takutana
Today, I ventured to Shinjuku for the first time in a long while. I never really came to Shinjuku before, but it's actually quite easy to get here by taking the Fukutoshin Line directly without any transfers. You can even go all the way to Ikebukuro without transferring. When you think about not having to transfer at Shibuya, the hurdle of coming to Shinjuku gets much lower. Shinjuku is a super ramen battleground that even surpasses Shibuya. I couldn't decide on which ramen shop to go to until I arrived. After much deliberation, I decided to try the tsukemen at this shop that had "tsukemen" in its name. When I arrived at the shop at 2:00 PM, I was shocked by the long line. The last time I saw a line this long, it was probably at Yoshimura-ya. My expectations were high. The estimated time for the bowl to arrive was 55 minutes, but it actually came in 48 minutes. The turnover rate was surprisingly good, and things moved along quite smoothly. This shop is famous for its shrimp tsukemen, but I had been skeptical of shrimp-based ramen ever since I tried shrimp ramen that was just flavored with shrimp oil a long time ago. However, this place was different. Shrimp essence was present in the soup, not just shrimp oil, and you could taste the shrimp broth. When I tried just the soup, the shrimp essence was so intense that it made my tongue tingle, and I believe that a significant amount of shrimp essence must be present to achieve this sensation. It was an ideal shrimp soup. However, the amount of soup was limited. Moreover, the soup was quite rich, so it clung to the noodles a lot, and with this amount, it would be impossible to finish a large serving. I decided to sip the soup while conserving it. When I had eaten about two-thirds of the bowl, I heard someone at the next table ask for a soup refill. I checked and found out that one refill was free. I wish they had told me about this earlier. And I wish they had given me a bit more soup to begin with. I glanced around the restaurant but couldn't find any information about soup refills, so this aspect was a bit unfriendly. I was lucky to get a soup refill, and it was a good thing. When the additional soup arrived, I slurped it up to finish. The cabbage topping also paired well with the shrimp soup, providing a nice texture and serving as a palate cleanser. The final bite was sealed with intense shrimp essence, so overall satisfaction was quite high. However, the shrimp essence was truly remarkable! I usually prefer crab, but I also realized that shrimp is delicious! It was tasty!