Tohakkei / 唐八景

Tohakkei / 唐八景

I've watched a lot of episodes of Kitanachelin (きたなシュラン).

Kitanachelin is a part of a TV show and it's a coined name of Kitanai (汚い / dirty) yet delicious (= Michelin guide).

And I finally got a chance to try one of the places near my house.

It's called Tohakkei / 唐八景 and famous for Champon noodle.

Champon is a type of noodle and regional food of Nagasaki prefecture, southern side of Japan. 

Usually it's made with pork, seafood and vegetables with chicken and big bones soup.

A remarkable difference from regular ramen is once the noodle is cooked, it goes into the soup in a pan and simmer for a bit.

About minutes walk from Shinkoenji station and it's located in a narrow street.

Right now, it's Obon (お盆 / Japanese Buddhist holiday), I was afraid it's closed.

But I saw a yellow light!

I was a little bit scared how dirty it would be,  but the outside, I didn't think it's dirty but old.

The sliding door was heavy, and I think it because it's old and hasn't been fixed well.

You can see 3 tags hanging on the door.

There're 10 chairs at white counter which is some sort of L shaped but not sharp, it's a little bit of S-ish.

As soon as I sat on one of the old and squeaky chairs, he put a bottle of tea and little glass in front of me.

This Tohakkei serves simple menus as far as I could see the list at the table.

I ordered Nagasaki Champon instead of Sara Udon, which literally means "plate noodle."

Sara Udon is also a local dish from Nagasaki but this one uses fried thin (or thick) noodle covered with almost same ingredients and toppings but thickened soup with starch.

According to some reviews, Champon here is pretty big so I asked the owner to give me less noodle so that he won't have to throw away the leftovers and uneaten food.

Tohakkei received 3 stars (full score) in Kitanachelin and I was expecting the statue and certificate were set somewhere visible.

However, I had to look around the little place...

They're set on near the sliding door, right side and above.

Now you can get the idea of Michelin from this popular figure of the statue.

Next to this, there's a certificate with 3 stars.

Translation;

KITANACHELIN

Dirty but tasty restaurant.

Certificate

☆　☆　☆

Dear Tohakkei

Although your restaurant is dirty,

we accredit you serve excellent dish.

November 26, 2009

Takaaki Ishibashi

Mr. Takaaki Ishibashi is a member of comedian duo "Ton'neruzu" and he's in the TV show which introduces Kitanachelin from time to time.

The owner was stir frying the vegetables and there's a big fire I could see from my seat.

While he was simmering the noodle in a pan with soup, he gave me sesame seeds in mortar with wood pestle.

He said, "If you like, please add this to the Champon."

I started mashing the seeds for a bit in the mortal with pestle.

And my Champon was served shortly after.

The toppings were octopus, squid, onion, naganegi onion (green onion, leek), cabbage, Chinese cabbage, bean sprout, kamaboko (fish minced and steamed), chikuwa (fish sausage), could ear mushroom (Auricularia auricula-judae / Jew's ear), shrimp, and pork.

The soup was chicken and pork base.

The decent richness went well with the thick noodle and slightly fried vegetables.

I've tried several Champon but mainly from one of those chain restaurants, but this is the first authentic Champon I've had ever.

The owner was the only person who took orders and cooked.

He's super laid back and when he's not cooking, he was watching TV and laughing.

I'd love to go back to this place to try Sara Udon next time.

Tohakkei / 唐八景

2-42-15 Koenji-Minami,

Suginami-ku, Tokyo

東京都杉並区高円寺南2-42-15

Open: Tuesday - Sunday  (Closed on Mondays)

月曜定休

11:30AM - 2:00PM

6:30PM - 0:00AM