Tokyo Eats: Menya Musashi

One late evening in Shibuya, Hubby and I were on a lookout for something to eat.  He wanted to find someplace random, I didn't.  I wanted to eat in one of the restaurants on my restaurants list, but I didn't have anything in Shibuya.  Grudgingly, I followed him to this restaurant that we chanced upon in some unknown alley.

Menya Musashi

Curiosity got the best of Hubby, because he saw quite a number of people going in and out of this restaurant.  If a lot of people were lining up, then it must be good right?

Inside Menya Musashi

After going in, we found out that this was a ramen/tsukemen shop.  Again?!  I thought to myself.  I almost backed out.  But the stomach was growling, so this had to make do.  If you've read about my past post about Fuunji, I didn't quite enjoy my first tsukemen experience in Japan.  But Fuunji is Fuunji.  This was an entirely different restaurant.  No harm in trying right?

Menya Musashi's ticket dispenser

As with Fuunji, the ordering process is the same.  You press your selection at the ticket dispenser, pay, get your ticket and wait for your seat.  We had a bit of help from one of the English speaking staff in Menya Musashi, since they didn't have an English menu.  We asked for their bestsellers, and chose two from the top (the ones with the photos).

Shoyu Ramen

This is my bowl of Shoyu Ramen.  The pork was OMG-drop-dead-now soft and the Aji Tamago was perfect.  The only thing not so perfect?  Didn't like the soup.  It wasn't bad, it just wasn't spectacular.  Just your normal soy-sauce based soup.

Tsukemen

Tsukemen dipping broth

As for the Tsukemen... $%&#@*!!!  OH MY.  This was one of the best noodles I've ever tasted!  The pork was the same one as my ramen, only this time, the tsukemen broth was fantastic as heck, and totally not normal at all.  It was all kinds of flavorful, without the added saltiness.  As a matter of fact, it erased all my memories of Fuunji and replaced it with an absolute love for tsukemen.

Gotta give it to Hubby, I wouldn't have discovered Menya Musashi had he not insisted on trying it out.  I will 100% be back for the Tsukemen.  What the heck, it's haunting me right now as I type this!  5 out of 5 stars! 

Menya Musashi is at 2-8-5, Dogenzaka, Sibuya-ku, Shibuya Tokyo

Tokyo Eats: Fuunji

And finally, we've come to the last part of my Tokyo series.

Ah, Fuunji.  The first time I came across this name was when I read about it online.  Hailed as Tokyo's best tsukemen, I came to see (and taste!) for myself.  But first, what exactly is tsukemen?  Tsukemen is also known as "dipping noodles".  The noodles are served cold and separate from the broth.  Directions when eating?  Grab a few strands of noodles, dip it into the broth and chomp. chomp, chomp!  Repeat as desired.

Reading about the long lines from those who have already tried it, I was ready to brave Fuunji's line just to taste authentic tsukemen.  Never mind that the whole day was spent walking and I was dead exhausted.  I needed to try out Fuunji before we bid Tokyo goodbye.  Well, the tsukemen gods must be smiling upon me because when we got the Fuunji, there was no line at all!  That, and because we were early.  LOL.

Fuunji from outside

Fuunji's ticket dispenser

As with Ichiran, Fuunji's mode of ordertaking is with a machine.  I pressed on the ¥1000 tsukemen, got my ticket, had my seat and waited for my order to be served.

A view of the open kitchen

Noodles

Broth

I've had tsukemen here in Manila, but Fuunji's version is something different.  The broth was thick, creamy and rich - which was great except that it was way to salty for me, even after I dipped the noodles with as little broth as possible.  Can't deny the fact that it's really flavorful though.  If only the salt levels were turned down, this would have been perfect.  Oh well.  3 out of 5 stars.

Fuunji is at 2 Chome-14 Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo