Kohaku has to be the hottest ramen shop in Tokyo right now. The draw is apparently a broth made with shijimi clams from Lake Shinji. It had been a while since I was last in Tokyo, so I had to fit at least one place in.
A yaki-shoronpo (pan-fried soup dumpling) shop I spotted on the way
A Shanghai specialty, it says.. Places like this always seem to turn up right before I go eat somewhere else.
Kohaku
This ticket machine is cash only — there are still places like this around.. Apparently these machines are expensive, so once you put one in it takes a while to make your money back.. maybe that’s the reason.. Anyway, it means cash is still necessary.
Inside
It’s pretty spacious, as you’d expect from a popular shop.
The basic spread
Water
Shio ramen
The clean shio ramen picks up the crisp, refreshing flavour and aroma of the shijimi, and the result felt closer to Japanese cooking than to Chinese. The chashu came in several different kinds, each with its own character and all of them good, the ajitama was a beautiful colour, and the wontons were good enough that they could sell a wonton noodle bowl on its own. No wonder it’s popular.
The noodles
Excellent.
Ajitama
Beautiful colour.
It is a popular shop, but the Japanese side of the flavour is so pronounced that I suspect people used to the taste of ordinary ramen may be split on it. I ate it as an experience, so I enjoyed it plenty. Whether it’s worth a visit I’ll leave to each person to decide.
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