Recommended bowl: Huge Katsuura spice!

Bingiri serves various styles of tantanmen, but they're most famous for a Katsuura tantanmen, a sub-genre invented in the city of Katsuura, located deep in Chiba on the eastern side of Japan's Boso peninsula.

Bingiri's katsuura tantanmen comes with a heavy portion of diced onions and Chinese chives (nira), topped with a spoonful of spicy powder containing chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. A broad layer of chili oil coats the surface of the soup.

As you eat your way through the noodles, you use the spork provided to dig up the sediment-like layers of onions, chives and ground pork that coat the bottom of the bowl. You then take this goodness and heap it over a side dish of white rice (free with every order). Because the soup is covered in so much chili oil, spoon it over the rice rather than attempting to drink it straight. The heat is fierce; the flavor is great. The only drawback: this shop is open for just 2 1/2 hours during lunch.