A note on the words: aka-miso is red miso, shiro-miso white miso, and tokusei (“special”) means the loaded bowl — extra chashu pork, a seasoned egg and menma bamboo shoots on top.
Table of Contents hide
Nakaji on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hangover Meshi here. Tonight I went to Kudanshita for miso ramen. I had no idea, but apparently there is a well-known ramen shop out this way — Kudanshita Nakaji, a short walk from the station. And Yunlinbo is right across the road. A good tantanmen shop and a good miso ramen shop facing each other: this block is unbeatable.
I had braced myself for a queue, but on a weekday evening I walked straight in. Lucky.
Aka-Miso Ramen 1,050 yen
Tokusei Aka-Miso Ramen 1,400 yen
Shiro-Miso Ramen 1,050 yen
Seabura Shoga Miso Ramen 1,100 yen
The mainstays are aka-miso (red miso), shiro-miso (white miso) and seabura shoga miso (pork back fat and ginger).
Then there is mazesoba, a mazesoba with lobster and crab miso, and a scattering of limited-run specials.
All of it looked good, but you come here for the miso ramen. I went with the tokusei aka-miso — tokusei meaning the loaded version.
Ramen at night means a beer first, obviously.
Premium Malt’s, please. Honestly, a medium bottle is a lot to drink alongside ramen — but never mind.
It has been hot lately. A cold beer is the best thing there is.
Look at that. Since I went for the tokusei, I asked for a half portion of noodles.
Chashu and spring onion, a seasoned egg and menma. One bite of the chashu — soft, falling apart. That melting pork against the deep, savoury red miso broth is a very good match. Drinking the broth on its own, the aroma and depth of the red miso are hard to stop at. This is good. There is an acidity underneath the miso that I like too.
Thick, straight noodles. They hold their own against the power of the broth.
Very good. And rich enough that it works with the beer.
This is the shiro-miso.
I got a mouthful of the broth: milder than the red, or rather cleaner — but still rich.
The white miso is good in its own way. I want to try the seabura shoga miso too.
First visit, and it was very good. My enthusiasm for miso ramen is running high. Drink and miso ramen — I need to go looking for more of this combination. Next time it is the seabura shoga miso. Apparently there are plenty of limited-run bowls as well, so this is a shop to come back to. It may have just been luck, but there was no real queue in the evening. Recommended.
Nakaji, Kudanshita (ramen / Kudanshita Station, Jimbocho Station, Suidobashi Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.7
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
