Around Town: Kikanbo Ramen

We often go wandering around Ikebukuro, and when we do on weekends, we also often end up eating ramen. We’ve found several great ramen shops, but recently we decided to try one that always has a line of at least three people waiting every time we walk by: Kikanbo Ramen. Chad thought I should show this picture to illustrate my point about the queue…
First you buy your ticket with your choice of ramen, and then you take the ticket and stand in line.
While you’re waiting in line, one of the employees asks you what spiciness level you would prefer for your kara shibi ramen. The “kara” spice is made up of 12 different spices, and the “shibi” is ground Chinese numbing pepper, apparently. We chose “futsu” or average spice, for both of our bowls.

Outside the ramen shop, there is a giant oni, or ogre, club.
Inside the shop, there are several ogre masks, as well as ogre figurines and more clubs.
It’s fun watching everything being prepared in the kitchen while you wait to be served. There is also drumming music to add to the ambiance.
After several minutes, my hunger was growing and I was starting to feel like an ogre myself. Fortunately it wasn’t too much later that we were each presented with a wonderful looking bowl of ramen.

When our ramen arrived, we were most excited about the hefty piece of pork inside. It just fell apart in our mouths and was definitely the part of this meal worth savoring. As for the broth, it was quite peppery, and the spiciness cut through the oiliness of it. I tend to prefer ramen with a more buttery broth, but the “futsu” level of spice worked for me. The noodles were of an al dente texture, and a bit thicker than a lot of ramen we’ve tried, but I liked them a lot.
Overall, I would say that Kikanbo Ramen is worth a try. Would I go back, though? Not necessarily. After all, there are so many ramen shops I am obsessed with, not to mention the many more I want to try!