ERICJAZ FOODIES: HIRUGAO RAMEN in TOKYO RAMEN STREET (JAPAN TRIP 2015)

When we were plotting our itinerary for our Japan trip, my brothers and sisters were all so busy listing up the famous tourist sites or historical places to go in our short 6-day stay. Being the youngest (and cutest) in the group, I really had no say but to just go along to where they all planned to go. I think that's really the burden of being so young and so cute, you'll just go with the flow of where the oldies will go.

Har de har har!

Don't worry. My brothers and sisters don't read my blog... So whatever... Tee hee...

Anywho, it's a good thing though that my siblings have the same taste as I do, and we all share the same love in exploring Japanese food, most specifically, Ramen! So imagine my pleasant surprise when, after dutifully just following the "always final" itinerary that we had in Japan, we suddenly landed in the famous TOKYO RAMEN STREET!

Inangkupu! This is like paradise for a Ramen lover like me!

Who would have thought that Japan would have rows upon rows of their famous Ramen restaurants to answer our every craving?

Well my siblings knew about this and for that, I will give them my heartfelt gratitude and love in my blog....

For now...

Tee to the hee!

HIRUGAO in TOKYO RAMEN STREET!

We may have had a light breakfast in TOKYU STAY HOTEL, but we were all raring to go to my tummy's very own "Disneyland."

And finally I see it...

TOKYO RAMEN STREET!

TOKYO RAMEN STREET is located in Japan's famous TOKYO STATION and it's a looooong stretch of restaurants.

Everywhere you walk to, there's a small Ramen hub that serves hot bowls of this popular Japanese favorite.

All restaurants in the TOKYO RAMEN STREET are only about tens of square meters and would only consist of table counters.

There may be different restaurants in TOKYO RAMEN STREET each serving their own style of hot bowls, but one thing's for sure, there's ALWAYS a line in each one!

My brother even spotted this GUNDAM CAFE in TOKYO RAMEN Street!

He said it was a famous restaurant in Japan.

Egad...

I guess TOKYO RAMEN STREET is more than just bowls of Ramen!

I'm almost tempted to go in but... no.

The Ramen restaurant earlier had the longest line, but we didn't have the patience to wait. So we just explored further inside.

Wow! I really wonder how they could stand the wait of the queue just for some noodles. But I guess, they're THAT good!

Hmmm... This is a more cozy part of the TOKYO RAMEN STREET!

We turned left in one of the corners of TOKYO RAMEN STREET (yep there are still restaurants inside) and we saw the lines were not as long.

My brothers and sisters plus old man with gas mask were craving for some Tsukemen, noodle dipped in sauce, and lined up at this small restaurant they found inside TOKYO RAMEN STREET.

As for THE YAPPY BUNCH, we were attracted to the pictures of Tonkotsu Ramen at the restaurant across so we took a look.

Hmmmm... Now we're hungry!

By now, we're already used to the technique in ordering in Japan restaurants.

We put our Yens inside their vending machine, choose our food by pressing the corresponding pictures, then voila, we got our order stubs!

Easy peasy for trying hard locals like us!

The English speaking server in the restaurant was very nice to us and really answered all of our questions about their food. He was so inviting and accommodating without that "used-car salesman" attitude.

There were still a few hungry customers ahead in line of us, so we will just wait.

HIRUGAO RAMEN!!!!!

HIRUGAO RAMEN menu!

MORE HIRUGAO menu again!

HIRUGAO menu again!

According to reviews, HIRUGAO RAMEN is one of the most popular stops in TOKYO RAMEN STREET and is actually part of the Setagaya Group of Ramen companies in Japan.

HIRUGAO is only a small restaurant with about 20 chairs to match their counter tables.

Many diners were slurping on Shio Ramen, HIRUGAO's specialty. But the boys and I were craving for something else.

My brothers, sisters, and lone gas mask guy were already seated and waiting for their food.

Good thing that after 10 minutes, we got seated as well!

While waiting for our orders, we played around the HIRUGAO condiments and utensils in front of us.

We gave our stubs to the nice English speaking server and the Japanese chefs immediately started working on our Ramen.

And they do so with a smile...

Or a laugh!

One thing I noticed about Japanese preparing their food is that they do so with much care and respect. Even if it was a simple store in the Tsukiji market, the vendors would not just plop everything in the bowl and still try to their best to serve everything with style and care.

The HIRUGAO chefs are adding the last few pieces for our Tonkotsu Ramen!

And finally, our HIRUGAO Tonkotsu Ramen!

The milky broth was rich and let out this insane aroma that got us all drooling. The soft boiled tamago was perfectly runny and held up well with the assorted condiments.

Besides our bowls of Ramen we got a plate of HIRUGAO's Gyoza. It was finely steamed and toasted that we got an appetizing crust per bite!

Master Mati is so excited to dig in!

AFTER he removes his hat of course.

ERICJAZ FOODIES with the little lords in HIRUGAO RAMEN!!!

The noodles at HIRUGAO may be thin but it is chewy and perfect for slurping!

The HIRUGAO broth was creamy and so well seasoned! You could actually tell that the pork bones and marrow were simmered for many hours just to get the rich flavor in their soup.

Though my HIRUGAO RAMEN was already perfect, I amped it up a bit with several dashes of their chili powder.

The Chinese Adonis and Andrei shared a bowl of HIRUGAO RAMEN since their servings were big!

As for me and Mati, we each got ourselves a piping hot bowl of Ramen!

Sorry but sharing is not really in our vocabulary.

OKAY. I'll share with my sons but that's it.

(grumble grumble)

Every slurp, every sip, every strand of my HIRUGAO Ramen was just glorious. THIS is the taste of Japan that I have been searching for.

I'm sure this review from MR. RAMEN agrees!

Normally I would scoop out the gooey yolk from the Tamago and mix it with the hearty broth to make it more rich. But this time, I just took a big bite of the egg and enjoyed the soft but firm texture and creaminess of it all.

YUM!