Frequented by office workers on weekdays and families on weekends, the close proximity to Meguro station makes 麺家ばく a popular place for dinner after work. While we were there, we spotted a group of Japanese high-school girls too! 

We headed to 麺家ばく(目黒店) for lunch after leaving our luggage at Hotel Abest Meguro. 麺家ばく(目黒店) is the first shop after a right turn down the street from Hotel Abest Meguro. It was rather cold outside, approximately 14°C even though it was Spring time and all we wanted was some piping hot ramen! You know they always say, you have never really been to Japan until you try ramen there. 

We were warmly greeted いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase) which means welcome by the ramen chef whom was seen whipping up a good bowl of ramen in the open-concept kitchen. We later found out that he does everything himself from helping customers whom doesn't have coins for the vending machine, cooking to clearing the tables. Talk about efficiency!

With one look, he could tell that we are tourists. Hence, he came forward immediately to help us with ordering. Most ramen shops in Japan adopt a vending machine ordering system. It works in such a way that you insert coins into the vending machine and select what you want. After that, a ticket will be issued. Hand the ramen ticket over to the ramen chef or servers and wait to enjoy your bowl of ramen. 

Ramen vending machine

Hence, don't say I didn't warn you. Make sure you keep plenty of coins available as you never know when it will come in handy! We didn't had coins so the ramen chef did it the manual way by collecting notes from us and giving us change. 

When he was explaining the different ramen to us in Japanese which we didn't understand obviously (my Japanese proficiency is below basic level), the first two words that came to mind was Chashu ramen and Tonkotsu ramen thus I asked the ramen chef for Chashu ramen and Tonkotsu ramen.

Within 7 minutes, our Chashu ramen and Tonkotsu ramen was served!

Tonkotsu ramen

Chashu ramen

We like how rich and flavourful the ramen soup base is even though it is more savoury and oily compared to the ones served back at home but this is the real thing from the country that it originated from!

Travel tip #2:
Customize your noodles texture to your preference by telling the ramen chef or server either soft/normal/hard. 

In terms of the noodles texture, it is a tad harder than the ones served back at home but I prefer the harder texture! In most ramen shops, you can request for soft, normal or hard texture. Usually I order normal. 

Did I mention that the portion is really generous? I felt full after I barely finish half of it but still I gobbled the entire bowl down as the Chashu were too good to pass up. 

Greens lovers will rejoice when they see that spinach is added to the ramen, for it makes it a more well-balanced meal. I like how generous they are with the seaweed sheets as it makes the ramen more fragrant and delicious!

Similar to Korea, most eateries in Japan be it Gyu-don chains, ramen shops or curry shops serves complimentary Iced water which is very thoughtful!

Here's me tucking in to my Chashu ramen! 

Writing about my Japan trip is making me miss Japan so much! Can't wait to head back there again. Off all the countries I have been to, it is my favourite country to-date!

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