Ramen and Work

Today I woke up to a call from my friend John telling me to meet him in Shinagawa for lunch at Ramen Jiro. I've mentioned Jiro in the past since it is near school and would eat there when I didn't have anything important to do that day. The headquarters is in Mita and so far is the best Ramen I've had in Japan. Jiro's ramen is different from any other ramen. While most ramen shops broth is either soy or pork based, Jiro combines both soy and pork to offer a unique flavor that isn't found at other ramen shops. Their noodles are also thicker than most shops and the portions are usually twice what you get at other stores. You can always tell when a Jiro is open because there is always a line outside.

The Jiro in Mita is always busy and I would often see business men in suits in line for Jiro. I asked one of my students how these guys have time to wait in line and eat there since the wait is often longer than an hour. Some companies have "Ramen Clubs" and will schedule fake meetings just before or after lunch so that they have a two hour lunch break allowing them to wait in line and eat there.

So today we went to the Jiro in Shinagawa and it was good, but the guy working there just didn't have the same spirit when he made the food. The portions were a little smaller and it had less meat. It was still good, but just was different.

After that I had work like usual and then went home.