10/08/2012

A ramen shop called Shio Ippin Godaime Keisuke / 
塩逸品 五代目 けいすけ (らーめん)
The name literally means "Gem of salt, fifth-generation Keisuke."
When I searched, there are first-generation, second-generation, etc and they're all different types of ramens depending on the name.

This one was in a station building called "Lumine Est" which is over the JR Shinjuku station.
On the 7th and 8th floors, there're various restaurants/eat-ins and this Shio Ippin Godaime Keisuke is on the 7th floor.

When we got there, there's already a waiting line but luckily there're about 10 chairs to sit and wait.

As it was a ramen shop, we didn't have to wait that long, maybe 10-15 minutes.



At the entrance, there's a noren, which is a split short curtain.




There's a gigantic salt crystal near the noren and as it was rose, I think it's the rose salt from Andes.


As it's obvious that they use salt flavor for the ramen as they use is for their name, too but they actually have only salt flavor.




This ramen shop uses 3 types of salts; 
Rock salt from Mongol,
Bay salt from Bali, and 
Rose salt from Andes.

Using 3 kinds of salt from respective lands is an interesting aspect but also this ramen shop has a significant point which is really rare and I'd never heard of.
The unique way to distinguish this ramen is that they use flavor chips to add smoky flavor into the ramen.
And the smoke flavor is different every day.
Monday: Sakura (Cheery blossom)
Tuesday: Buna (Fagaceae / Fagus crenata)
Wednesday: Kurumi (Walnut)
Thursday: Nara (Oak)
Friday: Hikkorii (Hickory)
Saturday: Erupudo purobansu (Herbes de Provence, which is blended herbs famous in Provence in France)
Sunday:  Uisukii Ooku (Whisky Oak, which used to be used as a barrel used to store and mature whisky)

It was Sunday when I went to, so the today's smoke was Whisky Oak.

I ordered Shio Ramen Kohaku (塩らーめん 琥珀), which is a simple smooth soup with toppings; a slice of char siu, naganegi onion, and mianma (bamboo shoot).
*Kohaku means amber

As they took order while we're waiting at the chairs outside, once we sat at the table, the ramens were carried to our table quickly.

Unusual view: The bowl has a cover looks like tagine, a Moroccan earthen pot.
Waitress said please enjoy the smoke flavor when we open the cover.
According to some reviews, this pot is designed to keep the ramen warm for a long time, which I didn't really realize if it was so.

I noticed that a friend of mine ordered different soup, which was Baitang (白湯, paitan) and it's thick soup made with simmered seafood and pork bones on high heat.

When I opened the cover, a white smoke came out and left strong smoky scent.
You can slightly see the white smoke coming out from the bowl in the photo below.
It's not a steam from the hot ramen (and it wasn't boiling hot) and the white mist  is flavored smoke.
They use a tube to put smoke into the bowl when it's ready to serve and put a cover on it to keep the flavor inside.

The soup and even the noodle had the same flavor when I ate it.
My ramen's soup was yellowish and so now I understand why they named it "Kohaku / amber."
It was a thin, light, and smooth soup with a decent amount of salty taste.

Noodle had some brown spots which is from whole wheat they use to create this noodle.
The noodle was a little bit flat, and to me it was too soft and the noodle itself didn't have much interesting flavor or obvious uniqueness.
(Noodles in Baitang/白湯/paitan soup seemed to be a regular thin egg noodle, and I preferred that one...)

Char siu was normal, naganegi onion was just as ordinary as you can imagine.
Mianma was a little bit long and maybe 2-3 pieces were in a bowl.

I'd say the soup was flavorful and the smoky flavor lasted till I finished eating it, but actually I left about half of the noodle in the bowl since it was like a pho (rice noodle) and didn't have appetizing scent or great texture.

Location is good and the table and counter were really clean.
However, I'm a little bit disappointed at the noodle which is supposed to be one of the most important part to make a good ramen.

Shio Ramen Kohaku (塩らーめん 琥珀): 780 yen


Shio Ippin Godaime Keisuke / 塩逸品 五代目 けいすけ 
7F, Lumine Est
3-38-1, Shinjuku, 
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

ルミネエスト7F
東京都新宿区新宿3-38-1

Open: 11:00 AM - 11:00PM (L.O. 10:30PM)
*Equivalent to closing dates of Lumine Est / 定休日無し *ルミネエストの休館日に準ずる

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