Mitsuyado Seimen (Tsukemen), Shimokitazawa

Mitsuyado Seimen is a new noodles place that specializes in a variation of the Ramen called "Tsukemen" ("Dipping Noodles"), a dish where the noodles and the broth are served in separate bowls, as in the below picture. You eat these noodles by simply dipping them in the broth.
Shimokitazawa has another Tsukemen place called Yasubee which is very popular, that I will try to cover on another occasion.

What differentiate "Mitsuyado Seimen" from other Tsukemen restaurants is that Mitsuyado lets you choose the temperature and firmness of the noodles. You will have 5 options: Kori-Jime (very cold and al dente), Hiya-Mori (cold just enough and firm), Numeri-Otoshi (room temperarure and quite firm), Atsu-Mori (as hot as regular Ramen noodles) and Yu-Dame (Kama Age style)

The restaurant recommends you to go for Hiya-Mori. I've never tried any other option, but Hiya-Mori does it for me.
You also need to choose the amount of noodles you want: 200g, 300g, 450g, 600g, 750g (+¥100), 1,500g (+¥400). The first time I ate there, I went for 450g and it was too much though I do eat quite a lot. Since then, I go for 300g which seems to be just enough. The price increases by an accesible ¥400 for the heavy 1,500g portion so try it if you're into a Sumo vibe!

I am not sure what the broth is made of but it seems to have some Tonkotsu (Pork bone and fat), some vegetables and some Niboshi (dried baby sardines) in it, which gives it a slightly fishy taste to it. The broth also has a distinctive Yuzu taste, which is the house flavor of "Mitsuyado". I personally find the broth to be slightly too rich, but I guess you can adapt by less dipping the noodles in it.
The broth will come with some Chashu (Chinese Style Bbq Pork), Menma (Japanese-style Sungan), Naruto (fish cake) and leek in it.

The above broth and the noodles is what you'll get if you order the regular Tsukemen (¥780), but if you feel like that is not enough, you can order their most-popular "Marutoku Tsukemen" (¥980) which comes with the below toppings:
Large Nori sheet (Dry seaweed), 2 big slices of additional Chashu, boiled vegetables (sprout, nira etc) that are hidden under the Chashu in the below picture and an Ajituske Tamago (flavored Egg)
When you're done eating the noodles, the staff will bring you some lighter broth which you add to your regular broth, so you can drink it like a soup. It's good but still quite rich and salty, so try not to down the whole thing as you might end up being thirsty for the rest of the day.

Mitsuyado Seimen is open 7 days a week from 11:30am to 01:00am (L.O. 24:00)
Setagaya-ku, Kitazawa 2-31-2
03-5790-8038
Click here for a MAP

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