No.1 restaurant in Japan in the food log, serving thick seafood tsukemen (tsukemen)

Menya Itto in Shinkoiwa, Tokyo, once won first place in a national ramen ranking. I had known about the restaurant for a while, but it wasn’t until I went to Menya Fukuhara, a popular restaurant opened by his apprentice in Osaka, that I really became aware of it… The mellow chicken soba (salt) here was just so delicious that I thought I would definitely visit the restaurant where I trained if I ever had the chance! I had been thinking that one day, if I had the chance, I would definitely visit the restaurant where I had trained.
The timing was right, and I visited Menya Ittou one weekday after lunch. When I arrived at the restaurant, surprisingly there was no line…

All day numbered tickets are available for a quick and easy access… Menya Itto is a restaurant like this.

Noodle House Itto has a numbered ticket system for all days, so you don’t have to wait in long lines. Thanks to this system, the storefront is clear and uncrowded. We can now make the most of our waiting time, and the pain of standing in line has been eased considerably.

Let me explain the numbered ticket system at Noodle House Itto. When you arrive at the restaurant, you first wait at the space to the right of the entrance. If you are satisfied with the waiting time, you can wait while looking at the menu on the wall.

After a short wait, a staff member comes out from inside the restaurant and asks about the waiting time. When I told them that I was willing to wait, I was guided to the ticket machine inside the restaurant…

The system is that you get a numbered ticket in exchange for the meal ticket you buy here…

Special Thick Seafood Tsukemen: The finest version of the signature dish of Menya Itto.🍜

Let me introduce you to the signature dish of Menya Ittou, the special thick seafood tsukemen (regular, priced at 1,550 yen including tax) that I ordered this time. Click here to see the picture.

If you upgrade from the normal to the special version, the noodles are topped with a boiled egg, three slices of chashu pork, and three sheets of nori (seaweed). All three pieces of chashu are of different kinds, and the moistness of the chashu can be felt from their appearance, making chashu lovers drool over them. However, the extra 550 yen for 3 pieces of chashu pork, boiled egg, and nori is indeed too expensive compared to the normal version…

The soup is made with a mixture of five kinds of seafood and crustaceans in a thick chicken broth that has a moderate thickness. Even though the soup is called “thick,” it is milder than the recent “Mataama-style” thick fish and shellfish tsukemen, and you can easily enjoy it even in the latter half of the meal without getting tired of eating it (by the way, if you order a large portion, you will get another bowl of tsukemen soup for free). (By the way, if you order a large portion, you can get another bowl of dipping sauce for free.

In contrast, the noodles are homemade straight thick noodles with a rich wheat aroma. The noodles are firm and smooth. The noodles can be enjoyed by themselves without dipping them in the dipping sauce, a quality that can be said to be “as expected of the noodles from the restaurant ranked number one in Japan in the food log.

The amount of broth that is mixed with the noodles is just right, and the noodles are integrated with the broth, giving the noodles a well-balanced taste of wheat, chicken, and seafood. The sense of balance in this area can only be described as “as expected.

On the other hand, as a person who likes sharp things, I was not strongly impressed by this tsukemen. If anything, I felt that it was well put together at a high level…. Well, as the reviews on numerous food blogs indicate, it certainly has a taste like no other, and if you like tsukemen, I think it’s a good one to try.

To get to Menya Ittou, walk 3 minutes from the nearest station, Shinkoiwa Station on the JR Sobu Line.

Address: 1-4-17 Higashi-shinkoiwa, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo
Telephone number: Not open to the public
Business hours: 11:00-15:00, 18:00-21:00
Closed: Wednesdays and Sundays
Parking: No parking lot