Restaurant known for numbingly spicy ramen and intimidatingly long lines lures us out in the Tokyo snow.
As we headed to bed last Saturday night, meteorologists warned us that snow was on the way the following day, as the cold weather that had descended upon east Japan wasn’t ready to ease up its grip on the Tokyo area yet. Sure enough, we awoke Sunday morning to not just a light powdering, but heavy snow falling on the capital.
It was, honestly, perfect weather in which to take a quick peek out the window, then crawl back beneath warm blankets and stay there all day. Unfortunately, our Japanese-language reporter P.K. Sanjun had an appointment this day that he couldn’t get out of. But you know what they say: when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, and when life hands you a snow day, you make plans to eat ramen.
OK, so maybe that second part isn’t in the original saying, but it still seemed like solid logic to P.K. Since most ramen restaurants aren’t that big, the most popular ones tend to have crazy-long lines, but with freezing cold, snowy conditions, the lines should be shorter, right?
With the theory making him both excited and hungry, P.K. decided to head to one of his favorite ramen joints, Kikanbo, which is famous for its “numbingly spicy” miso ramen.
Back in his pre-SoraNews24 days, P.K. had been a very regular Kikanbo customer, since his workplace was right by one of the chain’s three branches (all of which are in Tokyo). In recent years, though, Kikanbo has been getting increasingly popular and famous, and the lines have become so long that P.K. figures it’s been at least three years, and maybe more, since the last time he could treat himself to a bowl of their spicy stuff.
▼ Accurate portrayal of P.K.’s vision blurred by tears as he looks at the line outside Kikanbo (鬼金棒)
So since P.K. was stuck going out in the snow, he figured he could at least let a little sunshine into his heart with a little ramen reunion, and headed for the Ikebukuro neighborhood, where one of Kikanbo’s branches is. The snow had been heavy enough that some of the trains had been delayed, and even though it was no longer actively falling when P.K. got to Ikebukuro around 1 in the afternoon, the city was still very slushy, and there were noticeably fewer people in and around the station.
▼ The walk from Ikebukuro Station to the Ikebukuro Kikanbo branch
It’s only about a five-minute walk from the station to Kikanbo, and with every step, P.K.’s anticipation grew. He wasn’t expecting to be able to slide right in, but he figured his estimate of maybe four or five people in front of him, still a far shorter line than normal at Kikanbo, wasn’t getting his hopes up too high.
At least, that’s what he figured until he turned the last corner…
…and saw the shocking, yet also familiar, sight of a line stretching down the street of people waiting to get into Kikanbo.
Instead of the maybe half-dozen people P.K. had been expecting, there were about 20 people in the queue, making it more or less as long as it is on days with good weather. Heartbroken, P.K. felt hope drain from his heart, and color from his world.
It just goes to show that the passion of foodies in Japan is not to be underestimated. In the biggest city in the country with arguably the highest standards in the world for restaurant quality, if a place is known for excellence even by those standards, you’ve got to be braced for a wait, rain (or snow) or shine.
And so, P.K.’s streak of not eating at Kikanbo is still ongoing. Maybe he can console himself over the failure of his snow-day ramen plans with a soak in a snow-viewing hot spring bath.
Related: Kikanbo
Photos ©SoraNews24
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