Ichiran Ramen September 28, 2008

After our trip to Yokohama Chinatown, we returned to Tokyo. We did some shopping in the sporting goods district in the Jimbocho area. We returned to Ueno station and had time to grab a bowl of ramen for dinner before we had to catch our train home. We went to Ichiran, a well known ramen shop that specializes in tonkotsu, Kyushu’s rich pork broth for ramen. The chain is based in Hakata, the home of tonkotsu.

At the door, you tell the hostess how many seats you’ll need at the counter while you buy your tickets for your ramen and toppings. The seating area is actually a long counter with individual “stalls” to provide customers with some privacy from the patrons to their right and left while they eat. After you’re seated, you fill out a sheet with options to personalize your ramen: how rich do you like your broth, how spicy, a lot of onion or a little, how well done do you like your noodles, and so on. You place your sheet and meal tickets on the bar in front of you, and a server comes to the other side of the counter and takes your tickets. A few minutes later, you recieve a steaming bowl of ramen prepared to your specifications. Since you’ve already payed, just eat and leave when you’re finished. Someone will probably be waiting to take your seat as soon as you stand up.

The menu is fairly bare bones: it’s pretty much just the bowl of ramen and some optional add-ins such as a soft boiled egg, kikurage (wood ear mushrooms), extra pork, extra noodles, and some drinks. What they lack in variety they make up for in quality. I really recommend the soft-boiled egg (han-yude tamago), which is cooked just right here. Alex got the kikurage with his ramen, which is pictured above. The broth is rich, creamy, and flavorful and the noodles are tasty too. If you have an average apetite, this bowl of ramen will surely fill you up, and if you eat more than the average Joe, you can order extra noodles. If you’re sensitive to spice like me, look out for the chili sauce that you can add to the broth: it’s hot!

The restaurant is located in the Ueno Station building, so it was really convenient for us to grab a quick dinner here before heading home. If you find yourself in Ueno with some time to spare, I recommend you check out Ichiran for a bowl of delicious tonkotsu ramen. It’s even open 24 hours a day, how convenient!

Ueno Ramen April 26, 2008

D wanted to be sure to try some real ramen while he was visiting Japan (none of that instant stuff), so a few hours before it was time to go home, we found a nice little ramen joint in Ueno. I’m pretty sure it’s called Himuro. They serve a Hokkaido style miso ramen, shio ramen, shoyu ramen, and kimchi ramen. That’s the kimchi ramen in the picture above, and miso ramen with extra charshu pork below. It comes with a few slices of char-shu pork, menma (pickled bamboo shoots), sprouts, nori or wakame, and green onions. You can also add a hardboiled egg or a few other toppings for a bit extra. We ordered the miso ramen, kimchi ramen, and some gyoza. The ramen is salty, flavorful, and filling. The hardboiled eggs were a little inconsistent, with one being a bit on the overdone side. We really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere and the friendly staff here too.

On Saturday afternoon, it was hopping, but we liked it so much we came back later with T and my dad on Monday and enjoyed a more leisurely lunch. This time I tried the shio ramen, which was garnished with lots of ground sesame. You can also order any flavor “big size” but I don’t think I would need to since the regular size is pretty filling. After we finished our lunch, T gazed longingly at the giant bowls for the “big size” portions and said, “I think I should have gotten one of those…”

mmm… ramen…

Sakura at Ueno Park

The spring break wrap-up continues! Since we had many friends visiting, we had several opportunities to see the sakura (cherry blossoms) at Ueno Park since Ueno Station is where we meet people who are coming and going to the airport. Although the cherry blossoms are long gone by now, during spring break they were at their peak. These photos are from March 28th, March 30th, and April 1st. We went to view the blossoms both at night and during the day. The lanes in the park were full of people, and company employees and small groups were seated on tarps on the edges enjoying drinking and picnics. It was the first night of sakura season the first night that we went, so we could here the constant toll of the bell at the shrine above the park as visitors came to make their springtime wishes.

Somei-yoshino sakura – festival vendors in the center of the park – lanterns and blossoms at night

a stone lantern – a torii gate

the Sunday crowds – getting the perfect shot