ramen151e
Visit date: July 28, 2023 (Friday) Today's lunch was my second visit to "Dashi no Toriko," a kombu water dipping noodle specialty shop in Roppongi, Tokyo, which opened on May 25th. This shop operates on a complete reservation basis and does not disclose its address or phone number. It is a unique restaurant that offers soy sauce-flavored kombu water dipping noodles. The first time I visited, I could only eat the soy sauce-flavored "kombu water dipping noodles." The noodles are served with a pure chicken broth dipping sauce made with only chicken and water. Various condiments and seasonings are provided on the table, such as grated yam, bonito flakes, soy sauce, olive oil, black pepper, powdered sansho pepper, black shichimi, seaweed salt, plum broth, and citrus broth. The suggested way to eat is to dip the noodles in the soup and then add these condiments or pour more dipping sauce over them. It took quite a bit of time to eat during my first visit, but since the shop operates on a complete reservation basis with a 45-minute gap between reservations, there is no need to rush. However, as the noodles are dipped, the hot dipping sauce gradually cools down, so it is best to finish eating promptly. I decided to order a half-size noodle refill this time because I found the 180g portion of noodles a bit small during my previous visit. The reason for my quick return was that the soy sauce-flavored "kombu water dipping noodles" I had last time were surprisingly delicious, even though they did not seem to use any special local chicken broth. I wanted to see if the salt-flavored version would be just as tasty. In general, shops that excel in soy sauce flavor may not be as good with salt flavor, and vice versa. The "Yuzu salt dipping noodles" can only be eaten with a second reservation, and despite their Instagram stories indicating otherwise, I was informed that the second reservation onwards would be required for the Yuzu salt noodles. Therefore, I made a reservation for the "Lightly seasoned niboshi dipping noodles" for my second visit. I arrived at the shop at 12:11 pm, just like last time, approaching it from Roppongi Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line, a 5-minute walk away. I was guided to a seat at the L-shaped counter with 13 seats in front of the open kitchen upon giving my reservation name. I placed my order without looking at the menu, requesting the "Ume kombu water dipping noodles with lightly seasoned niboshi" and a half-size noodle refill. The menu only lists the soy sauce-flavored "kombu water dipping noodles," with three topping options: "Pine," "Bamboo," and "Ume." The default "Ume" includes one slice of pork chashu, one sheet of seaweed, Kujo green onion, red cabbage sprout, chopped kombu, and lime. "Bamboo" adds a seasoned egg and an extra sheet of seaweed to the "Ume" toppings, while "Pine" further includes one slice of pork chashu, one slice of chicken chashu, and one shrimp dumpling to the "Bamboo" toppings. This was my second reservation, and the shop had changed the menu to offer lightly seasoned niboshi dipping noodles instead of the yuzu salt noodles.