Hirugao Tokyo Station — Restaurant in Tokyo

I'm on a Ramen tour in Tokyo and this is my first time at Tokyo Station's Ramen Street.  It wasn't too difficult to locate if u have your Google Maps on, and your common sense switched on... 😉 But, I sure walked up an appetite from the Maranouchi Line exit to Ramen Street. It took nearly half an hour... 😂

Hirugao was my first choice to visit.  It was recommended by YouTuber "5 AM Ramen", for Hirugao's signature Shio Ramen Senmon (Salt Ramen).  At 10.20am, although there were customers, but oddly, unlike its neighbour Rokurinsha (Tsukemen), there was no Q.

At the behest of a rather snippy waitress (who was not Japanese), I ordered the house favourite Shio Ramen at the vending machine--the "No. 1" on the list, at JPY 1,290.

I was quickly seated, and within 5mins, my Shio Ramen Senmon arrived.

My Shio Ramen arrived looking neat, clean and tidy, but...

As a Singaporean, and probably other Southeast Asian Chinese, and perhaps the Chinese in Hong Kong and Taiwan, may feel the same way as well, this Shio (Salt) soup base is already familiar to me, except that Hirugao's version has a lot more depth. Because of the Wantons that were swimming calmly in the bowl of Ramen, and with the slices of pork Chashu and belly pork, strips of Japanese spring onions and the use of thin Hokkaido Ramen noodles, Hirugao's Shio Ramen Senmon looked and tasted like a denser, more robust and more flavourful version of the Chinese's Wanton Noodles Soup.

Even though this bowl of Hirugao's Shio Ramen Senmon was good 👍, it didn't punch my heart hard enough to leave a dent. But, it still deserves the ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐s for the amount of time and effort put into it.

Moving on to the next 7 Ramen shops... 😅😅😅

(PS. After having tried Rokurinsha's Tokusei Tsukemen, Hirugao's is definitely not the weakest link of all the Ramen shops at Ramen Street, but not the best one from my...

English description is provided

Ordered #1 Saltiness soup ramen with all toppings

Broth tasted to be a fish/salt base. It was very light and with a very savory flavor.

Noodles were the thinner style noodles and was cooked al dente…soft with a little chew.

Egg was also cooked perfectly, egg yolk was very orange and flavorful.

Also ordered a size of gyoza, which was just very average. Would not recommend unless you were very hungry.

Must purchase your ticket before queueing in line. We were 8th in line and it moved quick. Was seated within 15 minutes and food came out 2-3 minutes after being seated.

Like many restaurants in Japan, the space it quite cozy. If you are a bigger person, it will be tight...

A fresh change from the famed rokushin ramen beside it. The queue ain’t as long and it moves decently fast.

Ramen is broth is light and delish, piping hot soup with straight noods that is nicely al dente. Egg is shio marinated with perfectly runny yolk. The minus point is that the Charsiew is tad dry/tough even tho thinly sliced albeit the wanton and pork belly makes up for it. Menma doesn’t have a funk too.

Gyoza were fab w thin wraps and succulent fillings!

Overall , great bowl that I returned twice.

Tried the Shoyu - nada not great Tsukemen- packed with tonnes of dried scallops that is incredibly flavorful, alas, still prefer tonkutsu type for tsukemen.

Service is highly efficient here and...