#1 MICHELIN STAR Spicy Japanese Ramen & Best HIDDEN GEM Ramen in Tokyo Japan

Hey guys, Mike Chen just got back to the U.S. and waiting for me at my doorstep. Sakurako and Tokyo Treat. Let's have a little Japanese snack time. Let's start with Sakurako and this month's theme is Tochigi Traditions. Tochigi is a prefecture that's kind of in the middle of Japan and their strawberries are supposed to be the best in the country. If you don't know, Sakurako and Tokyo Treat are both Japanese snack subscription boxes. With Sakurako, you'll get 20 traditional, authentic, artisanal Japanese snack items including Japanese tea and of course the home good item. So inside this box, of course, postcard, information booklet about all the snacks inside the box. This is the home good item for this month. Furoshiki Wrapping Cloth. And I didn't know this, but apparently this dates back all the way to 710 BC. So this was traditionally used to wrap presents, valuables, mainly in Japanese temples. And now today, people use it to wrap gifts, bento boxes. So inside the box, plum lotus root chips. I love this. I always loved lotus root. Never ever had lotus root chips before. It's savory, it's sour. This is really good. And the Tokyo Treat box for this month, the theme is Santa Snack Fest. And what's special about Tokyo Treat is these boxes contain up to 20 of the latest, most popular, most exclusive limited edition seasonal flavors. Oh, limited edition white chocolate waffle. White chocolate on the outside, chocolate on the inside. This is really, really good, especially with some tea. With both boxes, you're going to get super amazingly delicious snacks. You can only source in Japan where this company is from. Tokyo Treat is more fun, more popular snacks. Sakurako, more traditional, more artisanal. Really can't go wrong with the other one. Also, Sakurako partners with local snack makers to continue to share Japanese culture, tradition. A lot of these snack makers have been around for over a hundred years. And what I really like about this company is that, of course, it's located in Japan because all these snacks can only be sourced in Japan and they're delivered to you anywhere in the world. Their mission statement is to showcase traditional Japanese culture through the medium of snacking, which is just one of the best ways to do it. So if you want to give this a try, go to my link down below, use my promo code dumpling and get $5 off your first Sakurako box or your first Tokyo Treat box. Trust me, you're going to love receiving this. Also, we are having a giveaway where you can win free tickets to Japan. That information is also down below. In this video you're about to see, obviously, I recorded it back in Japan where I had one of the best ramen days of my life. Take a look. This place, I smelled it as soon as I left the cellar. Smells so good. But today, though, it's a ramen day. Today, heading to some of the best ramen places here in Tokyo. This is my list of the must-try ramen restaurants whenever you're in the city. And it has to start with Nakurayo. This is a one-star Michelin ramen shop. And last time, I didn't really get everything I wanted from this place. That's going to change today. Almost to the front. So this time, we waited about an hour and almost to the front of the line. Too bad, you're only allowed to get one bowl of noodles here. So when you first walk in, right there is the ramen vending machine. It's one of my favorite vending machines in the world. Long-awaited. Itadakimasu. This is such anticipation. So I got the dan dan men. Also, I didn't get this last time. Char siu over rice with wasabi mayo. Look at this beautiful, beautiful bowl of dan dan men. Ground meat on top. Super thin, luxurious-looking noodles in this bowl. Inside, a gorgeous egg. Some scallions. And this, the bowl is deep. Again, lots of great meat. Tons of broth in here. Look how deep this bowl is. It's a reservoir of deep, rich, spicy broth. Oh my gosh, so good. Ask for some cilantro. Favorite bowls of ramen. Haven't lost a single step in flavor. The broth is the best. So thick and rich. Peanutty and spicy. And meaty. Every spoonful of broth, you're gonna get some meat in there. The meat is flavored so well as well. With that pinch of umami in there. Again, thin, straight noodles. This is gonna soak up that broth so well. This is the best kind of noodles. Look at this. All that flavor penetrated perfectly. Oh, add the seaweed in. Forgot about this. This is gonna go in and soak up a ton of that great, flavorful broth. And what you can do as well, if it's not nummy enough for you, I give you a side of peppercorn. More nummy flavor into your noodles. And of course, do not forget the egg. So beautiful, so perfect. Dunk it in that broth a little bit. I like extra nummy flavor, so I added a bunch of the peppercorn. I think it's even better now. Look at this. This is what I didn't get last time. Super thin, beautiful slices of chashu. Look at that. You can see the marbling here. You can see how perfectly tender this thing is. It's so fatty and smoky. Beautifully tender. Perfect with these noodles. This is something I didn't get last time. The wasabi sauce with sesame and chashu over rice. Try this when you