Konjiki Hototogisu

How good does ramen have to be to earn a Michelin star? That’s a question that’s been on my mind since I first heard about shops around Japan earning a coveted star for what many would consider to be a very humble bowl of noodles. Our last trip to Japan didn’t have the appropriate location and agenda to stop off at a Michelin-starred ramen shop, as many of them our located a half hour or more outside of the main city and tourist areas. However, on this trip, I found a 1-star Michelin ramen shop that was just a ten minute walk away from one of Tokyo’s most popular cherry blossom viewing spots. So, after taking in the beautiful blossoms at Shinjuku Gyoen, we walked over to finally get a taste of ramen worthy to be including in the Michelin guide.

We arrived at Konjiki Hototogisu about an hour before it opened and were the first ones in line. It felt a bit foolish at first, but about ten minutes later a line started to form. By the time the shop opened at 11:00am there was a line of about forty people. Like many ramen shops, Konjiki Hototogisu only seats about a dozen people at a time. We were the first ones in and fumbled a little bit with the all Japanese ordering machine. Apparently there is supposed to be an English guide for the machine but it was nowhere to be found. After figuring out how to order we took a seat at the small counter and passed out tickets to the chefs.

Here are the two bowls of ramen we had on April 12, 2019:

Shoyu Ramen - “Triple soup” with clear pork broth, wa-dashi, and hamaguri clam broth. Toppings include truffle oil and porcini mushroom flakes.

Shio Ramen - Mongolian and Okinawan salts, hamaguri clam and red sea bream broth, white truffle oil, porcini mushroom duxelle, pancetta

When the bowls arrive you look down and, perhaps to your dismay, see what appear to fairly normal-looking bowls of ramen. The addition of porcini mushrooms is a little different, but apart from that the ramen is visually ordinary. Then you take a whiff of the steamy broth and that’s where the first difference hits you. The scent of mushroom and truffle is definitely not typical. In the shio ramen, which is a predominately seafood broth, the aroma is very mild and reminds you of the sea.

Then you start slurping. Again, the first flavors to hit your palate are familiar: saltiness of shio (salt) or shoyu and the fattiness of pork broth and oils. But then, a few seconds after the broth has lingered on your tongue, a wave of more complex flavors hits. The truffle adds a depth of flavor along with its aroma. In the ship ramen, the full flavor of sea bream and clams makes for a much more seafood-centric ramen than I’m used to. The shoyu ramens “triple broth” also has layers upon layers of complex flavors.

So this is what Michelin level ramen tastes like. It’s nothing earth-shattering upfront, but with each slurp I felt the flavors compounding, becoming more complex and “full”. I can see why people line up for this ramen!

Konjiki Hototogisu
〒160-0022 Tokyo, Shinjuku City
Shinjuku, 2 Chome−4−1 第２
２宮庭マンション 1F