Since 2017, famed Kyoto ramen shop Menya Yukou has attracted queues of people daily for its delicious bowls of shoyu (soy sauce) ramen made with housemade shellfish stock. Now it’s opened its very first outlet in Tokyo – and the whole Kanto region, in the ritzy area of Ginza.
The menu consists of three types of ramen. There’s the brand’s classic Hachiku (¥850), which gets its deep umami flavour from oysters and clams. Then there’s the traditional Kyoto bowl of Madake (¥850), which is a shoyu ramen with flavours derived from bonito, kelp and meat. Finally, there’s the Kurochiku (¥850) which is a darker shoyu ramen with some slightly fruity notes. A single bowl should fill you up, but if you want a little more, a side of aburi (seared) pork (¥300) or chicken gyoza (half size ¥300, full size ¥550) should do the trick.
The soup isn’t the only thing that’s special about this ramen. The noodles here are made fresh every morning in a kitchen with specially controlled temperature and humidity to give it the perfect elasticity when you slurp them from your bowl, and it’s topped with generous slices of chashu pork that have been slow cooked for four hours. Add in the chopped green onion and bamboo shoots and you’ve got yourself a seriously delicious meal.