Honda is one of my favorite ramen shops in all of Tokyo, it’s the one of two ramen shops I always recommend to friends visiting when they’re looking to experience Japanese ramen for the first time.  That’s because while Honda serves shoyu and shio ramen as well on its menu, it’s best known for its tonkotsu-gyokai bowl, which ranked 8th in 2019 on Ramen Database.  It’s a flavor that is only starting to appear in ramen shops overseas, but it’s one that is very popular in Tokyo. 

 

Honda’s rendition of tonkotsu-gyokai is highly regarded, and it’s also one of the most intense, with a flavor that is similar to niboshi (sardines)-style ramen without any of the grittiness (due to leavings of pork bone from making the pork broth) that one usually associates with the intensity.  (In contrast, another famous tonkotsu-gyokai shop, Tomita, has a broth that is both intense and gritty)  The bowl also comes with a spoonful of spice to add even more kick to the broth.  It’s an excellent broth, though not my favorite tonkotsu-gyokai in Tokyo.

 

The rest of the bowl is top-notch.  The noodles are hand-made in-house, thick (to soak up the rich broth) and with plenty of bite.  The chashu was particularly impressive: both pork shoulder and belly, and the shoulder is roasted with a bit of peppery rub in it, making it taste like pastrami.  Other elements expected in a deluxe bowl–the ajitama, the menma— were terrific as well, and the still-crisp greens added a bit of textural contrast to what is a rich bowl of ramen.

 

I came here when Honda’s tokusei bowl came in at only 980 yen and was an absolute steal.  The price has now increased to 1180 yen, which is more in line with typical prices, but it’s still worth a visit.  That’s in part because it’s located in Tokyo’s Kita Ward: just 20-25 minutes away from more well-known central Tokyo neighborhoods like Roppongi or Kagurazaka, but a much more down-home atmosphere of old shopping streets and posters of enka singers plastered all over the place.  It’s also the ward with some of the best ramen in Tokyo, and it’s worth getting to know better.