Warito 麺屋 和利道

Rain or shine, when it comes to ramen, I will travel to the ends of the earth to eat the best ramen in the world. On a gloomy and rainy Saturday, I decided to give one of the top ranked tsukemen shops in Tokyo a try.


Warito sells on tsukemen, and I love shops that sell only one thing, because chances it's going to do it well. It's ranked as a top-5 tsukemen shop as long as I remembered, so it's consistency has been tested, tried and true.


Even on the rainy Saturday, there was a line, although all were standing inside the shop. Chances are on a nice day, the line would easily be outside.


I order the usual, with the tokusei toppings, and quickly realized why this is top 5 shop. Let's start with the charshu. Charred to perfection on the outside, a nice thick cut, and so well marbled, this should be the standard that all charshu is measured to.


Tamago here wasn't shabby either, although a bit dried out. It was not the highlight of Warito but definitely wasn't a weakness.


And on the the noodles. You typical thick version for tsukemen, it was cooked just right and at the right chewiness. Very impressed!


The tonkotsu gyokai (豚骨魚介) soup here is excellent. Perfect balance between tonkotsu and gyokai, not too heavy and not too light. It's very very balanced.


I dug in, and being hungry and cold, this was very satisfying. However, the problem with tsukemen is after a while, the soup gets cold. Days like these I always wish there is a ramen option, no matter how much I am in love with Tsukemen.


But never fear! Those of you who have been around knows what this is. So one of the coolest thing about Warito is that they have a grill going at all times keeping these rocks very hot. What's the purpose? Well, since the soup gets cold after dipping the cold noodles, this rock will heat the soup back up. Such a cool and inventive way!


And it sure did the trick. By the time I finished the noodles, the rock came. And within minutes, my soup was warmed up, and I added some clear soup and drank every last drop. It could not have been a more satisfying experience, and definitely ranked right up there with the best of the best. It's not at such a convenient place as it is a bit out of the city, but for one of the best tsukemen experiences in Tokyo, you should definitely give Warito a chance.

City: Tokyo, Japan
Location: Ikejiriohashi, 7-8 minute walk from the station
Hours: 11am - 3:30pm, 6 - 10pm (closed on Wednesday
Website: No official website, http://ramendb.supleks.jp/s/22563.html
Ordering system: Machine
Available in English: Minimal

1 comment:

Rah-men said...

Big up to Warito! Came across it by chance and it did not disappoint. Love that soup, the flavour stays in the memory for days.