Tanmenya Tokyo

タンメン + 餃子 / Tanmen + Gyoza / Tanmenya — Higashi-Nakagami, Tokyo

Simple Chinese shio soup with pork and vegetables stir-fried in lard. Medium-thin low hydration noodles are added to the bowl 2-3 minutes before the stir-fried toppings so that they can loosen up. The vegetables are mostly napa cabbage and bean sprouts. The recommended way of eating is to add some of the house-made ra-yu chili oil, with gyoza on the side.

The roots of this bowl go back to a Chinese restaurant called Horai, located on a shopping street in the Hassei area of Akishima City, Tokyo. It was there that legendary tanmen was made by a Taiwanese chef named Chin-san. Horai has long since closed, but the 'Chin Tanmen' lineage continues to this day as a local style beloved in Akishima. It is believed that the disciple of Chin-san opened the shop 'Shan' (est 2001) in Akiruno City, most likely the disciple of Shan opened this shop, Tanmenya. 13 seats, lunch only 11:15am-2pm. Open around 20 years. Less