A note on the words: chashu is Japanese braised pork, the classic ramen topping. Negi is Japanese long onion, and shiraga-negi is negi shredded into fine white strips. Sumire is a famous name in Sapporo miso ramen, a lineage known for a lard-rich, oily style.
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Sapporo Ramen Kuwana Tokiwadai on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Fellow Ramenpithecus, thank you for waiting. It is Hangover Meshi time!
Lately I have been hooked on miso ramen, so today I went to Tokiwadai, over in Itabashi ward, to a Sapporo miso ramen shop called “Sapporo Ramen Kuwana Tokiwadai“. Kuwana is a long-standing miso specialist founded in Sapporo in 1990, and the Tokyo Tokiwadai branch sits along the tracks right by the north exit of Tokiwadai Station!
Maybe my timing was good — the place was not crowded and I walked right in!
Now then, inside to study the menu!
The… the negi miso chashu looks delicious!
Right! First, a drink.
To my delight, they gave us the end cuts of the chashu as a nibble! Much appreciated!!
A little while later, the ramen arrived!
Looks delicious!
By the way — since I was having beer, I asked them to go easy on the noodles!
The price stays the same, but that is far better than not being able to finish!
The miso base, they say, is pure additive-free Hokkaido miso aged for about three months. One sip from the renge spoon and the depth of the miso and a faint sweetness come forward first. Hmm. It has the depth you would expect of Sapporo’s famous aged miso — rich, yet somehow easy to keep drinking. The salt did strike me as fairly strong, but maybe that makes it just right alongside a beer.
The noodles are the Sapporo-miso standard: medium-thin curly noodles from Nishiyama Seimen. The yellowish egg noodles have a firm bite and really lift the miso soup. When it comes to miso ramen, it has to be Nishiyama Seimen! Delicious!
The star, filling most of the bowl to look at, has to be the chashu. Order the negi miso chashu and big pieces of pork pile on — a joy! Thick-cut chashu, deeply seasoned, crumbling apart at a touch. It cuts cleanly with chopsticks!
Honestly, with this much extra meat, I am glad I went easy on the noodles!
On top of it all, a heap of shiraga-negi. The cuts are wild-looking, and the crisp bite gives the sweetish miso a fresh, bracing note. Add some of the garlic from the table and the flavor jumps to another level! Great as ramen — and the perfect companion to beer!!
Ah, that was delicious. Not the lard-heavy, oily style of the “Sumire” school I visited recently, but a mellow miso ramen built on aged Hokkaido miso. Classic Nishiyama Seimen curly noodles, big fall-apart chashu and negi — “THE miso ramen,” you might call it. It seems this is the only place in Tokyo where you can eat it, so come taste Sapporo right here in Tokyo!!
May you meet something good to eat today too.
Sapporo Ramen Kuwana Tokiwadai (Ramen / Tokiwadai Station, Nakaitabashi Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.4
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
