Assari chuka soba (salt) with 4 pieces of karaage set 1230 yen Mini chashu don 300 yen For the soba, you can choose soy sauce or salt. I actually wanted the rich chuka soba, but the karaage set was only available with this one, so I gave up. As for the taste, the seafood broth came through, and it really was a light soba. The karaage was delicious too.

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I love niboshi ramen, and I go around eating at places I find on Google Maps. The shop is about a 15-minute walk from Kita-Senju Station. I visited a little after 19:00 on a weekday evening. The staff was one man running the place solo, a young guy who responded kindly and politely. Inside, easy-listening Western music was playing, and there were no other customers. A little later, an elderly man who seemed to be a regular came in. Ordering is done by buying a ticket from the ticket machine at the entrance. Note that the new 1,000-yen bills can’t be used. I ordered the Tokusei Noko Niboshi Chuka Soba for 1,280 yen (tax included). It’s topped with 3 slices of chashu, 3 sheets of nori, and 1 ajitama. Flipping over the chashu and nori revealed a double-onion combo of onion and green onion. There was also more menma than I expected. Rather than the cement-like gray type of niboshi ramen, the soup is beige-toned, probably chicken-based. The soup and noodles are piping hot and thick, but there’s no weird taste or smell from the chicken or niboshi. The noodles are wavy and cling well to the soup. I got the impression it was made very carefully.

▼Tuesday, December 12, 2023, around 13:00, lunch visit First visit to “Nibokichi”, a niboshi ramen & tsukemen shop. That’s right! Today is “Nibokichi Service DAY”! On the 2nd, 12th, and 22nd of every month, the following noodle dishes are 200 yen off! ・Niboshi Chuka Soba (850 yen→650 yen) ・Noko Niboshi Chuka Soba (900 yen→700 yen) ・Gyokai Tsukemen (900 yen→700 yen) Today I had the “Noko Niboshi Chuka Soba” (700 yen). The refined, rich niboshi broth is exquisitely delicious. The chashu is also tender and well-flavored. Being able to have this for 700 yen on “Nibokichi Service DAY” is much appreciated. Besides the noodle soups, there’s also tsukemen and abura soba, and for abura soba there’s even a Jiro-inspired item called “Butagami Abura Soba”!! 2 slices of chashu is 1,100 yen, 4 slices is 1,300 yen! There’s also gyoza, rich seafood croquettes, and more, so the menu is extensive. A shop where I look forward to deciding what to order next time. ▼Friday, December 22, 2023, around 13:00, lunch visit Following last week, today the 22nd is also “Nibokichi Service DAY”! Today I had the “Gyokai Tsukemen” (700 yen). The tsukemen can be made [atsumori], and you can also get [soup wari]. The noodles are thick ones for tsukemen, and they coat well with the rich dipping sauce packed with niboshi broth. The chewy thick noodles and the rich seafood sauce keep you eating. Finished off at the end with soup wari! Both the chuka soba and the tsukemen were really delicious. What should I eat next time～ ▼Tuesday, January 16, 2024, around 13:00, lunch visit I had the Nibokichi menu item I’d been curious about, the Jiro-inspired “Butagami Abura Soba”. 2 slices of chashu: 1,100 yen 4 slices of chashu: 1,300 yen Regular 160g and large 240g are the same price. I had the large with 4 slices of chashu, but the photo only has 2 slices of chashu; I got the other 2 afterward on a separate plate. Even the large is a normal amount, so unless you’re a very light eater, I think large is the way to go. You mix it well and eat it with the chashu; the garlic comes through and the taste is so-so, but it felt like it lacked impact. In conclusion, for soupless noodles, I’d recommend “mazesoba” over “abura soba”.

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Nibokichi, about 1.4㎞ from the West Exit of JR Kita-Senju Station, is a niboshi ramen and tsukemen shop. It was started by an owner who trained at Niboshi Chuka Soba Menya Ginsei Koenji, and its pride is the niboshi tori paitan soup passed down directly from Ginsei. Simple directions: from the West Exit, head along Ekimae-dori. Turn right onto Nikko Kaido (National Route 4). Turn left at the Senju 5-chome intersection and enter ｢Iroha-dori｣. After walking about 200m you’ll reach the Senju Futaba Shogakko-mae intersection, where you enter ｢Niko Niko Shotengai｣. About 400m on from there, it’s on the right. But this route is longer in distance, so using directions from Google Maps or the like is more complicated but closer. When I visited around 18:00 on a weekend, there was an indigo sign reading ｢Niboshi Ramen Tsukemen Nibokichi｣ in white letters and a white noren. Sliding open the door, the interior with 4 counter seats and 6 table seats was empty. After buying from the ticket machine, I was shown to a counter seat. Looking around, a blackboard said ｢To go with your meal｣: gyoza 3 pcs from 220 yen, karaage 2 pcs 220 yen, nankotsu 350 yen, tebasaki 2 pcs 400 yen, negi chashu 300 yen. Drinks are chuhai 350 yen, highball 380 yen, bottled beer 590 yen, which is reasonable for a ramen shop, so it seems a lot of customers use it like an izakaya. ＊Chuhai 350 yen Not sweet, with strong shochu. This seems good even if you’re there to drink. ＊Niboshi Chuka Soba 770 yen Nibokichi’s all-out bowl, combining a supreme niboshi soup slowly simmered over a long time using a large amount of “domestic katakuchi niboshi”, carefully selected each season from a long-established Kyoto wholesaler founded in Taisho 11, along with saba, urume, and iwashi bushi, with a supreme chicken-bone soup. You can choose salt or soy sauce, so I chose soy sauce. Oil floats on top of the cloudy amber soup. The noodles are low-hydration medium-thin straight noodles. Toppings are chashu, menma, green onion, onion, and nori. When you think of niboshi ramen, you picture cement-colored soup that’s gritty with niboshi powder, but this one is a perfectly ordinary soup. It may fall short for enthusiasts, but as food, it’s very well executed. And the price is reasonable too.

I ordered the Noko Niboshi Chuka Soba for 900 yen. The potage-like soup has a subdued niboshi presence, not too heavy, and delicious. I drank it all. The chashu is tender, and the onion adds an accent too. It feels carefully made. Apparently on the 2nd, 12th, and 22nd of every month, ramen dishes are 200 yen off.