It’s all about the ramen noodles and pork cutlets in this post.
For more food in Meguro see the next post on restaurants and yakitori in Nakameguro.
All these places are on this map.
Another reason I chose my AirBnB was that it was right next door to this branch of a famous ramen chain…
Ramen Jiro (Elementary B+), 3 Chome-7-２ Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tōkyō-to 153-0063
As Jiro opens at midday I thought that I’d be straight in if I arrived at 12.30. No such luck as all the seats were full and a dozen or more people (all blokes; students and workers) were waiting patiently in a line outside.
This seemed to be the case whenever I walked past, whatever time of day or night it was.
It’s definitely a good sign because it means the ramen is worth waiting for. Unlike European diners, Japanese ramen-ya customers will quickly eat and go, so you won’t be hanging around for too long, which is a good job as there are only seven seats in Jiro.
I was surprised by how much spoken Japanese I had remembered after so many years without using it but I’d virtually forgotten how to read. This meant I couldn’t understand the buttons on the vending machine or work out what the six varieties on offer actually were. Most times, if you press the first button it will most likely be the most popular one. However if there’s no machine, just say ‘osusume?’ to the chef which politely means ‘recommend’).
I watched a few other customers making their choices and went with the most popular button. After putting my 500 yen coin in the slot I got a blue plastic token in return. When it was finally my turn to squeeze onto a stool at the cramped counter, I handed the token over to the chef without a word being exchanged.
The ramen was fantastic; big chunky bread flour noodles swimming in a powerful pork and soya sauce stock, topped with two hefty slabs of cha siu pork, pork fat, cabbage, bean sprouts and two big dollops of raw garlic.
The preparation and presentation was very rustic with zero finesse, but it packed a powerful punch and was heaven in a bowl as far as I was concerned.
Extra toppings are free but it was a hefty enough portion for me.
Mouko Tanmen Nakamoto Meguro (Elementary B+), 〒141-0021 Tōkyō-to, Shinagawa-ku, Kamiōsaki, 2 Chome−13−４５ トラストリンク第3ビル1Ｆ moukotanmen-nakamoto.com
Another famous ramen shop, in a side street near the Meguro JR station. The fiery red shopfront serves as a warning as Mouko Tanmen Nakamoto is famous for its hot spicy ramen.
Nakamoto is the name of the original owner who retired and sold the business to a regular who had been a faithful customer for twenty years. With the shop came the secret recipe for Nakamoto’s spicy ramen.
The vending machine has heaps of options but fortunately they have English menus here as well.
I had the Gomoku Mouko Tanmen ramen; a miso (bean paste) tanmen (chicken) broth served with cabbage, carrot, scallions, beansprouts, Chinese mushrooms, tofu, boiled eggs, negi (Japanese leek) and plenty of Chinese chilli. It was by no means the hottest (the Hokkyoku ramen is the shop’s most fiery bowl) but it was still pretty feisty.
I went for the ‘kaedama’ option; an extra portion of noodles to add to the remaining broth when you’ve finished the first lot. I love spicy ramen (if it’s avaialbe, my usual order is ramen with extra kimchi; fermented Korean chilli cabbage) so this went down very well with me (B+).
Tonki (Intermediate A), 1 Chome-1-2 Shimomeguro, Meguro, open 4pm-10.45pm, closed Tuesday and third Monday of the month
This shop is one of the best places in Tokyo to eat Tonkatsu, a breaded cutlet similar to Wiener Schnitzel or Cotoleta Milanese except that it uses pork rather than veal which is a rare meat In Japan (and not to be confused with Tonkotsu, a type of ramen broth).
Customers eat at the long bar which surrounds the pristine open plan kitchen. Chefs in white wellies expertly perform their stage of the production process in full view of the diners.
I had the tonkatsu served as part of Teishoku, that is as a set meal with the holy trinity of sides; boiled rice, miso soup and pickles (cucumber and giant radish). Teishoku began at Zen Buddhist temples and slowly spread to the restaurant industry.
There are two options on the menu; ‘rosu’ (fatty belly meat) or ‘hire’ (lean loin). Trying to be health conscious I went for the loin which I regretted as it didn’t have quite as much flavour as I was hoping for. It was still very good though (B+).
The best accompaniment for me is a cold bottle of Sapporo beer.
More food in Nakameguro next!