Yokohama and Ramen

Been longing to visit a friend in Yokohama and finally it is time. Taking the trains from Nakano to Yokohama was easier and much faster than I thought. Basically we took the Yamanote Chou Line from Nakano station to Shinjuku station, then switch to the Shounan-Shinjuku Line Special Rapid Service which is an express rapid line that stops at Shinjuku. It took only 30 minutes from Shinjuku to Yokohama. I was very impressed.

Since we started our trip late, by the time we arrived in Yokohama, it was already sunset.  We strolled around the city for a bit before heading to have ramen.

So our friend took us to this ramen shop ramen fanatics would line up to have ramen there. It quite popular as there is always a line up.  The name of the ramen shop is 家系総本山吉村家.

So you have to know the drill.  When you see a lineup, don’t panic, be prepared to wait for 15 to 20 minutes. Go inside the store and get the ramen tickets from the machine on the right.  Then go back to the end of the line to line up.  You can’t line up if you haven’t purchased any ramen tickets.

Once there are empty seats, you will be escorted to your seat. Most are bar seats and you will be watching the chef while enjoying the ramen they prepared for you.

There are a variety of condiments available, including ground ginger, ground garlic, vinegar, soy source, etc. But the best is to taste and enjoy the ramen without adding any additional flavouring.

So here is my ramen. The soup was a thick tongotsu soup with miso flavouring. The soup is very intense with a strong taste of pork, something I had never had before. It was so intense that my cold went away for a couple of hours.  Yes, I was unfortunate enough to have gotten a cold on my vacation…. The ramen was thin cut noodles, and as you can see, there were a boiled egg, some charsiu, some seaweed and some veggie. Looks very simple but the taste is very unique.  Apart from being thick and intense, the charsiu also has a charcoal taste to it. It was probably BBQ using charcoal to add that additional flavour.

Here is my wife’s.  She didn’t have the egg.

This is how you show your appreciation of the ramen prepared by the chef.

And when you are done, you stand up and say “ごちそうさまでした”.

It was great seeing our friend and, of course, we really appreciated him treating us to one of the most enjoyable ramen experience we ever had.  Until next time, take care and see you around!

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