I felt like having a rich ramen, so I went to a local ramen shop after a long time. It was lunchtime and the restaurant was almost full. I could pay with cash, credit card, or electronic money, which was convenient. This time, I ordered a large Ajitama ramen with firm noodles, strong flavor, and extra pork fat. The lunch rice was free for seconds, which was nice. The taste was typical of a local ramen, but that was fine. I put half of the seasoned egg on top of the rice, poured soup and sesame seeds, and mixed it all together. That's all I need to be satisfied! The price was slightly higher, over 1000 yen for the Ajitama ramen, but with free rice, it was worth it.

I ate ramen at Yokohama Ramen Yokohama Michi Ikebukuro Higashi Exit Store in Ikebukuro, rated 3.00 on Tabelog. I couldn't resist the temptation of the greasy soup, thick noodles, and rich flavors. It was delicious.

A family-owned ramen shop located in the bustling district of Ikebukuro. The long opening hours are convenient. The menu consists of ramen and abura soba. You can choose between salt and soy sauce for the ramen. If you order the noodles firm, they will be served quickly, but they are too chewy. It would be better if they were boiled a bit longer. The chashu is also tough, and the spinach is cold. While they follow the traditional family-style ramen template, the taste is a bit messy. It felt like they could improve the overall impression with more attention to detail.

The noodles are thick wavy noodles, cooked to an average doneness, with a disappointing texture and a bland taste, lacking chewiness and firmness. The soup is a pork bone soup with a diluted flavor, lacking richness and depth. The toppings include chashu, seaweed, spinach, green onions, and quail egg. The chashu is thinly sliced with a taste that only resembles meat, while the spinach is watery and mushy, not enjoyable.

I ordered the House Ramen Shoyu (soy sauce) in regular size. I requested the noodles to be cooked normally, and the soup to have a normal level of richness and oil. The soup had a slight thickness from the oil, and the saltiness was just right for my taste. It was cloudy and on the heavier side as I had imagined. The noodles were short and medium thickness, about 15cm long. I found them a bit too short for slurping. They had a fairly firm texture even though I asked for them to be cooked normally. I prefer them a bit softer and chewier. The toppings included two slices of tender pork, some spinach, and three large pieces of seaweed. Personally, I think seaweed looks nice on ramen but doesn't add much to the flavor. Overall, the ramen was average. It might be tough to compete in the competitive area of Ikebukuro, that's my impression.

After work, I had a full bowl of ramen as usual. Today's was delicious as always, thank you!

The ramen noodles are thick wavy noodles, cooked to an average level, with a disappointing texture and a bland taste, lacking chewiness. The soup is like watered-down pork bone soup, lacking richness and any umami flavor. The toppings include chashu, seaweed, spinach, green onions, and quail egg. The chashu is thinly sliced with a meaty taste, while the spinach is watery and mushy, not delicious.

I went to a house-made ramen shop in Ikebukuro East Exit. It's a place where you can eat thick noodles and rich tonkotsu ramen, perfect for when you want to eat heartily. The shop offers free rice and you can freely change the flavor using various seasonings, which I think is the shop's unique feature. It's a place where you can enjoy whether you're alone, with friends, or with family, so I definitely want to go back again.

I suddenly went to a Yokohama ramen shop that had Chinese ramen on the menu. I ordered the flavored egg Chinese ramen from the ticket machine. It was lunchtime and rice was free. In the kitchen, a young girl was making ramen. The appearance was just a regular Chinese ramen with medium-thick, soft noodles. It was a normal Chinese ramen but somehow felt lacking. They seemed to know that, so they provided yuzu and ginger on small plates. This is something trendy ramen shops often do (like adding curry powder to make it taste better?). It wasn't bad and tasted normal, but... hmm, it was kind of subtle.

"Always delicious Yokohama-style ramen."

