Friday, December 6, 2013

凪煮干し王 Nagi Niboshi-ou: the fisher king

It's getting to be the best season for ramen. Hearts and I were roaming around Shibuya and decided to go to Nagi.


Our last experience at Nagi's tonkotsu shop was disappointing, but this time, we went for Nagi's claim to fame, a soup made up of tons of dried sardines.

If the shop is busy, you wait outside while they call you using this classic tube device.

 
They have a certain quirky style. The sign in front of the shop says:

Dear customer,
To be honest, if you don't like dried sardines, you will not be satisfied
Nagi

Hearts got the shop's signature bowl...

Niboshi shoyu ramen (700yen)

...while I tried their spicy ramen. Both had soy-sauce bases.

Karami niboshi shoyu (750yen)

I'm not always satisfied with spicy bowls when I order them, so this time, I ordered the spiciest level (5).

But the strong flavor of the soup and the extreme spice levels knocked me out. Or rather, the spiciness overwhelmed even the strong sardine flavor of the soup. I should have ordered a less spicy level (Hearts pressured me!).


Their staple is solid, with a heavy fish flavor as expected. Nagi uses two types of noodles - a thick and curly noodle...

 
and a flat, softer noodle that is similar in texture to a wonton soup shell and is excellent.


Their ramen is good, though Hearts claims the Golden Gai shop is much better. I couldn't tell, because my tongue was numbed from the spicy bowl.

Nagi started in 2004 in Shinjuku as a small shop, but they are now a great small chain. They are only getting bigger and more famous, but thankfully their quality is still high overall. I expect the Nagi revolution in the coming years.


Tokyo, Shibuya-ku, Shibuya 3-7-2
Closest stn: Shibuya

Open from 11am-1am (closes from 330-5pm and at 9pm on Sundays)

Lum

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