Local Tonkotsu Ramen Shop Urinbo in Asakusa

In Tokyo you can try some of the best food from all over Japan here. At Urinbo ramen in Asakusa, you can have good Hakata style tonkotsu ramen without a trip to Fukuoka in Kyushu.

Urinbo is a local shop, but don’t be shy to go in. Students, workers, and families with hungry kids all come here. If you are a solo traveller you can take a seat at the wooden counter and watch the chef cooking. Or you can read a manga while you eat, there is a whole bookshelf full of them near the entrance.

We tried the tonkotsu ramen and tsukemen. The soup is a strong tonkotsu pork broth, full of flavours from slow cooking. Use the condiments on the tables such as the beni shoga ginger and pepper as you like to change the flavor.

The ramen has thin noodles and you can get a noodle refill. The extra noodles are called "kaedama". At Urinbo, the chef brought the kaedama out to our table in the strainer the noodles cooked in. They are added to the remaining soup in the ramen bowl.

The tsukemen here uses thicker noodles and also has a very flavourful soup. First eat the noodles dipping them in the sick soup. And if you are still hungry, you can order extra rice. Some people like to eat it with the remaining soup.

Urinbo Ramen is located on Kototoidori street in Asakusa, near the Kototoidori bridge that leads from Sumida Park to Tokyo Skytree. You can walk here from Asakusa station or Senso-ji temple. If you want to take a short walk after all the good ramen, walk across the bridge and follow the street towards Tokyo Skytree. It takes about 15 minutes to the famous tower.

Address: 2-21-7 Hanakawado, Taito-ku, Tokyo (東京都台東区花川戸2-21-7)

In front of Urinbo there is another ramen store that I can also recommend, Tsukemen Kobo Asakusa Seimenjo. This shop specialises in Tsukemen style ramen http://www.deepjapan.org/a/3873