Shinawaga Ramen

Today we feature a guest blogger! Even though she might not have a handsome beard, Sarah knows what she is talking about. So enjoy this one, because I promise you the grammatical quality of this post is going to be unusually high. (Also, I am planning a post sometime in the near future on this famed shinatatsu ramen street outside of the Shinagawa Eki)

You know that travel guide your mom gave you before you went off to Tokyo? That section on Shinagawa doesn’t seem very exciting. And probably the only real reason you ever had to go there was for your work permit. Of course it doesn’t help that they only mention in passing the wonders of 品達 （しなたつ）out of Takanawa Exit, that ramen/donburi paradise that is only known by true-born Tokyoites (i.e., my host mom). Seven ramen shops. Five donburi restaurants. So many choices it would be impossible to not find something you’ll like (if you can’t, you must be an annoyingly picky eater).

Price: 3.5 out of 5 taiyakis, depending on what you get

Location: 2.5

Atmosphere: 4

Wait time: 4.5

Taste: 4

So I admit, I had no idea what I was getting into. It would have been nice if my host mom had mentioned this place existed before I left the house, but oh well. I was just hungry after waiting an hour and a half for An-chan, who never showed up anyways. We went into the first ramen place we saw.

A seemingly simple obaasan and ojiisan restaurant, Fuujin makes no claims to greatness except for their handmade gyoza, which of course you can watch ojiisan make pretty much the whole time you’re there since nearly every single customer orders them. But just because it’s ramen and gyoza doesn’t make it simple in taste. I lost track of the different kinds of ramen and tsukemen you could order. 普通、辛い、野菜たっぷり。。。whatever flavor you’re craving they can do it (and even if they can’t there are 11 other places right next door to choose from). Since I’m cheap, I went for gyoza (¥370) and futsuu ramen (¥590). Bill ordered the gyoza and rice/soup set. Everything came up in 5 minutes or less, which automatically made me love obaasan and ojiisan more because I was HUNGRY. Did I mention that An-chan made us wait for an hour and a half?

First, the gyoza. Six beautifully hand-crafted gyoza just for you by ojiisan. Stuffed with meat and veggies and love. And you can actually taste it! What a great way to cure a gyoza deficiency, rather than trying to stuff yourself full of 50+ mediocre oily-tasting frozen fast-food gyoza (I actually lost track somewhere in the 30s, but you get the idea). It’s with good reason this shop advertises their homemade gyoza. They’re even better covered in shouyu and vinegar, mixing perfectly with the ground pork and onions to make your taste buds dance with joy.

Sadly, I am not a ramen professional like Flo is, but even I can tell this is good stuff. You’ve got your charshu, egg, bamboo shoots, lots of onions and TWO kinds of seaweed! The charshu may be thin but it is packed with that amazing savory-salty broth that your ramen is soaking in. Though I’m not a huge fan of nori in my ramen, the konbu was a tasty alternative. And of course no ramen is complete without the perfectly soft-boiled egg with the bright-orange yolk. Paired with tender yellow ramen noodles it’s like you’ve come home to your mom’s best home-made meal. Besides the fact that my (real) mom would never dream of making ramen for us when we were growing up, and my host mom will always just do instant ramen. So in that case, even better.

The Verdict

While I love my obaasan/ojiisan shops, you can probably find ones just as good closer to where you live so you don’t have to pay the extra train fare. But if you’re in the neighborhood, definitely stop by. You’ve already ventured out of the safety of Takadanobaba so you might as well get out of the 500 yen lunch budget too (unless you have a 1000yen lunch budget, in which case PPPPPPPPTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHH).

How To Get There

As long as you take almost any JR line you’ll probably pass through Shinagawa, though Yamanote is likely to be easiest. Go out Takanawa Exit, cross Chuo-doori, and turn left.