After last several days with nothing more than a passable Shinjuku bowl I was starting to get the shakes and my mood was markedly depreciating. After some setbacks that prevented another try at Hototogisu this morning, and Food Stand in Jingumae being closed, I was by this point completely demoralised.

Enter かしわぎ (Kashiwagi) in Nakano.. a new entrant in Tokyo that is already hitting best of lists the last two years. Despite that they don’t seem to aiming for anything glamorous, this is a cheap ramen, in a casual atmosphere with a refreshingly modest portion where I didn’t even struggle to finish my partner’s shoyu. As for mine, now here is a bowl where the whole is more than the sum of its parts. I had the pork shellfish mix which is just an avalanche of umami. I argued about the merits, I was inclined to feel that while the broth was delicious solo, the combination sent the noodles into the stratosphere. Once again I wanted firmer noodle but once again I did not ask. 😬

Sides: The egg was on point, even though I had to steal it from my wife. Possibly some ageing. Two varieties of pork, thin sliced chashu (and this was premium for thin slice, just superb!) and a bacon-ish savoury salted slice - alas I do not know her name, but she will forever remain in my dreams.

Definitely one of the highlights of new ramen (2018-) in Tokyo, thanks to Ramen Adventures for that heads up! Also modest enough portions at the low low 680¥ so you could easily go two bowls. And the 500m burp..wow what a rush 💓😂