Sunday, July 24, 2011

麺や葵 - Aoi, Nippori


豚骨魚介つけ麺玉子入り - Tonkotsu Gyokai Tsukemen with Egg, ¥880

    Continuing the search around my local neighbourhood I stumbled upon Aoi, which is about a 10 minute walk from home. Aoi actually has two locations in Nippori - One is about 30 seconds from Nippori Station and this, the honten, about 15 minutes. In an attempt to bring you the authentic (and possibly better) Aoi taste I went for the longer walk.
   Aoi doesn't seem to be catering to a crowd who like a pleasant atmosphere when they are having lunch. The dining area is full of fridges and pipes.


    However, they did have a few buttons marked osusume on the ticket machine which recommended about 3 different  choices. I went for the tonkotsu gyokai tsukemen... Again. I took my seat and waited uncomfortably wondering what I should do with these eggs. Are they there for customers?


    After a pretty decent wait my tsukemen finally arrived and I suddenly forgot that I had been waiting.


   With a little gyokai powder sprinked on top.


     The noodles were really think and katame, a little hard at first but I quickly got used to them. This kind of thick, heavy noodle is great for tsukemen as everything sticks to it. In fact I was a little worried my soup would run out before I finished the noodles. The soup itself was full of favour without being too busy, but it is definitely in need of some soup wari, broth to even out the consistency if you want to finish it completely.


    Once again I'm feeling pretty happy to have found a quality bowl close to home. Although the heavy, greasy soup did take a little spring out of my step.



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