Maybe it is the heat, but I have been craving spicy food. On this day I visited Tantantei in Asakusa, an izakaya that doubles as a tantanmen specialist.

The front entrance

Tantanmen is the main thing here, but it feels like a place where the drinks matter more than the noodles. They stay open late into the night, so it seems like a good spot for a casual drink. Since they only open in the evening and the menu is nothing out of the ordinary, it felt like a place for the locals rather than for tourists.

The list of bar snacks

Quite a lineup. Behind it, a row of bottle-keep bottles..

Tantanmen

I have never been to any of the famous tantanmen places, so it is hard to say what level this is at, but among the ones I have had, it is pretty good.

The noodles

The noodles are cooked just right too.

Hiyashi tantanmen

I ordered this because it was summer, but with the regular tantanmen being so good, this one felt a little lacking.

Noodles

It is a neighborhood favorite in Asakusa, not somewhere you need to go out of your way for. But lately I have really come to like places like this. Partly because going far is a hassle, and partly because I hate walking into a supposedly famous place and being disappointed. A shitamachi place that serves the locals is almost guaranteed to taste good. I feel like I am slowly turning into a hikikomori, but well, I guess that is life..

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