come here. I mean, it's the same chashu they use for ramen, which is fine. Because honestly, the more of that I've just seen the world that you can eat, the better. This is so good. The wasabi sauce has a slight little punch. And the mayo just has that extra bit of creaminess to this already super flavorful bowl of rice and meat. This is my first bowl of ramen since coming back to Japan. I really don't think I can get any better than this. My favorite bowl of ramen that's in a broth. I am trying out a bunch of new ramen joints I never had before. So maybe find something else just as good or even better. I don't know, but this is 100% worthy of a Michelin star and 100% worthy of a visit. If you're going to eat a couple of ramen places while you're in Tokyo, make sure this is one of them. I'm almost mad at this place for not letting me get a second bowl. Luckily today, the day is long and the ramen is going to be a plenty. Next ramen shop is here in Ginza. This is a chicken broth ramen place called Ginza Kakkori and got here 30 minutes before they closed. So hopefully I can get in. I'm trying to get to a little private area by the ramen bar. And their best ramen is apparently their slow-cooked chicken broth. The only time I've really had a good chicken ramen was the place I went to in Seoul, South Korea. I'll tell you right now, this place smells so good. So got the slow-cooked chicken broth ramen and a bowl of this butter rice with chicken chashu on top. Smells so buttery. Love this. The flavor is very mild, of course. Wow, so much good butter flavor. The chicken is definitely white meat. It's so tender. It's definitely a very, very fragrant bowl of rice. So left this ramen sitting here for about a minute. It's already congealing on top so you can see the amount of fat that's in here. Also, this piece of chicken, look at this. Just bending it a little bit with the chopsticks. This thing is just falling apart. It's breaking in all sorts of ways. Some bamboo in here, some squash. Noodles are wavy, medium-sized noodles. Some peppers in here as well. Wow, this bowl of ramen can buy and sell Elon Musk at least a half a dozen times. It's that rich. I think I can almost pick up this broth with my chopsticks. So rich, very gelatinous-y. It's very creamy. It's so good. If you're not into really thick broth, you will not like this. If you're into chicken soup on steroids, this is your bowl of ramen. It leaves this little gelatinous-y texture on your tongue and such a umami-filled aftertaste lingers in your mouth. Really good noodles. Flavor is steeped all the way through, 100%. Like I said, the flavor, it's almost like pure chicken essence. You're tasting like good, clean chicken essence. And they also put some ginger and I think some fried garlic here. I think this is used to kind of cut down the richness of this broth. And incredibly neat from all the other ramen places I've been to so far. Chicken chashu is absolutely splendid. It's definitely something I'm sure it's not for everybody because of the richness. Some people maybe are just really not gonna be used to this. I love it. My favorite thing, that creamy aftertaste. Creamy, buttery, and it just feels so good on your tongue. So I got the truffle version. I think this is better. Nice truffle flavor in addition to that rich chicken broth. I feel like I'm almost biting, chewing that broth at times. Noodles cook perfectly too. It's really, really uniquely delicious. This is, again, something that's gonna be different than a lot of ramen you'll have anywhere. And the taste is gonna be, for those who like something this incredibly rich. I think it's definitely better with the truffles. I don't know if you see this, but if you follow the instructions, they said to add the couple of peppers that's sitting in front of you. Mmm. It's nice. A little more peppery, smoky flavor. This is a very unique place. I think it's a good place. Ramen does get a little fatty. If you want something to kind of cleanse your palate, gotta get a kakigori in Japan. And this is the closest one I found in Ginza. This is really interesting. This cake's called bamakuchi. When you order it, they actually bring you a catalog of little animal characters, or Hello Kitty characters, I guess, that you can order. And it's a German cake that became really popular in Japan. And the name, bamakuchi, translates to tree cake. So that's why there's so many rings here. It represents a tree. A tiny bit dry. Boy, I really messed that cake up. What you're supposed to do is cut around the character, and the character actually comes out. I just packed the panda leg right off. Kakigori is the best shaved ice on this planet. It's so soft and milky. But apparently, this one I got is cheesy. Cheese shaved ice. I had no idea I did that. But luckily, it's more like a sweet cream cheese, not like, you know, cheddar. The top, which is pistachio, it's like this cloud-like cream. This whole thing is just so soft and light and refreshing. Of all the shaved ices in the world, Japan, 100% wins, hands down. Best one. You guys, last ramen spot of the day, here at Shinjuku Golden Gai. This is a network of alleys. And this is where a lot of pubs are. So they've come here usually past 8 