Yatagarasu (八咫烏); The Alcoholic Ramen, Kudanshita, Tokyo

Next up on my quest to write a review for the remaining top 100 ramen restaurants according to Tabelog is Yatagarasu located just mere walking distance from Kudanshita station on the Hanzomon line. Despite being open since August of 2016, Yatagarasu is actually a first time member of this top 100 list. I’m not quite sure what brought on this recent uptick in recognition, but as I had not actually visited before, I made my way with NamaJapanTV so I can knock off a shop from my never ending list. Famous for their Shoyu ramen which utilizes a soy sauce based tare infused with different liquors, Yatagarasu is a unique experience that is definitely deserving of at least one visit. I dropped in with Nama on a weekday evening around 7 pm and we didn’t run in to any lines, so safe to say you won’t need to do much preplanning for your visit. However, it is a hub for business men and women so you may want to avoid lunch if you’re not keen on waiting in any lines. The shop seats about 10 even currently with Covid and while they make the bowls to order, customers come in and out frequently.

On weekdays the shop is open for lunch from 11:00 to 15:00 and dinner is from 18:00 to 21:00. Weekends, the shop is only open on Saturdays with a holiday on Sunday. Saturday hours are lunch only from 11:00 to 15:00 so plan your trip accordingly. Menu is quite simple here and relatively easy to manage despite there not being an English menu. Top row in black is the Shoyu ramen going from the Tokusei version with extra toppings on the far left, regular in the middle, and with won tons on the far right. Next row in the white is the Shio ramen again going from Tokusei on the far left, regular in the middle, and with won tons on the far right. Third row is a Tokusei Niboshi dried fish ramen on the far left, regular to the right of that, and gentei specialty option as the last two buttons. The third row options were unavailable during my visit and I have a hunch they may not be offering it for the foreseeable future. Fourth row is regular rice on the left, a pork chashu rice bowl next to that, an ochazuke rice porridge set, and finally an extra Ajitama soft boiled egg. The last row is an otsumami appetizer set, an option for oomori large portion size noodles, beer, and a whisky soda.

My order for the day was the Tokusei Shoyu ramen which is made with their famous shoyu tare infused with an assortment of spirits. The alcohol is of course burned off and only the flavors are infused in to the incredibly unique, shoyu tare. I’m not gonna lie and say my palette distinguished this interesting tare combination. I honestly had no idea about the alcohol infused tare until coming home and reading about it before writing this review… which speaks to how well made this actually is. Obviously, as the alcohol is burned off during the simmering process, I wouldn’t have tasted any alcoholic notes to begin with, but the way it was infused made for a natural flavor progression within the ramen and balanced the soup nicely. Apparently, Yatagarasu uses vodka, Cointreau, and a Cassis liquor among others to make the Shoyu tare. Now that I see the liquors listed, I did have notes of orange stemming from the Cointreau and hints of sugary sweetness, but I can’t say I had any cassis notes during my bowl. Soup itself has a chicken stock base with Niboshi accents. The chiyu, or chicken aroma oil, which you can see floating on the surface of the soup, was quite strong so the chicken flavors really overpowered the soup, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Honestly it needed the savoriness of the chicken to counterbalance the sweet and salty notes of the Shoyu tare. The dried fish Niboshi added a ton of umami and made for a really delicious soup.

Noodles had some wheat specks embedded in to them and had a springy, but firm texture. Most of these Neo Tokyo Chuka Soba restaurants incorporate this style of noodles as it pairs best with the tanrei light, but ultra flavorful soup. The squared off noodles does a great job of soaking up and clinging the soup for a flavorful bite. Due to it’s size, it also makes for a satisfying slurp as well. The pork chashu was cooked to a rosy pink color due to the Sous Vide cooking method making sure it retains it’s moisture while cooking the entire way through. It’s not overly seasoned so it complimented the soup nicely. The meaty textural composition against the springy noodles were quite pleasant.

Honestly, this was a very complete and well made bowl. I enjoyed every aspect of it, including all of the other non-chashu toppings which is quite rare for me. Ok, well maybe the Ajitama soft boiled egg could have been less cooked and I would have preferred it not be cut so I can do my signature egg porn on Instagram, but besides that, it was a very solid bowl. Won ton weren’t amazing, but again, really solid and well made. The skin is a bit thicker than what I’m usually used to, but you could tell the wrapper was the same dough as the noodles based on appearance and I thought it was a nice touch that complimented the dish nicely. My favorite part was actually the Negi mixed with some Japanese herbs. Negi itself is already a great compliment, especially in these Neo Tokyo chicken shoyu ramen, as it helps cut through a bit of the oiliness of the soup while cleansing my palette in between bites, but the addition of the earthy herb notes upped it to a new level. I love how refreshing it was in contrast to the soup which sometimes felt a bit heavy. The counterbalance of the two, despite it being such a small, subtle detail, made for a more pleasant dining experience overall. Really, no complaints with the additional toppings and I definitely recommend the Tokusei version.

I finished my meal off with their pork chashu rice bowl which was probably one of the better rice bowls I’ve had in 2020. The rosy pink color indicates a Sous Vide cooking of the pork which is coated with a daikon radish and shoyu sauce that gave it both salinity and tartness from the radish. Wasabi was a great choice as the spiciness cut through the oiliness and fattiness of the pork blocks. A layer of dried seaweed lay on the bed of fluffy white rice giving it a nice bit of additional flavors. When I was half way done with the rice bowl, I poured some soup in to make a bit of a rice porridge that was to die for.

Overall, Yatagarasu was a very satisfying shop that I can vouch for with full confidence. However, I wouldn’t necessarily plan your visit to Tokyo around this bowl. If you happen to be staying in the area, or you happen to come across Kudanshita while you tour around Tokyo, this is a perfect shop to stop by at. If you end up making a visit, be sure to let me know on my instagram or facebook. While you’re at it, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel as well. Also if you’d like to support me, please consider donating via Patreon where I upload my Ramen Guide Books to my supporters.

Check out NamaJapan’s video if you want to learn more!