Chuogo Honten Mita Tokyo

Recommended bowl: The legend...

The original Ramen Jiro opened in Mita, Tokyo back in 1968. The shop proceeded to spawn its own genre and remains an influential force in the Tokyo ramen scene today. There are now over 35 official Ramen Jiro outlets in the Tokyo metropolitan area, along with countless imitators serving their own take on ‘Jiro-style’ ramen. The genre has legions of passionate devotees – there is even a Japanese neologism used to describe Ramen Jiro fanatics: ‘Jirorian.' The standard profile of a Jirorian is young, male and stinking of garlic – usually Tokyo college students and salarymen with big, nasty appetites. This is a meaty, greasy, macho meal.

Some variation exists between Ramen Jiro outlets, but the bowl is invariably a gut buster. Massive chunks of fatty pork undulate in a rich, salty shoyu and tonkotsu soup. A generous serving of thick, dense noodles made from bread flour is piled high with bean sprouts, cabbage and garlic. No napkins or spoons provided. You can either slurp up the noodles, sprouts and pork fat with your sticks, or pick up the whole bowl and guzzle. There’s nothing else quite like it. Would you call yourself a glutton for pork fat? If so, this bowl might be for you. We honestly can’t decide whether we love it or hate it. Jirorians got nuts for it; plenty of casual eaters find it plain gross.

The legend began at Ramen Jiro’s original outpost in Meguro-ku in 1968, but the shop relocated to a space in Mita in 1970, before moving to its current building nearby in 1996. The shop doesn’t appear to have been cleaned or updated much since the relocation. The laminate on the counter tops is beginning to peel and a layer of grease seems to coat everything. No one cares. It’s all about the ramen. There’s steady line of heads waiting for a seat every day (On our last visit, we arrived at 12:30pm on a Thursday and waited about 30 minutes for a place).

The ticket machine at Ramen Jiro in Mita offers three options: ramen, buta ramen and double buta ramen. You can also specify “large size” for all of these options. Probably 75% of the customers (us included) go for the regular ramen at 600 yen (amazing calorie-for-yen value). Buta and double-buta simply entails extra pork and pig back fat. Sit down and watch the master do his sweaty work, slicing big, juicy slabs of pig and tossing handfuls of noodles into the caldron. Before you get your bowl the staff will ask you if you want garlic. Say ‘hai’ and get to work. Less