Hazy days, Mutekiya nights

Hey guys,

I try not to let it go too long without a blog update.  Not because I suspect you're all out there dying because you haven't seen a picture of food in Tokyo in four days, simply because I know that once I stop updating fairly regularly I'll keep on letting it slide and eventually stop updating altogether (this was also my rationale for making myself wake up super early to get to Math 5 lecture at 9am three days a week all of sophomore year--I knew that if I let myself miss a single lecture, I'd never go again for the rest of the term.  My record was second quarter, when I made it all the way til week 6)

And I like having this blog!  It's fun for me to write it, it's fun for me to look back and read it, and most importantly I think it really helps me never to forget how awesome of an adventure this is (ok that last clause is a bitch and a half.  I think the grammar is correct, but it'll take me like 5 minutes to parse it so I think I'll just leave it be.  And before you start, yes I know that's a double negative, there's nothing grammatically incorrect about them--plus I think that double negatives carry nuances of meaning different from a simple positive declaration.  I spent like two and a half years working Doctor Coffey to agree on that point, no way I'm backing off of it now)

But, sadly, this week has been very busy and it's gotten away from me.  I've been having to wake up at ridiculous, ungodless hours (if my Math 5 anecdote above didn't tip you off, I'm just not a morning person.  3 out of the last 4 days having to be somewhere at 9am is rough).  The bone-wearying exhaustion that comes from having to get out of bed before noon takes its toll on me, you know?  Plus add in my other important obligations, like having to keep up with four, count 'em, four different DC Comics TV shows airing (oh my god Arrow Season 3 is looking great so far) . . . plus there are always Jonathon Young Disney Covers to watch (if you don't find those awesome, there is no music in your soul) . . . well, I run out of time to write up blog updates.  Or reply to emails or anything else, yeah sorry about that everyone =/

I still love Felicity Smoak

But I digress.  And I do have something to share with you all, something important.  Let's back up for a second





I eat a lot of ramen these days.  Like, a lot.  More days than I don't.  I make no apologies.  It's reasonably priced (unless you're going crazy with the addons, it's hard to go North of $10), varied and exciting, and above all usually delicious.  I'm not saying the constant easy access to delicious ramen is my favorite thing about Tokyo, but it's gotta be in the top 10

So why then, has ramen not been mentioned yet on this blog?  Well, I try to keep this blog exciting for you guys.  Or at least I try to keep from being repetitive.  Which means that I've personally set the bar pretty high for a ramen post--or else, like I said above, "oh man I found this amazing ramen place" posts every other day.  But I do have a story to share with you, a story about a little ramen shop called Mutekiya

Mutekiya is a special place.  In addition to being absolutely delicious (more on that later), it's notable because it's open every day until 4am.  And if you want to get a glimpse of a very special aspect of Tokyo life in all its grandeur, popping into Mutekiya late at night is a great way to do it

Although it's in the middle of a district full of ramen shops, Mutekiya is not hard to find.  Simply take the East or Seibu East Exit from Ikebukuro station, turn right, and keep walking until you see the ramen shop with the line out the door.  "But Noah, what if there's not a line?" . . . there's always a line

This picture was taken at 11pm.  On a Tuesday

While I can't necessarily agree with the common claim that they're the best in Ikebukuro (they would be unquestioned king in many other neighborhoods, but god there are so many amazing places in Ikebukuro I just can't give them that honor), Mutekiya is certainly the most famous.  In fact, it often gets shout outs on "Best Ramen in Tokyo" shortlists.  To get into the technical details, it's a Hakata-style tonkotsu (pork bone based) broth, straight noodles but slightly on the thick side for Hakata (probably to show off their hand-selected wheat from Hokkaido--yes, apparently we're putting Hokkaido wheat in a Kyushu broth?  Blasphemy, I know)

Erm, to put that into layman's terms, really rich, thick and wonderful broth with al dente noodles that are just chewy enough to provide texture but still absorb the flavor of the broth.  Oh and did I mention that they're famous for their chashu (barbecued pork topping)???  Oh yeah

I broke my hand two summers ago and had to learn to use chopsticks lefty . . . 

The mere three people (4, if you count the photographer i.e. me) in line in that photo above is the fewest I've ever seen.  Late night is definitely the time to come to Mutekiya, when the tourists have all gone to bed.  I was the only person in the entire place not wearing a dark suit--the unspoken uniform of the entire male working population of Tokyo.  To be fair, I was close, but while I do indeed look good in a suit (as does, you know, everybody.  There's a reason women's fashion changes twice a year while men's twice a decade--a hundred years ago they came up with something that unarguably and unassailably looks damn good, and why fix what ain't broked?) I like to keep it more on the "smart casual" side if work lets me get away with it.  Of course, there was also one other important difference between me and the rest of Mutekiya's clientele:  I was sober

Tokyo's drinking scene is well-documented--the large groups of company workers going out for pitchers of beer and flagons of sake, chain-smoking and singing karaoke until the early hours.  And that's fantastic, and a ton of fun.  But what isn't documented is one of my favorite parts, which comes after the group has split up--when one or two bold stragglers go off questing for late-night ramen.  Honestly, there's a good chance that they're already full anyways, because you can't get away with being just a drinking establishment in Tokyo without also serving good food.  And yet there is an instinct, like that which draws salmon back to the mouths of the rivers in which they were born, which draws drunk Japanese salarymen to their favorite ramen shops

Mutekiya is one of those places, one of those ancestral homelands towards which I imagine a true Tokyoite can always close his eyes and point, no matter where he is nor how much sake he's drunk.  And just as the looming spectre of 9am Math 5 lecture couldn't keep me from going on late-night runs to Garden Cafe or BCD Tofu House when I was in college (see how I tied my final point back to my opening?  That's a veteran move kids, take notes), the fact that these men are going to have to wake up a 6am to get to their jobs in the morning doesn't have a chance at deterring them from getting their favorite late-night ramen on a cool and crisp Autumn night

It was an honor to be a part of that

Noah out