Of all the noodle shops in the world...

[lsanderson]

One Noodle at a Time in Tokyo
Chuka Soba Inoue serves shoyu ramen (with soy-enhanced chicken broth) near the Tsukiji fish market.
By MATT GROSS
Published: January 31, 2010

NOT far from Waseda University in Tokyo, around the corner from a 7-Eleven, down a tidy alley, lies a ramen shop that doesn’t look like a ramen shop. In fact, Ganko, as it’s called, doesn’t look like anything at all. There’s no sign, no windows, only a raggedy black tarp set like a tent against a tiled wall, with a white animal bone dangling from a chain to signal (somehow) what lies within. More

Comments

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

Ah, Instant Nostalgia. Some of my fondest memories of the 8 months I spent in the army in Japan, c. 1950, center on the Koito family soba-ya in Fujiyoshita. Back then, "soba" seemed to be reserved for buckwheat noodles, and places specializing in them were rare because dough containing enough buckwheat flour to taste like buckwheat is really difficult to work with. (Udon -- soup with thick, wheat-flour noodles -- was ubiquitous, sold at many little stands, and a popular take-out item, often delivered by bicycle.) My favorite was go-moku soba -- named after its five ingredients (including an egg, semi-poached, as a topping). I do observe with some consternation that modern Japanese noodle shops seem to be going in for much grease/fat & hot spices (green chiles? curry? Yuch!). In the unlikely event of ever getting back to Japan, I'd probably return to Fujiyoshida and see if Mr. Koito (who was the third-generation proprietor of the restaurant) was successful in persuading one of his children or (hoped-for) grandchildren to take over the business.

Meanwhile, here in Southern California, I'm becoming almost fond of Pho, with three nearby places that specialize in it, despite not especially liking rice noodles.