Store name: Tokyo Underground Ramen Ganja
Business hours: 10:00-22:00 (Lo 21:30)
Closed: None (according to Tobu Hope Center business hours)
Access: Tobu Hope Center inside Ikebukuro Station
Number of visits: 2nd time
Visit date: June 2025, weekdays
Visiting time: Around 18:00
Lines: None, I get the impression that the store is about 70% full.
Seat: 1 person counter seat
I get the impression that there are lines during weekday lunches and peak lunch and dinner hours on weekends.
The situation at the time of my last visit was ``here』
Ordering method: Meal ticket system
Payment method: cash, transportation IC card
When ordering soup wari, you make a verbal order to the staff.
Menu
The restaurant is famous for its tsukemen, so it mainly focuses on tsukemen, but they also have ramen and ae-men.
Tsukemen has a thick dipping sauce based on seafood and pork bones, while light tsukemen has a smooth dipping sauce based on soy sauce and chicken.
Personally, I have never eaten light noodles and always prefer regular tsukemen.
Tsukemen
This time we will introduce the most classic ``Tsukemen (1,050 yen)” was selected.
When handing over the meal ticket, you will be asked for the amount of noodles, S (200g) or M (300g), so of courseM (300g)” was selected.
The rice bowl was served in about 5 minutes after handing over the ticket.
Let's get it then.
dipping sauce
The so-called ``Seafood and Tonkotsu''Matata-type”.
You can feel the spiciness of the seafood, pork bones, and pepper.
The dipping sauce is rich and mushy, and is one of the richest of all the seafood and pork bones I've personally eaten.
It's so rich that by the time you finish eating the noodles, the dipping sauce is gone along with it.
Matata-type
Oma-kei also refers to seafood and pork bones.
Because so many shops serve seafood-and-pork-bone broth, the style came to be nicknamed mata-oma-kei, short for mata omae mo ka (you too, again?).
Noodles
The noodles are flat and have a smooth and chewy texture.
It has a strong flavor with hints of wheat and a hint of egg.
Chashu (Braised Pork)
Contains thinly sliced chashu.
It has a smooth texture.
If you want to enjoy the hearty chashu, we recommend choosing the ``Special Tsukemen'' (1,400 yen).
You can bite into a large piece of pork belly chashu.
On this day, I wanted noodles or wheat rather than chashu, so I didn't go for the special one.
Soup portion
At the end, we will enjoy soup wari.
It gives the impression that it has more of an animal-like feel to it than pork bones.
Is this what ramen feels like?
When it comes to ramen, I'm also curious.
Impressions and Rating
As expected, there was a consistent deliciousness this time as well.
This is the second time I have introduced it on this blog, but I think I have visited it more than 10 times, including before I started this blog.
There may be some lines depending on the time of day, but the appeal is that you can get delicious and crispy tsukemen.
It's located inside Ikebukuro Station, so it's easily accessible, and since it's underground, you can visit regardless of the temperature or weather, whether it's hot, cold, or bad.
Since it is located inside Ikebukuro Station, it is also attractive that you can pay with transportation IC cards in addition to cash.
Not only is it delicious, but it's also well-balanced in terms of the small number of lines, access, and payment methods.
The underground area of Ikebukuro Station is a maze for those who are not used to it, so it may be a bit difficult to visit, but it is definitely a store you should remember when you visit Ikebukuro.
