The Asia Trip: Random Ramen at Shinjuku Station

Life in metropolitan Japan is largely centered around train stations which, I was told, are privately owned by the same companies that build department stores on and in them. There are a great deal of little shops and restaurants in most busy train stations. While passing through Shinjuku station, we stopped and ate at this random ramen-ya (ramen restaurant).

I have no idea what the name is since I can't speak or read Japanese. You'll find it a common theme that I have zero idea of the names of the places I ate at in Japan.

So, at a lot of the ramen restaurants (and some other restaurants as well), you order and pay at an automated machine. The machine dispenses a ticket to exchange for vittles.

The kitchen is quite small. You place your ticket on the counter and this guy prepares your ramen. He is crammed in the kitchen with another guy, it's almost like a phone booth in college; I was tempted to jump back there myself.

My cousin got a miso(fermented soy)-based ramen. It's usually a bit richer and headier than what I got...

I got a shoyu(soy sauce)-based ramen. The pork was a bit dry but otherwise the ramen was pretty good. They had good (but not great) flavor and the noodles were al dente with a fair bit of texture. At roughly 400 yen a bowl, it was also a relative bargain in Tokyo.

Here's the hustle and bustle of a typical metropolitan subway station in Japan. It gets a lot more crowded around 9am and again at 5pm for obvious reasons.