Yasube Tsukemen is one big craving I picked up after my years of stay in Japan – its a variant of the hugely popular Ramen dish but with the noodles served separately from the soup. Well, its more like a thick, saucy broth rather than soup and one dips the ramen into it before eating. I don’t usually go bonkers over food but this is really, really tasty.

So after my photo stint near Shibuya station I made a beeline for the local Yasube store. Its was late afternoon and the dinner crowd hasn’t thronged in yet, so I was able to get in after a relatively short wait.

(above) I ordered the mildly spicy version ( with chilli infused vegetable oil ) and a namimori ( small serving ) of noodles. Its actually not that small, more than enough to fill a regular sized stomach, really.  In the past my greedy alter-ego would have gone for the large portion for sure ( the small, medium and large orders all cost the same price. ), but these days I would prefer to savor the taste rather than gorge myself.

The fish based soup comes with a generous serving of leek, chewy, high grade menma ( seasoned bamboo shoots ), a few thick slices of sinful but divine tasting Chashu ( (Chinese-style bbq pork), and a big sheet of dry seawood Nori. Perfect. There’s also finely diced fresh onion and Bonito ( Skipjack Tuna ) powder on the table as toppings and you can help yourself to as much as you like. I personally find a small helping of both help boost the already heady soup mix to an even higher plateau of tastiness.

(above) The bold red words on the menu read “We are confident of the taste.” As I mentioned a while back the price of each serving remains the same at 720 Yen regardless of the portion of noodles you choose. The store is open from 11am to 2am the next day, but closes once their daily soup stock runs out. This practice is not uncommon for ramen restaurants in Japan.

(above) The store that I visited in Shibuya. I also use to frequent the one near Shinjuku JR station’s south exit ( along Meiji Dori in the direction of Tokyo Metropolitan Building ), and the Takadanobaba store that was near my film school Toho Gakuen.

Check out the homepage to find their list of store locations  – http://www.yasubee.com/

Definitely worth your time if you’re visiting in Tokyo. :]