Fortunately, they have covered shopping streets as well otherwise I probably would not have stuck around long. On a good day, this place is bustling because it feels much bigger than Nakano and contains more and bigger shops.
Speaking of bigger shops, theres a Yodobashi Camera here
On that last visit, I remember long lines eminating from this little corner butcher shop. They also fry up croquettes, katsu, and menchi katsu. Menchi katsu is a deep fried meat patty. The line is much shorter and crowds smaller due to day of the week or the rain. Either way, I took my place to buy something and see how good their wares are.
I got a menchi katsu for 200yen. Instead of a patty, they form it into a ball about the size of a baseball. this is a light ball of meat. Its not a dense heavy hocky puck
The shell is thin and crispy and gives way easily when you bit into it. You can see all the open spaces that help to keep this treat light. The mixture of meat and onion is soft and tears apart easily. If the flavor of onion is unagreeable to you, then you will not like this. I thought it was great.
Later that day, I went back to Ikebukuro to have dinner at Ramen Jiro. Dont let the picture fool you. This small bowl is a good sized bowl! It looks smaller because I chose not to have the pile of bean sprouts placed atop it. I dont like bean sprouts and its a good thing I minused that option. The other additions that I had chosen were extra pork and extra garlic. Many times I long for more pork in my bowl but didnt know how to order it. This was one time there was more than enough in the regular portion. Oh the garlice! It adds a great note to the soup. A salty soup that I could not bear to finish as it was just too much for me after several spoonfuls. Lastly, the noodles are thinner and not as chewy as the tsukemen from a few nights ago but still much thicker and chewier than I like it to be. Overall, it was an ok ramen in my mind. Its not something that I would necessarily go seeking out each time I was in town. I got through 2/3 before I called it quits. The build up of salt got the best of me
It seems that each time I come here, the rain follows. The Sunday of my arrival I spent in the rain here. I come back for dinner and the rain is here. I dont know if I come here subconsciously because of the rain, but the 2 do seem to come together on this trip. Oddly, this was the last day of rain while I was in Japan. I did not return at amy point after this. The only other forecast of rain was for the day of my departure. Even then,it didnt really get wet until I had boarded my flight out.
