This post was written in 2008. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.

It’s really warmed up lately. Mornings and evenings are still a bit chilly, but the midday sun is warm enough that it’s practically spring. On a day like this I just couldn’t stay home, so I headed out for ramen. Okay, that’s a lie: I’d already made plans.
I had no idea, but there’s a famous ramen shop in a neighborhood not far from where I live. Today some friends who are regulars there called me out to join them. Apparently this is another place that never, ever lets itself get covered by the media. In Japan, quite a few of the shops that bill themselves as local legends are like that.
The sky on the way there, 1

The weather was gorgeous, and I’d forgotten to bring my DSLR, which was a bit of a shame. I had no choice but to use my phone camera, and the picture quality is really poor.
The sky on the way there, 2

The sign

The shop is called Fujimaru. Apparently it started out as a branch of the famous Ramen Jiro. These days it’s completely independent and makes its own noodles, so it has nothing to do with Jiro anymore, but going by the taste you could basically call it Jiro-style.
They run their own noodle factory upstairs from the shop.

They open at 6 p.m., and we got there half an hour early to line up. If you don’t get in line quickly, the queue gets insanely long. Weekends seem to be especially busy. I hear it’s pretty quiet late at night, but I guess that’s because getting there is a hassle at that hour, so only locals come.
Inside

Very shabby.

The ticket machine

There are just two options: plain ramen for 700 yen and chashu ramen for 950 yen. If you’re a normal person, just get the ramen without a second thought. Even the regular ramen comes out looking like a large…
The toppings

People pile on tons of garlic.
Condiments on the table

Help yourself to whatever you like.
Regular ramen with every topping extra

This shop considers it a virtue to fill the bowl with soup until it overflows. While I was dealing with the spilling soup, the pile of toppings sank a bit. Normally you get even more than that. You can add extra garlic, back fat and vegetables for free. If you want all of them, just ask for “zenmashi.”
The ramen with an extra side dish of back fat

It’s tonkotsu shoyu-style ramen, and they use a huge amount of pork back fat. On top of that, it only tastes the way it should if you keep adding more fat as you eat. This style of ramen (let’s set the calories aside) has a really rich broth, yet the aftertaste is so clean it almost feels refreshing. You could even call it the ultimate flavor. That is, if you can finish that whole mountain before the fat cools down -_-;; Once the fat starts to cool it gets incredibly greasy… Ordinary people give up before a third of the bowl, wondering why anyone would eat this stuff. It’s a place I’d be pretty careful about recommending to anyone.

Big chashu and thick noodles

The chashu was tasty and the noodles were nice and springy. The friend who came with me said it wasn’t great today, but hey… that alone was more than enough to satisfy me.

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