鬼金棒 Kikanbo: the towering inferno

It's getting very humid and sticky...but sometimes don't you feel like eating a spicy bowl and getting sweaty? For those who do, this Kanda shop is the place. A delicious bowl of miso with extra spice.

The Chinese characters for Kikanbo here are 鬼金棒. 鬼 is oni, or "ogre," while 金棒 is kanbou, or "iron club," like the one in the picture below of the ogre holding a spiked club. Ogre's Iron Club - what a rugged name. 

 Yeah, of course the inside of the shop is rugged and entertaining.

The BGM is japanese taiko music and the walls are covered with a lot of ogre masks. It feels like a dark Japanese festival. And it's just as hot.

Cooking with fire...hot and spicy miso

You can order several levels of カラ, or kara ("spice") and シビ, or shibi ("numbing") from Chinese numbing peppers. Be careful with that stuff!

I ordered the 増し, or mashi ("extra") spice level with regular numbing.

Ajitama karashibi miso ramen (880yen)

How did it taste? It wasn't as spicy as I expected, though some people tell me I have an insane spice tolerance level. The bowl actually looks spicier than it is. 

In addition to the spicy soup, there was sweet baby corn, noodles of different width...

...juicy chashu pork...

...and a delicious seasoned egg.

This isn't just a spicy gimmick bowl of ramen. Each ingredient has been carefully considered to make the bowl tastier and keep the bowl's balance. I quite understand why people are so into Kikanbo's ramen.

I've never been to such an entertaining ramen shop. Even the staff were like a group of ramen-making ogres - maybe they could be a bit more cheerful!

One warning: be careful when you go to the bathroom the next morning.

Tokyo, Chiyoda-ku, Kajicho 2-10-10
Closest stn: Kanda (5 min walk)

Open from 11am-930pm Monday-Saturday (11am-4pm Sunday)

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