Tsuta Ramen: the first ever ramen shop to receive a Michelin Star

December 23, 2015 Caitlyn2 Comments

Ever since we heard the news about Tsuta Ramen shop receiving a Michelin Star, we knew we had to give it a try. Our first attempt was one Friday after work, when we learned that the shop closes at 4:00 PM. Yeah, what? Chad called to confirm the shop was really already closed for the night to learn that not only are the hours incredibly limited (11:00 AM-4:00 PM), but that you have to get a placeholder ticket by 10:30 or 11:00 in the morning in order to get a bowl as well.

Last Monday, Chad decided to take off the upcoming Wednesday from work to surprise me and go with me to Tsuta during the limited open hours. Much to our dismay, after getting the day-off request approved, he discovered Tsuta is closed on Wednesdays! Strike two!
Fortunately for us, now Chad is on vacation, so yesterday (Tuesday) we were able to scurry down toward Sugamo Station to get a ticket from Tsuta. We got there around 10:15, and were able to get tickets to reserve a spot for eating around 3:00. Unfortunately, all that was on offer for the day was Tsuta’s miso ramen, which I was especially bummed about because I tend to go for shoyu (soy based) or shio (salt based) ramen. Of course, that didn’t change our minds about giving the shop a try!

Approaching the shop, you are greeted with several signs explaining the placeholder tickets. The tickets are color-coded, and the time you arrive to get a ticket determines the time you can come back to eat.
If you’re on a Tsuta ramen mission, don’t go sit in line to get your placeholder ticket! Open the door to talk to someone–if there is a line of people outside, they are already waiting for their dining time slot!

You are advised to arrive a half an hour or so before your time slot, and if you miss your time or lose your ticket, you forfeit the 1000 yen deposit you give for your placeholder ticket.

Once we got our placeholder tickets, we had to decide how to spend the next several hours. We came up with a few really nice ideas, which I’ll share in a future post. For now, the important thing to know is that if you’re in town to try Tsuta ramen, you really have to plan a day around it. We recommend going to the shop for a placeholder ticket around 7:30 or 8:00 AM to ensure you can have a bigger selection of ramen dishes, and so that you can get a more convenient time than we did. Around 2:15 or so we came back to Tsuta Ramen and joined a line of several other customers. We slowly moved forward in the queue until we were welcomed inside and given our deposits back so we could chose our ramen. We had three choices: normal miso ramen, miso ramen with egg, and miso ramen with extra chicken. We chose the latter two options (which came to exactly 2000 yen total), and then continued to wait in the indoor line for seats to open up. We were pretty excited when our ramen was served. We were ready for new flavors–we’d never had chickpeas, sliced onions or chicken in our ramen before. A good egg is usually a huge indication of my overall rating when it comes to ramen: it shouldn’t be completely hard boiled, but the yolk should be slightly cooked. My egg was spot-on. I liked the noodles, too, but sometimes the texture was a little grainy for me. I couldn’t tell whether that sensation was from the soba noodles themselves, or from the noodles being coated in miso broth. The ramen didn’t disappoint, but I would personally like to go back and try a bowl of the shoyu ramen.
Tsuta’s miso ramen is not my favorite ramen in Japan, but that could just be due to my lack of enthusiasm for miso based-ramen. Chad was quite impressed, so we’ll have to do some future investigation next time we can plan around Tsuta’s rather inconvenient hours. Either way, I’m glad we got a chance to try it! For information on hours and days in which Tsuta is open, click here.

Take care!
xx Caitlyn

Uncategorized

My week in pictures (mostly)

August 29, 2015August 29, 2015 Caitlyn2 Comments

We’ve had a pretty full schedule since last Saturday, enjoying festivals, good food, and a visit from an old friend. We also had training at work, and I’m happy to say I am now Medic First Aid Certified in the PediatricsPlus Program! I feel like I have a lot to share in general between this week, our time in Thailand a couple weeks ago, and more, but I suppose this is a good start! This was taken at the Otsuka Bon Odori Festival last Saturday. Below are a couple of videos I took that night. (If you’re interested, you can see another short video on my instagram.)

On Sunday we went to Harajuku to try out Max Brenner, the famed chocolate restaurant. We had a nice time together, but the price was expensive and our desserts really didn’t blow our minds. Lesson learned, I suppose!

Despite our rather mediocre experience at Max Brenner, the next day we more than made up for it when we went to Tsukiji and tried Chuka Soba Inoue ramen. Chad read that the ramen is well-known for being really delicious, and there was a good sized queue to get a bowl. Only one type was offered, but that all that’s necessary because it is oh-so-good.
After our ramen, we went to Kappabashi Dori, a street named after the fabled kappa that sells loads of kitchen goods. I had fun spotting different kappa up and down the road in between looking at the different kitchen supply stores. See the Tokyo Sky Tree in the background? I made a friend. This picture was taken before we went to a really great yakiniku restaurant Thursday with our old friend from Mie. (The restaurant, by the way, is called Kazu, and I highly recommend it if you’re in the Bunkyo area of Tokyo! Make sure you get a reservation.)
Today we tried a new (to us) Italian restaurant called Heinz Beck. The creme brulee dessert and cappuccino were lovely and everything else was well-presented, but the restaurant didn’t do much for me overall. (I’d much rather go to Chez Olivier again and try out their lunch special!)This was taken today outside the Imperial Palace Gardens, a great place for a walk even with the drizzling rain.

Excuse my wild hair (I told you it was a bit rainy!) 😉 After our walk we stopped for Starbucks and then headed back to Tokyo station to head home. (I think this side of Tokyo station is really cool.)

That brings us to this evening! I hope you enjoyed getting a peek at my week. I’ll be ready to share more soon, but in the meantime, what sorts of things have YOU been up to? I’d love to hear about your week in the comments.

xx Caitlyn

Around Town · Food & Cooking

Around Town: Kikanbo Ramen

April 15, 2015April 19, 2015 CaitlynLeave a comment

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!

Hope you’re having a good week–mine’s almost over!
xx Caitlyn

Food & Cooking · Seen · Seen/Heard/Tried · Tried

Week in Pictures

March 6, 2014 Caitlyn6 Comments

This week was one filled with lovely nature, marketplace excursions, culinary delights (such as that jambalaya we tried for Fat Tuesday!), and a pattern search in and around our house. (Anything to keep us busy and keep our spirits up 😉 )