viehcle
I had been wanting to try Enakusan's tsukemen after seeing photos for a while. However, due to poor access from my home, I couldn't go until now when I had some extra time and decided to cycle to the restaurant. The shop is located a 3-minute walk west from Eizan Ichijoji Station. This area is a fierce battleground for famous ramen shops, but there are also many good pastry shops with long queues. The shop opens at 11:30 am, and I arrived at 11:10 am. There were already 3 people waiting, and I thought a 20-minute wait would be tough, but the shop opened at 11:20 am and we entered. At this point, 6 people had entered. By 11:30 am, it was almost full. While waiting before opening, menus were distributed, and I had already decided on the special tsukemen. I also ordered the meat rice. The special tsukemen (1050 yen) seems like the best deal if you're ordering regular tsukemen for the first time. The toppings are char siu, pork sausage, and half a boiled egg. You can choose from 150g, 200g, or 275g of noodles at no extra charge, and I chose 275g. The large serving of 450g is an additional 150 yen. It arrived in just under 15 minutes after handing in the meal ticket. I was expecting a rich seafood flavor, but while the dipping sauce is rich, it's not as salty as typical tsukemen broth and has a strong umami flavor. The char siu was also carefully cooked, not too fatty, very tender, and delicious on its own. The noodles had a good firmness, and 270g was a satisfying amount until the end. Until now, I usually found tsukemen delicious at first but got tired of it towards the end, but this was different. I think the fact that the saltiness isn't overpowering is significant. The boiled egg was supposed to be half, but since it was misshapen or small, I was able to get a whole egg. It was more like a boiled egg than a seasoned egg, but it was sufficient. It was the most delicious seafood pork bone I've ever had. The meat rice (290 yen) is often salty at ramen and tsukemen shops, but when mixed with the dipping sauce, it was delicious enough as a side dish. Ramen and tsukemen shops with long lines often have mediocre or overly assertive service, but the staff in charge of service this time was very polite and considerate, which I appreciated. While waiting, it was truly sweltering, but it felt like heaven when we entered, and the simple greeting "Thank you for waiting in this heat" and opening 10 minutes early were nice touches. I realized that such casual service is important. I can't go there often due to the challenging access, but I would like to use it again and recommend this tsukemen shop.