I’d been drinking myself half to death until 4 a.m. the night before, and then had Italian for lunch on top of that, so my head was completely fogged. At times like this I crave ramen like crazy, but I was also worried about the calories, and while I was dithering I just went on through to the departure area. I had about 30 minutes left before boarding. Right in front of the entrance there was a ramen shop called Aji no Tokeidai, so I went in, fully expecting it to be shoddy and overpriced.
Miso ramen
The clock tower is Sapporo’s famous landmark, right? Aji no Tokeidai (“Taste of the Clock Tower”) is the chain that bills itself as Sapporo miso ramen. There are branches all over town, but I’d never once been inside. Why? Because I could already tell what it would be like without trying… As airport food goes it’s not on the bad end, but the noodles are instant-grade and the broth isn’t made in-house either; they just heat up soup shipped from the head office. It’s not a taste worth going out of your way for. Still, eaten inside the airport to settle a hungover stomach, it does the job well enough.
The noodles
These are the kind of noodles a supermarket sells for 50 yen. Actually, there is one well-reviewed ramen shop at Haneda Airport that you can get into before check-in. The only problem is that it’s so popular there’s often a queue. Next time I get to the airport with time to spare, I’ll have to stop by that place.