Gatsun — Restaurant in Tokyo

Upon leaving our bags in our hotel (Asakusa Hotel Hatago), we searched for a nearby ramen shop that is still open at that time (around 9-10pm). And my fiancé found Gatsun Ramen and will be open until 12am. The walk towards ramen shop is very enjoyable and although we are the only one walking around, we felt that it is a very safe community (Asakusa road and along Sumida River).

When we arrived at the shop, there is a queue (we are the 3rd group in the line), maybe because they are the only open shop around.

Brief background of us is its our first time to travel to Tokyo so everything we do is first time. So its our turn in the queue, we walked inside like a local and we were briefly stopped by the waitress and thought I am a local (it’s a compliment!) and told us (in english) that we need to select and pay at the vendo ramen before seating.

We ordered the plain one and the black one (i think its garlic) and oh my oh my gosh, it was the best Ramen i tasted! The rich broth, nice textured meat and noodles, then its a plus factor that the chef is so pleasantly nice and entertaining. I say it set the bar high for a Ramen :) Can’t wait to...

There is an english guide for the ticket vending machine. I got the #4, Black Ramen with extras (egg, nori, and some pickled vegetables). The chef/owner asked how firm I wanted the noodles, and I chose "hard". He gave me a choice of the sides that came with the #4 set. I chose the one with the spicy pickled vegetables. Everything was delicious.

Broth was flavorful, rich, and complex. The noodles were great. The egg had a yolk that was a perfect consistency. Not too jammy, but not overdone. The pickled vegetables had a bit of heat, but nothing overwhelming. They were savory and slightly sweet.

The chef/owner and his wife (I assume it is his wife) are lovely people. He speaks very good english and explained how things work with some basic terminology (kaedama for extra noodles and bari-kata for "hard" noodles). Overall, it was a great experience and I'll be back before...

The best tonkatsu ramen we’ve had in Japan! This spot is slept on. We were recommend this spot by a local on our first day in Tokyo. We’ve been in Japan for 3 weeks now and are still to find a better bowl of tonkatsu (including the much hyped ichiran ramen!).

We tried both the black ramen and the tonkatsu and I would recommend the tonkatsu. It had a delicious well balanced broth with very thin pork slices that were not too fatty. The noodles were on the thinner side with a good bite. Once we finished the noodles the owner offers ‘kaedama’ - an extra serving of noodles for free!

The owner and his wife were incredibly kind and chatty with good English. We have Gatsen ‘s tonkatsu as the bench mark with which we have compared every bowel of ramen since. We can’t recommend enough, we ate here twice.

(Photos of black ramen - tonkastu was too delicious we...