Niigata Sanpō-tei Tokyo Lab Nakameguro — Restaurant in Tokyo

This place always has a line. It is so popular and for good reason. It serves a spicy mabo tofu ramen fusion that's delicious. One rainy day, I noticed some empty seats and no line, so I quickly went in to give it a try. It was still mostly full, but I didn't have to wait. Lucky.

I ordered the regular-spicey mabo ramen with pork katsu on top. It was rich and deeply flavored, with tons of little mirepoix chunks, even tiny bits of what seemed like ground pork. There are tofu cubes throughout and a generous sprinkling of green onions. Plus, red chili peppers, obviously. The pictures don't do it justice. You can't see the noodles.

The katsu was great, I love the way the breading falls off and then soaks up all the broth. The broth is SPICY. Even at regular heat, I was sweating. I should've expected that since they have tissues in front of you to blow your nose as the heat from the broth makes it run. But the heat is not so much that it distracts or veils the flavor. You get a complex soup that's very filling and gut warming.

I also ordered a sake flight, which was kind of cool. It gave me a chance to see how one sake can taste so different from another. But it sort of felt like the wrong setting for a flight. It's a ramen counter so it's about slurping noodles quickly, not lingering to savor flavor subtleties.

The service was great. They have an English menu. And the minimalist, concrete and stainless steel aesthetic is a nice touch. I suspect I'll go back. Even if there's a line, it's worth the wait...as long as you...

This place gets 5 stars on the food alone. I go here far more frequently than is healthy for me, but their mapo ramen is to die for. Also one of the few places in Nakameguro where dinner isn't 3x the price of lunch (the only difference is a larger menu, and you don't get rice for free).

There's a great selection of various sansho condiments to try, of which the grape sansho is my favourite. I love spicy food and always go for the level 1 (+50 yen). Have never gone higher simply because this tastes perfect. Usually a queue but since it's like ramen people are in and out relatively quickly. Saying that, more recently I've waited upwards of 30 minutes for my food so it's quickly becoming less of an option for when I'm in a hurry.

I just wish they would take down the covid barriers already. They do nothing, and since all condiments are shared between people sat side by side it makes it difficult to use the condiments you want if it's on the other side of the barrier.

If you like ramen, and you like mapo tofu, you have to...

I strongly don’t recommend this. Pls see all stories.

I went there with my gf and waited around 20 min. When we got the seat, both counter and table seat were available. We spoke in English and next waiting ppl were Japanese. The waitress who wearing white cloth asked us to sit in the counter and next Japanese went to table seat even we were waiting long and both were 2 pax.

Then we did order in advance but those Japanese got food first and we got next but that’s fine. However, waitress forgot our additional order and I’ve asked her what’s the status and she actually forgot our order... but never apologized. In the end, we also ordered whisky with sour called high ball and one small insect was inside.

Person in charge seemed Philippino just changed to the glass and gave us new one. She never reported to boss and I told what happened when made payment.

Worker there were not well trained and noodle texture was not good. Pls don’t go this...