p.m. to go to the pubs. I am actually looking for a ramen shop. There it is, right here. Ramen Nagi. Try to go up. They just asked how many we had, and then that's just the way outside. You can smell the intro as soon as you walk into this ramen shop. People are really, really nice here. It's a tiny, tiny ramen shop. The broth is niboshi broth. So this is gonna be more of a fish stock. So this is a fish broth ramen. But it's thick. It's so thick and rich. Huge chashu. You can see the fat coursing through this tender piece of meat. Scallions, pieces of chopped up chashu. Inside, thick, curvy noodles. Very thick. Definitely the thickest we've seen all day. First, crumple the nori in, so I can start sucking up all that delicious broth. Let's try this broth. Look at this. Oh. I've had niboshi broth before. I've never had it this rich and thick. This is a very umami-filled A-bomb of a bowl of noodles. Very unique and amazing. Oh, wow. I mean, if you don't like fish, might not be your thing, but wow. Noodles are so chewy and spicy, too. So much to love about this bowl of noodles. Oh, look at that. Super broad noodles in here as well. Two different noodles in this bowl of ramen. Wow. I like them both. These little chopped up pieces of chashu. What? How can something be this tender? It's the most tender thing you can imagine. I've never had chashu this thick and this tender before. Never in my life. Big pieces, too. But the small pieces, I feel, breaks apart easier. It's meltier. It's better. It's more tender. These noodles, they're so thick and so al dente. Wonderfully chewy. Of course, that golden egg. Fill that up with that fishy stock. This is definitely one of my top rated ramen lists here in Tokyo. You know, I gotta say, this is flavor profile that I absolutely adore. I like very aggressive flavors. Very thick broth. Very meaty. Very chewy noodles. Whole fish with a head on there. This is checking all the boxes for me. This is broth I'm gonna be thinking about and missing from now on after today. And I love how they spiced up the niboshi as well. I've never had spiced up niboshi before. And it's almost like when you reach the bottom of the bowl, the noodles become like almost like a dry saucy noodle instead of a brothy one. Okay, so seasoning. There is black pepper spice. And look at this. Oh, niboshi vinegar. What? Look at the little fishies in here. Let me try it out here. Mixed the niboshi vinegar in here. The vinegaryness definitely cuts into that rich, rich, rich broth. I like it. Plus, it's not just acidity. It's like umami-filled acidity. This is definitely one of the most unique bowl of ramen noodles here in Tokyo. It's also one of the best. Highly recommend this place. Such a good place. Such a fun place. Just be careful going in and out of that place. If you know, you know. So I've been wanting to come to this fruit parlor for years because they had an all-you-can-eat buffet. Unfortunately, that's no longer here. There's no more buffet. Only a la carte. Still got a few items. Let's try it out. But it's really sad whenever you go to a place expecting a buffet and you find out the buffet no longer exists. So this place makes really pretty fruit parfaits. Check this out. It's like a little pear cocktail. This is just pure blended pear. Right now, pear is a seasonal fruit. But this one, it's a fig parfait. Tons of fresh fig on top. Looks like some red bean ice cream. And then there's some fig on the bottom as well. Oh, the figs are so fresh. Yeah, that is definitely red bean ice cream. And I think there's some jello or like a drink that's on the bottom layer. I think it definitely doesn't taste as good as it looks. But tastes pretty good. Also, this is what I'm really excited about. A melon parfait. Melons in Japan is something I absolutely crave. Mmm. Oh. Oh, that is good. That melon ball is like a fresh fruity juice ball. Inside, there's melon sorbet. Mmm. So juicy, so sweet. This reminds me of that $100 melon I bought last time I was here in Tokyo. Which makes me really regret the buffet any more. Because one of these, I think right now is about 2,000, 3,000 yen. The buffet itself was only 3,600 yen. You can have as many of these as you want. So all the different people try all the different flavors. Such a good deal. But if you do come here, I recommend this a lot. Well, it's been an awesome ramen food day. Ramen days are just my favorite day. Especially when it's raining today. It wasn't, unfortunately. But it is chilly. And the most important thing, had some amazing ramen. Of course, loved so much the first place we went to. The Dandanmen. Just as spicy and rich and delicious as ever. Best discovery on the trip, though. The place I just went to. That spicy niboshi broth? That's some next levels. Especially when you slurp it with the noodles. Just try that place out. Don't fall down the stairs. That's definitely a place I'll keep going back to. Of course, afterwards, come get this. And just another reminder that for the holiday season, all my hot oil is 15% off. And I'll put the link on where to order down below. With the information, of course, to all the places I went to. And as always, thank you all so much for watching. Until we eat again, see you later.