Tenshinmen at Kotobuki / 「ことぶき」の天津麺
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Another "Ramen Quest" in Koenji tonight.
Near my apartment, there's a shoe repair shop and when I asked him about good ramen in Koenji, he named several places.
I picked up the nearest one from my place called "Kotobuki / ことぶき" and decided to get a specific ramen.
The shoe repairer said they serve pretty good taste foods so cheap, but his recommendation was to get "Tenshinmen."
"Tenshinmen" is a ramen version of "Tenshindon."
For those who have never heard "Tenshindon," here's some explanation.
It's one of the most famous Chinese plate, it's made in Japan and it doesn't exist in China (according to some sources).
Crabmeat, mushroom, and some chopped vegetables in a omelette on rice.
It's named after Tianjin, China.
Getting back to Tenshinmen at Kotobuki, I've been living in Koenji for over 9 years, I knew there's this little family-owned shop.
However, not many people would go that street nor pay attention it's there.
It's on a narrow street and closes at 8:30PM so you could miss this place.
The sign is yellow but not too loud or huge with traditional red sheet covered roof.
From the other side of the road.
I ordered Tenshinmen when I came in and sat at the counter as I was alone, but the cook's wife led me to the table. (sweet!)
Near the entrance, there's a menu board hanging.
On the left top, they recommend Tenshinmen and it was in magazines.
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Once I placed an order, the cook started chopping ingredients and mixing eggs.
Since I heard a bubbling sound from the kitchen, I could tell he poured eggs into a hot pan.
Also I could smell that he's using sesame oil to cook the egg.
Already the noodle was tasty in my imagination.
About 5 minutes later, the famous Tenshinmen was served.
The omellete was so big that I couldn't see if there's noodle in the bowl!
Also the floating leaks are covering the bottom completely.
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Soy sauce based and clear soup.
Not greasy at all. Maybe the oil was from the egg which used sesame oil.
The omellete was really soft but thick.
Crabemat, mushroom, leek, and bamboo shoot was in the egg.
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The noodle was thick but not disgusting-chewy.
It's cooked al dente and had nice texture.
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Thanks to the omelette, the noodle stayed warm till I finished eating it all.
The soup and egg reminded me homemade, classic, old-style, and everyone's favorite Japanese-Chinese taste.
I could have had all the soup (if I wasn't full).
I talked with the cook and his wife for a while and found that they've been in business for 50 years.
Only once they moved to the current place from a block away due to some construction (or some other reasons).
Some companies had moved to other places so that they kind of lost big groups of customers and asked me to spread their name :)
It was only 680 yen, and there're other plates I wanted to try.
I'd love to go back to eat other dishes and talk with them as they're really funny and talkative.
Kotobuki / ことぶき
2-18-10 Koenji-Minami,
Suginami-ku, Tokyo
東京都杉並区高円寺南2-18-10
Hour: 11AM - 2:30PM, 5PM - 8:30PM
Closed on Sundays and holidays / 日曜、祝日休み
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