Bario ramen, Ochanomizu (らーめん バリ男)

Hola pendejo. Oye como va and all that. I’d like to write a whole Spanish-themed post, but that’s about as far as I’ll get. Busy days.

This place hasn’t been open for long, and I can’t help feeling they’re riding the crest of a crashing wave – surely brick-heavy, artery-clogging ramen can’t have long to run as the leading genre?  Well, while it’s here it’s good.

Nothing going on inside – just a bunch of young guys in shop t-shirts with Superman-style logos, turning out big bowls of ramen. The interior is actually kinda well-decorated considering what genre of ramen they’re going for…

because it’s Jiro-style, where the soup is thick and fatty, the noodles are tough and chewy, the pork is big and rough, and the bean sprouts make a mountain on top of the bowl.

Incidentally, howzabout those sprouts? How did the manly men who love Jiro ramen decide that a big pile of boiled bean sprouts was the perfect way to add height and volume? It’s a mystery.

The soup is quite good, the noodles are quite good…the pork deserves special mention. In a genre where everyone is trying to look for an edge to make their product more intense, this pork has a black exterior from being…soaked in soy sauce. It’s a little much.

The sign would be a little much if you followed it too, because it says something like “You’ve gotta put in garlic. One spoonful is for pretty boys, two spoonfuls for men, and three spoonfuls for MANLY MEN.”

They get some good height here. Quality. Respect.

A quick shot of the noodles and egg. You know, I’m not sure I’ve had a bad Jiro-style ramen. This one seemed pretty good, about like all the others. I got the last seat, and by the time I finished people were waiting outside. Not like the 20-30 people at the Jimbocho Jiro branch nearby, but solid for a faceless little place turning out bowls in the mid-afternoon.

Bari-oooo
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