Mensho Ginzasa — Restaurant in Tokyo

My first two attempts to visit Ginzasa proved elusive. In my first visit, the shop was closed around 9PM since they had already run out of soup for the day. In my second visit, the shop was also closed since the proprietors of the restaurant had traveled to Kansai to take part in a food exhibition. Third time was the charm as I made an effort to arrive at 17:30, right on the dot when they open for dinner. I have been told by friends that they too have encountered the “no-soup-for-you” problem whenever they visited too late. They either make very little soup, or sell out early due to sheer popularity. Based on my own experience of dining at Ginzasa, I suspect it might be due to the latter.

Let’s make one thing clear. If you are a fan of thick, rich and fat infused soups, then this place is not for you. However, if you are a fan of broth that has been simmered for hours to extract all the subtle flavor from ingredients such as kelp and dried marine animals, then run, not walk, to this establishment as soon as possible! Ginzasa offers regular ramen and tsukemen, with the option of salt or white soy sauce.

Shio or white shoyu...

コクのあるまろやかな味わいのスープがスープが特徴のラーメン店です。スープが麺によく絡み合い、しかもそれが反発し合うことなく、強すぎず弱すぎず口の中に味がゆっくりと広がるため、食後は多幸感に包まれるでしょう。連日長蛇の列が出来る程の人気店で、外国人観光客も多く訪れるのにも納得がいきます。スープの出汁には昆布・鰹節・煮干が使われているようですが、魚介系独特の臭みは全く感じませんでした。 スタッフの接客対応は概ね良好で、英語だけでなく中国語・韓国語も堪能と見受けました。 入口付近に設置されている券売機であらかじめ食券を購入する必要があります。店内は狭く、テーブル席のみでカウンター席がありません。通路も狭く、2人の人がようやくすれ違える程度の広さです。ほぼ毎日のように長蛇の列が出来るものの、客の回転は悪いわけではありませんので、通路は他の客と譲り合いながら通るといいでしょう。 ラーメンやつけ麺だけでも充分に堪能できますが、鯛飯を追加で注文するといいでしょう。ラーメンを食べたあとのスープを鯛飯の器に注ぐと、お茶漬けのようになり、スープの風味が程よく鯛飯に混ざり合い、一層美味しくいただけると思います。

This ramen restaurant features a soup with a rich and mild flavor. The soup is well mixed with the noodles, and the taste does not repel each other. The flavor is neither too strong nor too weak, but spreads slowly in your mouth, leaving you with a euphoric feeling after eating. The restaurant is so popular that there is a long line of customers every day, and it is no wonder that many foreign tourists visit the restaurant. The soup stock seems to be made from kombu (kelp), dried bonito flakes, and niboshi (dried sardines), but I did not detect any distinctive fishy smell at all. The staff generally responded well to customers, and appeared to be fluent not only in English but also in Chinese and Korean. You must purchase a meal ticket in advance from the ticket vending machine located near the entrance. The restaurant is small, with only table seating and no counter seating. The aisle is also narrow, with only enough space for two people to pass each other. Although there is a long line of customers almost every day, the customer turnover is not bad, so it is best to share the aisle with other customers. You can fully enjoy the ramen and tsukemen on their own, but you may want to order tai-meshi rice as an additional entrée. Pouring the soup from the ramen into the tai-meshi bowl will give it a chazuke-like taste, and the flavor of the soup will mix well with the tai-meshi rice, making it even...

No allergy info available... I ordered the soy sauce ramen and started to eat it only to find my allergy acting up. The small fish balls have ground shrimp in it which I'm dangerously allergic to. There's no info on the ingredients and there's only a small sign that says to tell the staff if you have an allergy. The sign also has a lot of other stuff written on it as well as other sign all over the wall. It's also only written in Japanese... The staff weren't concerned about my health and just pointed out that if the sign says to tell them about allergies. I barely ate and had to take my meds but they offered no...