Tsukemen on a rainy summer evening

Felt sorry for my bicycle, dead under the rain.

One Saturday evening after workout, a heavy downpour fell all over Tokyo. I had no choice to but to wait for the rain intensity to slightly weaken. When stalled by the rain, there's usually nothing I could do but to just wait it out. I comfort myself by meditating, listening to the sounds of the rain, cars, or music, and thinking about many things that happened. When it was weak enough for me to rescue and hop on my bicycle, I felt hungry so I decided to have tsukemen! Tsukemen is a Japanese-introduced alteration of how ramen is supposed to be eaten. In stead of having the broth together with the noodles, the noodles are separate from the broth. Similar to how soba is served, the customer dips his noodle into a separate bowl filled with the broth. This tsukemen restaurant I'm about to introduce to you is my no. 1 recommended restaurant for Tsukemen. The restaurant is called Takemoto (竹もと or たけもと).

Takemoto is located in a not-so-conspicuous area of Tokyo. The closest station is Yukigaya-otsuka, a stop along Ikegami line which connects Gotanda station and Kamata station (a bus stop for Haneda airport). A part of Oota ward, the area is considered residential. One of the reasons for my high evaluation of the place is that the restaurant is difficult to find considering that the restaurant is accessible via a narrow alley just right beside the 100 yen shop. I feel like having a temporary hiding place, where I can shutdown and concentrate on slurping high quality noodles.

The vending machine.

鶏と魚介の特製辛つけ麺 beside my rain cap.

At the entrance, you'll be directed to the automated ordering machine. The machine is a vending machine for the food. I recommend the "鶏と魚介の特製つけ麺" 1100円 (~$10), or the spicy version "鶏と魚介の特製辛つけ麺" 1150円 . The kanji is pronounced "niwatori to gyokai no tokusei tsukemen" which translates to "chicken and sea food special tsukemen". Once selected, you'll receive a slip that contains your order. The staff will assist you to your seat while taking the slip. You'll also be given a special privilege (free) to have extra noodles in your bowl ("omori" or large).

View from the counter. The guy's a new staff member.

The chef preparing the final touches.

The set meal contains sufficient amount of meat toppings (chashuu), and a boiled egg in the dipping bowl (perfect for my after-workout). Half-way through finishing the noodles, the soup cools down. One amazing service in the restaurant is to order a hot stone which you can dip into the bowl to heat up the soup. It's called "焼き石" (two photos below), pronounced as "yaki ishii". I politely say, "yaki ishii onegaishimasu".

Once all the noodles are out, you can consume your soup by having the chef add water and some vegetables into the dipping bowl. I politely say, "soup wari onegaishimasu".

Awards pinned on the wall.

Final "soup wari".

Front of the "Takemoto" restaurant.

After dinner, I took a photo of the facade of the restaurant from across the street. Across the street is a sushi restaurant. While taking the photo, an old man exited the sushi restaurant and greeted me. He noticed me taking a photo and he said, "nice". Then we talked for a while about how long I've stayed here in Japan. Most foreigners are quite annoyed of the typical inquiries like where are you from, how long have you been here, but I don't really mind. I take it as an extended greeting which when finished, I develop a better rapport with the Japanese I'm talking to, especially with older people whom I sense worthy of my respect.