Tokyo Ramen Street - Ramen Honda

Ramen streets are becoming popular in Japan, as they gather some of Japan's famous ramen shops all within an area so ramen fans do not have to travel far to enjoy a bowl of delicious ramen. 

Tokyo Ramen Street, located at the Yaesu Underground Exit of Tokyo station features some of Tokyo's most famous ramen shops. 

There are a total of 8 ramen restaurants at Tokyo Ramen Street, each with their own special soup and taste. 
Four shops were originally opened in June 2009, namely:
1) Rokurinsha Tokyo (六厘舎TOKYO)
2) Hirugao　(塩専門ひるがお)
3) Ramen Mutsumiya　(らーめんむつみ屋)
4) Keisuke Kitanosho　(蟹専門けいすけ北の章)

The grand opening took place in April 2011, whereby another four shops opened:
5) Shichisai/Tokyo Edoama　(麺や七彩/Tokyo江戸甘)
6) Ikaruga (東京駅斑鳩)　
7) Honda (麺処ほん田)
8) Junk Garage (ジャンクガレッジ)

After looking through all the 8 shops, we decided on Ramen Honda as it has a shouyu ramen which L likes, as well as tsukemen which I wanted to try. 

Their menu is simple:

Asari (light) flavour of either shio (salt) or shoyu (soya sauce) ramen which the soup is made using chicken and fish broth. 

Kotteri (rich) flavour tsukemen (dry noodles) of miso or shoyu thick soup which is cooked in Pork and fish broth. 

For the heavy eaters, they also have a variety of rice with toppings side menu to go with your ramen. You can also order almond tofu for dessert (only limited to 20 per day)

As with all the other ramen shops, you have to purchase a ticket at the ticket vending machine outside the shop before entering. 

However, the disadvantage is that most of the vending machines do not have English on it, so it may be a challenge for those who can't read Japanese. 

Pass the ticket to the waitress after you are seated and your orders will be sent to the kitchen. This saves on waiting time to choose from the menu, as well as minimize staff having to handle money. 

L's order of shoyu ramen. Although it looks like a simple bowl of ramen, what is most important is the soup, as well as the noodles. Noodles for the shoyu ramen are made thinner so that customers can enjoy the soup as the noodle will not overpower the soup.

My order of miso tsukemen. As you can see, the noodles and the soup are separated and you have to dip the noodles into the soup.The soup is much thicker than your normal ramen soup noodle and not meant to be drank directly. Noodles are also made thicker so that they can be fully coated with the thick broth. 
I also like that it comes with a lemon as the sourness of the lemon balances out the taste of the thick broth. 

No matter what kind of ramen you like, there will sure be one ramen shop which is of your liking. However, do note that you may have to wait for approximately 30 minutes on average during meal times. 


Tokyo Ramen Street- Ramen Honda

Tokyo station B1F Yaesu South Exit (First Avenue Tokyo station B1F south street) 
Open daily: 11am - 10.30pm (hours may vary by shop)
(Rokurinsha & Shichisai open from 7.30am onwards)

www.tokyoeki-1bangai.co.jp/ramenstreet (Japanese only)

St Marc Cafe Chococro

Saint Marc Cafe opened it's first doors at 1998 at Tokyo Ginza and has gained popularity from it's signature product, Chococro - a short form for Chocolate Croissant. 

The secret in the croissant lies in 3 points:
Chocolate - using the best Ghana and Ecuador beans which has a slight bitter taste
Pastry - Butter and Margarine are mixed and the pastry has more than 20 layers
Kiln - the pastries are carefully baked in a Kiln at 230 degrees 

All pastries are displayed at the self service counter and you can just pick any up and pay at the cashier. 

I ordered the Fresh chou cream croissant set which includes a cup of coffee at JPY390 (SGD 6)

They also carry seasonal items, such as the white chococro - a white chocolate croissant symbolizing the white snow of Christmas. You can also get a box of white and chocolate croissant at JPY790 for 5. 

Besides the seasonal white choco croissant, some of the other seasonal croissant includes: banana, strawberry choco, match and milk tea. All sounds so delicious!

When in Japan, just look out for this orange circle logo for the nearest St Marc chococro cafe!

p.s. you can also get your fix of chococro at Vivocity Unit 01-108/10

http://www.saint-marc-hd.com/cafe (Japanese only)

Tsukiji Sushi Sen (築地すし鮮)

When in Tsukiji, how can one miss out trying out any of the sushi or kaisen don restaurants.

Not wanting to join the super long queues at the morning seafood restaurant street, we settled for sushi sen (すし鮮) which we were attracted by the lunch sets.

The prices are cheap! at only JPY1000 - JPY1500 for a lunch set, and it even includes miso soup and chawanmushi!

Besides the lunch sets, you can also order other sets or ala carte sushi from the menu.

We were given a counter seat, as the restaurant was filled with an American soccer group and the big sized players were ordering loads of extravagant food like lobsters and sashimi. 

A counter seat is also not bad! You get to see the sushi master at work, preparing all the sushi customers ordered.

