Ramen Jiro

So on Friday in Tokyo, Kazu did me the great honor of taking me to Ramen Jiro for lunch. If you watch Seinfeld, think Soup Nazi with Ramen. Kazu did a great job of preparing me mentally for the task. Even before getting there, I knew what to expect. An L-shaped counter that seats 5 on one side, and 5 on the other. The "menu" consists of small or large, and the option to get extra noodles, vegetables, or fat. The chef makes 5 bowls of soup at a time, and once he's finished with his current 5, he starts on the next 5. There's always a line and people waiting, so you basically have only about 10 minutes to eat your bowl and woe is you if you can't finish in time. Chopsticks only, no spoon. No rookies allowed here.

Ramen Jiro is open for lunch from 12-2. We got there at around 11:35 and there was already a small line. We were in the second bacth of 5. This gave me a good 30 mins to get myself properly psyched up. I felt like an athlete before a big game. It's a wonder I didn't start stretching. When the time came we both ordered regular smalls. You'd have to be a mad man to get the large. The small is the size of a large Pho 75 bowl... 500 Yen (about $5) for the bowl. I was ready.

When the chef put the bowl in front of me, I went to town. At time employing Kazu's technique of holding my next bite of noodles out in the air to let them cool, while I chewed on the current bite. Looking over at Kazu every now to monitor my progress and make sure I was on track. I'm happy to say, that as a representative of the Friday Guy noodle tradition, I did ok for a rookie. Finishing in time, and only leaving a bit of broth in the bowl.

There's no AC in Ramen Jiro, and the soup is hot, so when we got out, we were both sweating like after a good workout. Job well done!

And yeah, it was hella tasty!

Check out this sound clip from NPR about Ramen Jiro. Hilarious...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1604880