ラーメン二郎(Ramen Jiro)

061225 002061225 008
豚入りラーメン、700円。にんにくと野菜(少なめ)をトッピング。
Finally went to the stomach-challenging ramen Jiro. A good introduction to the original shop here. The one I went to is a popular branch in Ikebukuro. I had the “small” ramen with pork. Four free toppings are available – vegetable(mostly beansprouts and a little cabbage), pork fat, garlic, and extra soy sauce tare. You can ask for all four toppings. The huge pile of beansprouts other people were struggling with just looked too daunting that when I was asked by the staff about my choice of toppings, I requested for garlic and a “smaller portion” of vegetables…and thank god I did. The noodles are very thick, and a lot a lot a lot of them. You can ask for “hard” noodles, as most ramen fans would prefer. A 5mm layer of fat was floating on the soup which made me hesitate in drinking the soup, but taste-wise it is good. The pork is hard and tasteless so maybe the simple ramen without pork(600yen) is a better choice(other toppings are free anyway). Altogether not bad actually, in a junkfood-ish guilty pleasure sort of way. Oh many people were saying the mysterious word “mashi-mashi” when they ordered the toppings, and I later found out that it is a term meaning “more-more”. So “yasai-mashi-mashi” means “veggy more more”. I wonder if they have a word for “less less”. ^^;;;
ラーメン二郎