Fifty years after it closed its doorways, Japan’s first ramen store and the birthplace of shoyu ramen reopened July 2.
Regardless of the grand reopening, there wasn’t a line for Rairaiken’s first lunch service since 1976, though inside, its 15 seats had been nearly utterly stuffed. Diners slurped their ramen at a slim three-seat counter in entrance of the kitchen. Different prospects sat at small wood tables with crimson stools. Menus and previous pictures of the unique Rairaiken store and its founder, Kanichi Ozaki, beautify the partitions.
My bowl of ajitama (soft-boiled egg marinated in shoyu and mirin) ramen (¥1,030) is full of a tasty aroma of rooster and layered with umami accents. The chāshū (pork stomach) is wobbly and tender and soaks up the golden-brown broth, which is somewhat oily however by no means overpowering.