●May 1, 2018 (Tuesday)●I visited the restaurant again, undeterred by the 500 yen charge on the 1st of every month. This time, I ordered the noodles with normal firmness and salt. I was concerned that my body might be lacking salt due to the hot days we've been having. The ramen that was served...hmm? It tasted better than usual? It turns out, I had been feeling uneasy about the firmness of the noodles even though I had ordered them "firm." When I ordered "firm" at a similar restaurant, Ichikakuya, the noodles were just right. However, when I ordered "firm" at this restaurant, Michi, the noodles turned out too firm for my liking. If the firmness had been "normal," it would have blended well with the soup. Honestly, I still think that the ramen here at Michi in Ikebukuro is not as delicious as Ichikakuya, but considering that there is no long line outside and the comfortable, spacious interior, I found it more pleasant to eat ramen here. Since Michi has more seating, the wait time from ordering to being served is longer compared to other ramen shops, but it's understandable given the number of customers. Waiting in the comfortable interior is not as bothersome as waiting outside in the heat. Overall, I found this restaurant to be a place worth returning to in the future.

●February 1, 2018 (Thursday)●A recently opened ramen shop specializing in "kayse" style ramen. Personally, I had the impression that it had just opened about 2 or 3 weeks ago, but it turns out they have been in business since August 2017. Despite actively exploring the area, I had completely missed it. I visited on the 1st of the month, which is known as "Yokohama Do Day", where you can get a bowl of kayse ramen for only 500 yen. I entered the shop around 9:30 PM. Perhaps due to the snowy weather, the place was quite empty despite it being a special discount day. I purchased my ticket from the machine. I noticed that the system of offering ramen for 500 yen on the 1st of the month and the display on the machine were similar to "Ikkenya", and then I saw the words "Ikkenya" on the screen. It was a branch of "Ikkenya". I ordered the classic soy sauce kayse ramen. The ramen arrived after a while. I couldn't really tell the difference between this one and "Ikkenya", but for some reason, I felt that "Ikkenya" tasted better. Maybe it was the lack of the complimentary small rice that comes with the lunch service, which made it feel a bit unsatisfying. Also, I usually have kayse ramen after drinking alcohol or the next day, so eating it sober made the flavor seem too strong. The service was friendly, the shop was clean, and overall it wasn't bad, but if it's the same experience, I might as well go to "Ikkenya" in Ikebukuro.【Rating】★★★★★★ 6/10

The "Yokohama-style" ramen restaurant, Yokohama Michi, which features quail eggs as its trademark, is a pseudo-family ramen establishment that has been expanding mainly in the Tokyo area. I visited the branch in Ikebukuro with a friend for the first time. When we entered the restaurant around 10 pm on December 2, 2017, there was one customer at the counter and two young children, around elementary school age, sitting at a table by the wall. It was surprising to see children out late at night in the area. We ordered the default ramen for 730 yen and an extra rice for 100 yen using the touch panel ticket machine on the right side of the entrance. We sat at the counter at the back of the long narrow restaurant and handed our tickets to a male staff member in his late twenties. There was another male staff member of the same age in the kitchen, and both seemed to be Japanese. When I asked the staff member if the rice was all-you-can-eat for 100 yen, he explained that they used to offer it but had to change the system as it was no longer profitable. The restroom was located outside the restaurant, up the stairs to the third floor. The second floor housed another restaurant in the same chain, a steakhouse. When the ramen was served, I found the light and creamy soup to be well-balanced in oil and seasoning, making it easy to enjoy. The restaurant staff usually adjust the soup's richness upon serving, but this practice seems to be lacking in many restaurants nowadays. The seaweed, a characteristic of the Yokohama Michi ramen, was small, which affected the overall taste slightly. The noodles were likely from a reputable noodle manufacturer, and the texture was just right for my preference of softness. The rice, despite being labeled as using domestic rice, was served in a small portion, suitable for the price. I ordered an extra serving for 100 yen. Overall, the ramen at Yokohama Michi in Ikebukuro was much better than a typical ramen with a thin broth, offering a decent meal that was enjoyable.