I couldn’t be bothered to cook, so I was thinking of eating out, and decided to try a ramen shop in Ikebukuro that a friend had recommended to me a while back as being really good. It’s Kissui, a shop that specializes in sanma (Pacific saury) ramen. Ramen broth that tastes of saury? I was really curious what that would be like.
The sign
It’s in the shopping street to the right as you come out of the West Exit of Ikebukuro Station. The sign is in kanji, so the first time I came I didn’t even realize this was the place.
The entrance
The shop isn’t very big. Maybe because it opened in 2003, or maybe because it’s a bit on the pricey side, it gets pretty full, but not to the point of people lining up.
This is the tsukemen called “ishiyaki men seiro” (stone-grilled dipping noodles), which someone who’d eaten here recommended as the best thing on the menu.
It’s 900 yen. Not exactly cheap. But every single topping is generous, and the noodles are simply fantastic. Chewy and clinging to your mouth, exactly the texture I like most.
This is the bowl you dip the noodles into.
It has green onions and heated stones in it. I wondered what the black things were, and it turns out they’re not vegetables or anything, just plain stones. Maybe they’re there to keep the temperature right… or maybe it’s just for entertainment.
A shot of it next to the pot of broth
Time to combine them, right?
Combined
When you pour in the broth, the stones make a loud sizzling sound. And once it’s done, the aroma of saury wafts up. I thought, whoa… this really is saury-flavored ramen. It feels like seeing the extreme end of how ramen, originally a Chinese dish, evolved as it became Japanese.
So my verdict after eating it: it was really good. ^_^ As long as you don’t mind the slightly fishy seafood aroma of saury, I highly recommend it. Who knew chewy noodles and a light broth could come together into something this clean-tasting. I’d like to try the shio ramen too. It’s a little pricey, but hey, the menu items without all the toppings are cheaper. There are so many ramen shops worth visiting in Tokyo that I don’t know when I’ll get around to coming back, but I think I’ll still end up going often. (For the record, the next ramen shop I’m going to try in Ikebukuro will probably be Nakamoto…)