Black and white! Introducing “Mentaku Ushio”, popular for its two exquisite ramen dishes.

The area around Akihabara is known for being competitive area for popular ramen restaurants. This time, we would like to introduce “Mentaku Ushio”, one of the most recommended ramen restaurants in the Akihabara area. It is popular for its two types of ramen: “black” and “white”.

“Mentaku Ushio” is located along Sotobori Dori, a 9-minute walk from JR Akihabara Station, passing through Akihabara Electric Town. The shop itself is located on the first basement floor of the building, but it is spacious, so it feels like it is semi-underground. This is a popular ramen restaurant that you might want to visit after enjoying sightseeing in Akihabara Electric Town.

The entrance is just down a few steps, and there is a food ticket machine right in front of the entrance. In addition to the standard menu, you can choose various toppings and drinks, and when we visited, the seasonal menu had already sold out. There were also stickers from well-known gourmet sites posted in various places around the store, showing how popular the restaurant is.

The restaurant has 9 counter seats and 1 table that seats 4 people, so it can accommodate individuals, as well as groups of several people. However, it is so popular that there is always a line during the day on weekdays, so we recommend visiting at a different time of the day or, surprisingly, on weekends, when it is less crowded.

The counter seats were separated by acrylic stands, making it easy for solo diners to use. Pitchers and glasses of water are placed at each seat, making it convenient to pour your own drink. Amenities such as tissues are also provided at each seat, so you can enjoy your meal without worrying about people around you.

The restaurant’s signature menu item is “Tori-Paitan Soba”, or the “white” ramen. The milky white broth, reminiscent of a thick soup, is made with a generous amount of Daisen chicken bones. It’s popular for being an original Western-style Chinese noodle dish that can only be tasted here, featuring toppings like poached eggs, meat-wrapped asparagus, and broccoli.

The soup is light and has an irresistible creamy flavor, with a harmonious combination of chicken flavor and saltiness. The medium-thin straight noodles felt just like pasta, and the chewy texture matched the soup. The meat-wrapped asparagus topping has a strong meaty texture, making it satisfying to eat, and when you break open the poached egg, you can enjoy an almost carbonara-like flavor combined with the bacon flakes.

The restaurant’s signature menu item is it’s “Nihonichi Soba Soba”, or the “black” ramen. The soy sauce soup, which has a slightly thick appearance, is made with “kaeshi”, a uniquely aged mixture of 4 types of soy sauce, and “water-based and fish-based broths” made from 7 types of high-quality dried fish, including premium kelp from Hokkaido. It is topped with duck meat, rare char siu, and egg flavored with dashi stock.

The special soy sauce soup has a strong flavor from the soy sauce and seafood stock, with the perfect amount of salt without being too strong. The vegetable toppings include oyster mushrooms, mizuna, and mitsuba leaves, which give the dish a refreshing texture and aroma. The two types of char siu, duck and pork were juicy, and the fluffy and fragrant dashi egg was a perfect match.

This time we introduced “Mentaku Ushio”, which has two types of signature ramen. The white “Tori-Paitan soba” has a perfect combination of creamy richness and saltiness, and the black “best-in-Japan soy sauce soba” is full of the delicious flavor of soy sauce and dashi stock. Both were special dishes that each had thier own individuality. Why not stop by Mentaku Ushio to try their popular “white” and “black” ramen?

Mentaku Ushio
R Kanda Awajicho B1F, 2-4-4 Kanda Awajicho, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo
[Monday, Saturday, Sunday] 11:00 AM ~7:00 PM
[Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday] 11:00 AM ~ 9:00 PM
Irregular holidays

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