Ramen Yama to Ki (らぁめん山と樹); Mom and Pop Shop in Koenji, Tokyo
So as many of you know, I’ve been making my way around the Tabelog Top 100 Ramen list of Tokyo and I’ve been writing a review for each one. I actually cleared all top 100 shops that appeared on the 2018 list, but the list took a back seat for a while and so I had some catching up to do when the 2020 list dropped. One notable shop that I hadn’t yet crossed off was Ramen Yama to Ki, a short walk from the JR Koenji station. Open in 2017, the master apprenticed at the famous Ramen Kaede in Hachioji before branching out on his own. The shop is run by a husband and wife couple and sits about 10 guests comfortably with ample space in between for Covid social distancing. Location is in a residential area, but sits on a major roadway. On a weekday, you probably won’t see too much of a queue, but be mindful on weekends when the ramen enthusiasts come out of the woodwork. Yama to Ki is open Tuesday-Sunday from 11:30-16:00. Not necessarily lunch only, but plan accordingly if you’re thinking of making a visit.
Menu is quite standard for a local establishment like this with 4 ramen options. Starting with the top buttons, which are all Tokusei (extra toppings), is Shoyu Ramen on the far left, then Shio Ramen, Tsukemen, and finally a gentei specialty ramen which was Miso on my visit. They’re not known to change up their specialty menu often, but I would do a quick google search if you’re curious what specials they have on your visit. On the second row, starting with the far left is Shoyu Ramen, Shoyu Ramen with Ajitama soft boiled egg, Shio Ramen, Shio Ramen with Ajitama soft boiled egg, Tsukemen, Tsukemen with Ajitama soft boiled egg, Miso Ramen, and finally Spicy Miso Ramen. On the third row starting with the far left is extra noodle portions, a Shio Tsukemen, Ajitama Shio Tsukemen, and finally Tokusei (extra toppings) Spicy Miso Ramen. The next row with just the green buttons are Tokusei Shio Tsukemen and extra Tsukemen noodles. First row of yellow buttons are the toppings which consists of extra pork chashu, an Ajitama soft boiled egg, Menma bamboo shoots, green onions, and dried seaweed. Second row of yellow is rice, pork belly chashu over rice, and a Miso rice bowl. Last row is beer in small and medium sizes. My order for the day was the Tokusei Shoyu Ramen as it was their specialty and I typically choose the most popular item on my first visit. I hear good things about the Tsukemen and Miso as well so I will have to come back, soon before the special runs out, to try these two options.
Pictured above is the Tokusei Shoyu Ramen which comes adorned with additional toppings. On the left is the pork belly chashu (2 slices), with the pork shoulder at the top, Menma bamboo shoots below it to the right, and an Ajitama soft boiled egg at the bottom. A mound of thinly sliced green onions sit atop the chashu and a few slices of dried seaweed at the very top. Visually the bowl is pretty standard in my opinion with other Chuka Soba Shoyu Ramen. Nothing out of the ordinary, but the simplicity of it was quite refreshing and it was a solid bowl overall. Soup is a rather basic Chicken and Konbu base, but the flavors are far from basic. The chicken provides both body to the soup as well as the aroma oil typically Chiyu. The Chiyu floats above the surface and you can see the thin layer if you looks at the rim of the bowl. Chiyu provides excellent fattiness to the otherwise light soup making it incredibly satisfying overall. The shoyu is actually on the lighter side as you can see from the photo below. Lighter doesn’t necessarily mean less salty, just refers to the color. Flavor wise it was quite pungent and gave the bowl an impactful punch from start to finish. I quite liked the Konbu, Japanese based dashi stock that upped the Umami of the bowl and kept me intrigued the entire way through.
I think the noodles were the highlight of this shop. They use a temomi, or hand massaged, variety which means they knead the noodles directly before boiling. As you can see from the photo, that process gives the noodle a lot of character and texture which helps to soak up and cling the soup for a flavorful slurp. The shimmer indicates to me a high water content which makes sense since that is needed for the bounce and structure to withstand the kneading. A lot of Shoyu ramen shops have been incorporating this style of noodles lately and I thought it was a great pairing with the soup. Green onions cut elegantly in curls was a nice refresher in between bites giving the bowl a crunch as well as a palette cleanse. The two pork chashu weren’t exactly memorable, but they were good nonetheless. The pork belly was soft and almost melted in between my chopsticks, as well as the bigger shoulder cut that provided meatiness and substance to my ramen. Menma bamboo shoots again were a bit typical and I’m probably biased here as these thick cut rectangles are my least favorite types. However, it did give some texture variety that played off of the bouncy noodles so it was a nice addition. Ajitama or marinated soft boiled eggs were seasoned throughout as you can see from the brown hue it picked up from the shoyu tare seasoning. It was cooked just right as it didn’t immediately ooze in to the soup, but rather held it’s shape, but gave it a creamy component that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Solid overall shop and definitely recommend a visit if you’re in the area. Nearby is a pretty trendy vintage clothing area of Tokyo so a perfect place to grab a quick lunch before doing some shopping. If you end up making a visit, or if you’ve already been, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought. If you’re here on my site looking for ramen shops to visit on your next trip to Tokyo, I also have an eBook detailing my Top 15 Tokyo Ramen Shops to visit on your trip. Link to purchase is below and profits from my eBooks go towards funding my own self published ramen coffee table book. If you’d like to support me further I have a Patreon where you can access all the eBooks if you join! My Instagram and YouTube is @RamenGuideJapan where you can shoot me DMs and I’ll answer any questions as soon as I can! Thanks for reading!
