あてるい
On this day, the second three-day weekend in September, I planned to have lunch at the original pork bowl restaurant TONTON Akebonobashi store, located on the way down from the Gappizaka intersection on Sotobori Higashi Street to the Gappizaka Shita intersection on Yasukuni Street. However, when I arrived at the store at the scheduled opening time, I found a sign saying "Closed on Mondays" hanging in front of the store! Although the store information on the website and Tabelog indicated "Irregular holidays," it was not reliable at all. I saw customers leaving after unknowingly visiting the store without knowing it was closed on Mondays, just after me. I wish the store would at least update the information on their website. I had to think of an alternative restaurant, and the first one that came to mind was this one on the opposite side of the Gappizaka intersection. Although I had been meaning to visit this restaurant for years, I had always put it off for some reason. I went there immediately, and although the store was already open, there were no other customers inside. There were two middle-aged male and female staff members, and I overheard them speaking Chinese later, so they seemed to be from there. The male staff member urged me to buy a meal ticket from the ticket machine on the left side first. Since it was an unplanned visit, I had not studied the menu in advance, so I checked the menu on the spot. Following the rule of the upper left corner, I chose the middle one of the three "Naoojiro Vegetable" for 850 yen (including tax). I sat at a table seat in the middle on the left side after handing over the meal ticket. The "Naoojiro Vegetable" that came out after a while was something I had never tried before, but it looked familiar somehow. There was a mountain of bean sprouts and cabbage on top, with plenty of lard toppings, even on the surface of the soup. Later, I found out that this menu was originally a signature dish of Naoojiro Main Store, a Niigata ramen shop. While Kokuai's menu mentioned "Gaten-style" ramen, Naoojiro is said to be a Jiro-inspired ramen, so this Naoojiro is also a Jiro-inspired ramen. So, I canceled my plans to go to Gaten (laughs). First, I took a sip of the soup. The milky white pork bone-based soup was milder in saltiness than I expected, with a rich and smooth taste. Next, the vegetables. I had to eat through this mountain of bean sprouts and cabbage without spilling them outside the bowl to reach the noodles, so I ate while avoiding the lard toppings. As a result, there was a lot of lard floating on the soup, but it didn't feel greasy when I drank it. Perhaps the watery vegetables helped to alleviate the greasiness, but I slightly changed my perception of lard. There were two slices of chashu. It felt like pork ham, but it was cut thick and had a decent texture. Finally, I reached the noodles. The thick noodles had a good chewiness, which I liked. Moreover, even with a regular serving, there was a satisfying volume, which was nice. There was also miso with chili oil on the table, so I enjoyed changing the taste towards the end by mixing it with the soup. At the beginning, I was a little worried if I could finish it, but I managed to eat every last piece, every drop of the vegetables, noodles, and soup without feeling bloated or heavy. I was pleasantly surprised. This experience made me think that I could handle the original Jiro ramen as long as I watched the portion size. Therefore, although I visited Mentsukushi Kokuai as a pinch hitter, the "Naoojiro Vegetable" that I randomly chose following the rule of the upper left corner turned out to be a big hit. I had been interested in Jiro-style ramen but had hesitated until now. Thanks to this experience, I now want to make my debut at the original Jiro Ramen shop.