Local Eats Japan

Located conveniently along the Yamanote Line, Marucho is an uber popular tsukemen (dipping noodles) and ramen shop loved by locals. 

I found out about this restaurant from a radio host known as Nomura Kunichi and he also had a small role in the movie “Lost in Translation” (the scene where they are at Karaoke). 

If you are in Japan you are likely going to ride on the Yamanote Line, but Mejiro isn’t a stop most of you will probably get off at, and this is mostly because they don’t have much going on. 

But, they do have marucho, and people from far and wide come to eat here for lunch. 

I went with my friend the first time we got there right after it opened I think but the inside of the store was full and there were at least another 10 people lined up outside. 

But if you know anything about Japan, if you see a bunch of people lining up outside a restaurant (especially so if they are in suits) you know the place is going to be worth the wait. 

It is a simple menu, and you can choose either tsukemen, which seems to be the main attraction here, or just classic ramen.
Regardless of what you order, the soup and noodles will be the same. 

The tsukemen has a few variations, one with vegetables (bean sprouts), one with a raw egg, and one with menma (boiled bamboo shoots). There is also a menu item labeled “cha-shu” but they all come with it – this one just gives you extra. 

The cha-shu is extremely tender and cut up into little bits so that they have the potential to latch on to your noodles when you are dipping it in. 

I still found that even after I had finished my noodles a lot was left so I just ate up the rest with a spoon. 

A worker also asked me if I wanted extra boiling water as well so I could enjoy the soup more, so this is an option too. 

The noodles are not anything too crazy, just basic ramen noodles I suppose. 

But it is the broth that is the star of the show. It is a rich soy sauce broth, and by cutting up the pieces of pork into it, it gains an even deeper level of flavor. 

The restaurant is small with only 8 counter seats, and this is part of the reason why the lines can get as big as they do.  

The menu is posted on the wall outside of the restaurant, and you should decide what you are going to order in advance, because the moment you step in you will be expected to just sort of yell out your order to the staff. This was definitely a shock to me, and it is difficult if you don’t have any Japanese ability. 

I think a way to combat this however, would be to just simply have your menu item selected and written down in Japanese on your phone so you can show the staff – it should be fine this way. 

It is a sort of cutthroat environment, and the female head chef/owner runs the show, which is a cool thing because it’s so uncommon in Japan. 

This is an extremely solid bowl of tsukemen and a super cool, Japan-like environment if you could say.

Not to mention, Mejiro station is really conveniently located, so If you have the chance to get out here I really recommend it! 

But make sure to keep your parties to 2 or less, because it’s tiny inside! 

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