A rare transcendent ramen experience at this tiny Michelin-starred restaurant.
So much has been written about Tsuta, the world’s first Michelin star ramen spot. It has been widely heralded in many credible media and on multiple TV programs. Its popularity has led to the inevitable opening of international locations (San Francisco review coming shortly). Could it possibly live up to the hype?
Tsuta was on my agenda on my 2018 Japan trip, but I hadn’t scheduled it. One sunny Tokyo day I found myself in the Sugamo neighborhood where Tsuta is located. I arrived late afternoon, luckily the right time of day to avoid a long line. I waited 40 minutes and was in.
Tsuta is a 9-seat, counter-only ramen spot. It has a modern interior with a high level of comfort, including padded stools with lower back support. I sat at the counter with high expectations, and immediately I was struck by a few things I’d never seen before at a ramen place. There was a placecard on the counter listing all ingredients and their geographic sources.
The other notable element was the silence. No one was talking. It wasn’t a formal atmosphere, but more a casual reverence for the meal we were about to consume. This only added to my sense of anticipation. There were no condiments on the counter; interesting, in that many of the better ramen places I’ve visited in Japan have multiple condiments available.
I ordered the ajitama char siu shoyu soba with kamo wonton as a side dish. When the bowl was placed before me, I knew I was in for something special. My first taste of the broth confirmed it. It had a complexity of umami that lingered on the palette. I’m not the biggest fan of truffles, but the black truffle oil added to the uniqueness of the umami flavors.
The noodles were delicious; perfectly firm. I knew why the restaurant tagline is “Japanese Soba Noodles” – they had the rich flavor one expects from unadorned soba. The noodles are from multiple grain types and custom-made in a small room in the restaurant. The chashu was very thin, more like carpaccio. It arrived in the bowl pink, with the final cooking phase handled by the broth. It was very tasty with just the right amount of fat and char. Egg: perfect. Vegetables: perfect. The kamo wonton, which I dunked in the broth before eating, were simply luscious.
Tsuta is clearly playing at a rarified level of ramen excellence, with chef owner Yuki Onishi living up to his “ambitious desire to create truly original flavours,” as noted in its website. Up until this day, I had two ramen experiences I considered transcendent, in that it changed my perception of what ramen could be. Tsuta was my third such experience. I left feeling elevated. I spent the rest of the afternoon strolling the Sugamo neighborhood with a grin, knowing that this experience would be one of my most memorable in Japan.
Tsuta website: http://tsuta.com
Ramen Club 5-Star Rating System:
Food: 5.00 stars
Service: 4.5 stars
Atmosphere/Comfort: 4.5 stars
