With a store in Roppongi, right behind Tokyo Midtown, Iruca Tokyo certainly lives up to its prime locale. The ramen restaurant looks more like a fancy omakase restaurant than the typical small, cramped noodle joint. Its spacious interior is dominated by a wooden counter seating eight diners very comfortably plus a room on the side with a table for four. More importantly, the refined, modern ramen can pull its weight to match the elegant interiors, so much so that the restaurant was bestowed a Bib Gourmand rating by the Michelin guide.
Every element in a serving of Iruca Tokyo ramen is meticulously thought out – even the bowls are custom-made Arita porcelain. For starters, the soup base is the same across the menu: a blend of four different broths – chicken bouillon made from four different brand poultry, Kagoshima black pork, Japanese spiny lobsters from Ise with white wine, plus Yamato clams from Shinji Lake and Miyajima mussels – each cooked separately. From here, the ramen diverges depending on which of the two signature noodles you order.
For our favourite, the special porcini shoyu ramen (¥2,000), the soup is elevated with a tare (concentrated seasoning that forms the dominant flavour) made from a blend of seven different soy sauces. This is served with thick, flat noodles that are made exclusively for the restaurant, plus a dollop of luxurious mushroom and truffle duxelles on the side. When combined, they create layers of umami flavours in a soup that’s rich but not heavy. The toppings are just as sumptuous, consisting of chicken meatballs as well as slices of chicken, char siu, pork, smoked duck and kujo green onions. It’s a sophisticated bowl of ramen, and nothing feels superfluous.
The tare for the special yuzu shio ramen (¥1,900), on the other hand, combines nine kinds of salt together with several varieties of dried sardines. On the side is a dollop of ginger, spice and seasonal fruit paste to add zing and brightness to the soup. The noodles here are different as well: thinner and made using whole grain domestic wheat. It’s a refreshingly modern take on the classic shio ramen, and just utterly delicious.
As it’s customary for most ramen restaurants to offer rice side dishes, the ones at Iruca Tokyo are elevated as well. There are five to choose from, each with a different topping – truffle egg, miso chicken with Kujo green onions, mixed pork, yuzu egg, and roast beef – and priced affordably from ¥350.