| Summary: |  (4.5 / 5) |
| Soup: | (4.5 / 5) |
| Noodles: | (4.5 / 5) |
| Location: |  (3.5 / 5) |
Today, I visited a tsukemen restaurant called “ramen club Totonoe” near Kanamachi Station in Tokyo.
Kanamachi is home to a lot of tsukemen shops, making it a bit of a hidden gem for tsukemen lovers.
I’d been wanting to visit this place for a while because it consistently receives high ratings on review sites.
Although it was a weekday afternoon just before 2 PM, there were about eight people in line, showing how popular it is.
Since this restaurant requires you to buy a meal ticket first, go inside, purchase one from the ticket machine, and then join the line.
Before long, my tsukemen was served.
The soup and noodle bowls were very stylish, and the seasoned egg and chashu pork looked exceptionally well-prepared.
A unique feature of this place is the additional “kelp water,” served in a separate bowl alongside the noodles and soup.
The kelp water isn’t meant to be added to the soup but is instead mixed with the noodles.
The first bite revealed a gentle soy sauce flavor and a deeply savory broth that filled my mouth with flavor.
Compared to “Tomonomoto,” another place I previously recommended, the soy sauce here is more subtle.
Instead, you get to fully appreciate the flavors of the kelp water and the broth base, creating a truly rich experience.
The noodles are a regular thickness for tsukemen, although, given the recent trend for thinner noodles in soy-based tsukemen, these are actually on the thicker side.
Even without dipping them in the soup, the noodles are delicious on their own, with a hint of wheat fragrance and a slight sweetness.
The seasoned egg has a touch of yuzu flavor, which paired excellently with the soup.
Ordering the special menu option includes wontons with pork filling, but to be honest, they didn’t add much and could be skipped.
Overall, this tsukemen is of a very high caliber.
Among the increasingly popular kelp water tsukemen, this is at the top of its class.
It also feels like a wonderful showcase of Japan’s careful, beautiful approach to cuisine, which I find very appealing.
This is an incredibly delicious restaurant located in Tokyo, though it’s a bit off the beaten path, so the location isn’t the most convenient.
If you ever find yourself on the Joban Line, I highly recommend a visit!
Thank you for reading to the end today.