Best Ramen in Tokyo, Nippon TV

We watched the end of the year special on the best ramenyas in Tokyo, salivating over the bowls of beautiful broth and perfectly cooked noodles.

I knew we had to try one while we were in Japan for the holidays.

After MS searched the website, we found one that was open on New Year's Eve.

Enter the Ramen Wrestler.



After a couple of train rides and a brisk walk on a cold afternoon, we found the bright orange ramen shop with a line of people waiting outside.

This had to be it.

There were about 20+ people already in line, enough to turn the casual bystander away.

But not me.

I cajoled MS to stay with me, convincing him that it would be worth the wait and effort in getting there. It took 40 minutes just to get to that point. What was another half hour?

There were only two women in the line ahead of us, and a long line of 17 hungry men formed behind us.



We didn't just wait the half hour. It took an entire hour to have one of the coveted seven seats at the counter. But the warmth from the broth and noodles filled the small ramen shop as we waited patiently for our turn.

Each bowl of ramen was made to order, and when we were finally motioned to two seats next to the meat slicer, I could hardly contain my excitement.



The Ramen Wrestler definitely put on a show, as he wrestled with the cooked noodles and drained them of all excess water before placing them in the large ceramic bowls.

You could order extra pork, an extra amount of noodles, and a boiled egg with your ramen.



I had MS order my ramen with an egg in it, as shown above. But was asked from the master himself when the bowl was served, "Who ordered the ramen with egg?"

With a huge smile and without any shame or qualms, I raised my hand.

"Why is she eating more than you?"

At which point, I opted not to ask for a second helping of noodles. I did, however, finish the entire bowl and thought that it was most definitely worth the wait! It was the right amount of saltiness with a nice cut of savory meat. The fried onions had great flavor and was a nice contrast of textures when slurping the noodles.

I don't remember the name or location of this ramen-ya, but know that the Ramen Wrestler won accolades as being one of Tokyo's best. Without a doubt, it was one of my favorites and I'm left to wonder... will I be able to find a ramen-ya in Los Angeles that could compare?

I'm on the quest.