We ordered the lunch nigiri set 1.5 portion. 11 pieces of nigiri sushi and 6 makis at only JPY1365 (approx SGD19)

I ordered sushi from the ala carte menu as I wanted to eat something different from the standard lunch sets. And even though I did not order a lunch set, I was also given complimentary miso soup and chawanmushi. As expected, this is what they call the Japanese hospitality. 

No regrets in dining at Sushi sen. You can get fresh and very affordable seafood, without having to queue for a long time. 


Besides 2 outlets at Tsukiji, they have a total of 15 restaurants all over Japan. 

Sushi Sen (築地すし鮮4丁目場外市場店) 








東京都中央区築地4-9-7
4-9-7 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Open 24 hours daily
Nearest station:
1) Oedo subway line, Tsukiji Shijo station exit 1 (5 minutes walk)
2) Hibiya subway line, Tsukiji station exit A1 (3 minutes walk)

www.sakanaya-group.com/01sushisen/00top (Japanese only)

Tsukiji Fish Market rules

Do you know that there are certain rules to follow before entering the Tsukiji fish market ? As mentioned, Tsukiji fish market is not a sightseeing spot, hence these rules are set out so as not to obstruct the workers in the market.

As many tourists enter the fish market via the outside market, they will miss out these important rules set out to them. You can only find these rules if you enter via the Tsukiji main gate (築地市場正門).

Trust the Japanese to do it in the form of cartoons. Enjoy!

Tsukiji Fish Market (Central Wholesale Market)

Nearest train station: 
1) Tsukiji-Shijo Station (Oedo Subway line Exit A1) 
2) Tsukiji Station (Hibiya subway line) 

One Piece in Tokyo

I'm getting excited just talking about One Piece. Especially when I went to Nakano Broadway.. it is definitely a treasure island for One Piece figurine fans. Enjoy!

Luffy and Ace figurine. Don't they look super cool! 超カッコイイ

Gold Roger.. oh dear! King of Pirates is only worth JPY1990?

Bartholomew Kuma. Anyone notice Yokozuna below? 

Oars is huge! see how tiny Gecko Moriah and Jimbei is in comparison.

Mr 2 Bon Clay and Chopper - same price at JPY1490

Everybody looks so cool in the New World.. Chopper is still as cute!

Jewelry Bonney, Sengoku and Kizaru

Sabo, Luffy and Ace 兄弟杯 Brothers forever!

Perona, Dragon, Luffy and Marco

3 Admirals and Sengoku

Warlords Gecko Moriah, Don Quixote Doflamingo and Bartholomew Kuma

Thousand Sunny, Trafalgar Law and Bepo. Bepo is also cuute!

Perona's not cheap at JPY9800! But you can buy her teddybear Kumashi at only JPY3000, or Oars or Bepo at also the same price. 

Various versions of characters.. can you believe it, Luffy is only going from JPY380 (SGD6)!

OK sorry I admit.. these look abit weird, just their heads only

New World set. I bought the full set as well.

Never-ending miniature figurines... how many can you collect?

Instead of collecting separately, there are also full sets available for you to buy. 

Limited edition Luffy sets, only 2500 units available. 

talking Chopper - this is fun! he can act as a talking coin bank, clock and alarm clock. 

other characters toys :)

Bepo and Kumashi soft toy.

Jigsaw puzzles

Even various versions of game cards!

Of course you would need the game machine

Besides selling figurines, some shops also offer to buy the figurines from you. Looks like Shirohige Whitebeard and Zoro are fetching a high price!

Anyone willing to sell their Boa Hancock or Nami figurines? 

How about buying a Gold Roger or Shanks tot bag? only JPY980! Cheaper than the magazine bags :)

Ace's 名言- 愛してくれて。。ありがとう

Luffy's 名言- 海賊王に俺はなる！

or how about 2 words from the Marines - 正義

One piece stationery anyone? These are produced by Panson works, who makes miniature junior 5cm tall figurines. 

How about a goodie bag (福袋) at JPY2000 (SGD32)? but you'll not know what it contains inside... game to try? 

Stickers instead? They even have stickers for teachers to paste on their students assessments.

Or ink stamps to encourage students. Hmm reminds me of my primary school days. Why didn't my teacher give me any One Piece ink stamps? 

Anyone can guess what this is? It's origami paper! 
Recently there has been a collaboration between One Piece and Hello Kitty - hence many products of the merged Hello Kitty and Chopper had been produced. 

There's even slippers...

and magnets...

One Piece fish sausage

Get a free figurine with every Pepsi purchased !

Phone straps featuring Tokyo places of interest

They even have books discussing on One Piece characters, storyline and places. 


And these are the things I bought (嬉しい!!) ◠◡◠✌

Chopper strap with Tokyo Tower

Chopper soft toy (super like!)

Chopper iphone plug

One Piece books 

One Piece x Hello Kitty file. Good buy and cheap as well! at only JPY105 

My New World figurine set. should have bought more figurines :-P 


Which part of Japan will I feature One Piece next? so looking forward to my next One Piece adventure trip in Japan!