We decided to travel to Tokyo with the sole purpose of eating our way through the best restaurants in this foodie city. We have a serious obsession with ramen so when we found out that Tokyo was the city with the world’s first Michelin-star ramen restaurant, we knew a visit was in order. Here is how to get one of the nine coveted seats at Tsuta Ramen in Tokyo.
How to Get There
Tokyo is a city with fantastic public transportation. Simply take the subway line to Sugamo Station on the Yamanote train line and walk about 5 minutes from the station to Tsuta located at〒170-0002 Tokyo, Toshima, Sugamo, 1 Chome−１４−１.
Outside of Tsuta Ramen. When you arrive, slide the door open and request a seating time.
When to Arrive
Tsuta ramen opens at 11 am and seats people on the hour until 5 pm. If you want a guaranteed seat, arrive early. We arrived at 8 am and were given tickets for the 11 am seating. We returned at 11 am to an extremely long line of ticket holders and were not seated until 12:30 pm.
Arrival Instructions
What to Bring
You have to bring 1,000 YEN (about $10 USD) cash as a deposit to hold your space. In return, you’ll receive a colored ticket with a corresponding time attached to it.
Even when you receive a ticket, you’ll still have to wait in line.
The Restaurant
There are only 9 seats at Tsuta ramen and they are all located at the bar. We ordered our meal at a vending machine and the order was conveyed to the kitchen staff.
The Food
Tsuta ramen is a delicate dance for the senses. Made with soba noodles and wontons, Tsuta has added unique ingredients to a traditional meal. The broth is light with minimal pork fat and spice. Instead, Tsuta focuses on the added ingredients with the pork leading the way as the star of the meal.
Make an effort to get there as early as possible. Even though we were in the first seating, eggs were already sold out (a key ingredient in ramen).
The most popular dish at Tsuta (minus an egg)
Overall
While Tsuta had a unique broth and delicious ingredients, it was not our favorite meal. The overall dish seemed to lack spice and flavor. The ingredients on their own were delicious, but they didn’t combine as we had hoped. However, if you’re in Tokyo and you love ramen, it’s still worthy of making a visit to Tsuta ramen.
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