Aaaaaah, relaxing bike rides to the countryside for ramen. You know what really puts the icing on that cake? Making sure the store is open first. I arrived in North Kasai to find that the ‘closed on Tuesdays’ policy at my target shop doesn’t apply on the occasional Monday in summer. After a brief interlude at a really good sake store nearby, I ended up at mama’s recommended shop, the somewhat famous Chibakiya. The have about 5 branches aside from this head store, but all far-flung – the nearest is Yokohama, and there’s even one in Sendai (where the founder hails from, I surmise, because they have a beef tongue topping option).
Nothing happening inside, just 4 guys standing around, watching the streets shimmer from the heat (Tokyo hit 97 yesterday; paved suburbs like Kasai maybe more) and waiting for the odd customer to take out their excess energy.
Strangely, their welcomes were muted; they spend the most energy on saying “Please take your time!” which everyone says loudly and almost in unison.
But they work fast and serve a very nice bowl of shina soba, basically old-fashioned Tokyo ramen but with a bit better noodle and maybe a more refined soup (which was worth drinking – clean and simple, no floating fat, just onions). Very thick and meat pork. You can see the egg was a touch overcooked, but that’s no crime when you’re boiling them by hand and not in no fancy circulator gadget.
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