiu Wonton Ajitama Shoyu Soba cost 1,700 yen (approx. to RM63)

My verdict? It's exceptionally and utterly good till that extend I finished the whole bowl within few minutes. Not sure whether I was too hungry at that point of time or the ramen itself is too good to be true. Bear in mind, food review is not my expertise so it's hard for me to describe the texture of the noodle, the taste of the broth and so on but trust me, if you haven't try Tsuta, then you're definitely miss the world's best ramen. I've tried quite numbers of ramen in Japan including Ichiran and Ippudo but still, nothing beats this clear soup broth of ramen.

#4: Michelin star awards 

#5: Tsuta brings it to the next level - instant noodle so you can easily bring back home. But of course, it's better to dine in and eat at the restaurant itself. 


#6: You can find this in 7-Eleven convenience stores. Just that I couldn't find in the city but in Narita airport instead

HOW TO GET TO TSUTA

Get to Sugamo Station under JR Yamanote Line and Toei Subway Mita Line. Head to South Exit, then turn left until you see Miyata Building. Turn left again and walk until you see a junction on your right side, turn in and Tsuta is on your left side. 

By the way, don't jump happily when you reach there and see there's no queue cause these people are actually queue by the side of the restaurant. We're fooled by them at the first place. Kanasai! 

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