Ramen Jiro Mejirodai (ラーメン二郎めじろ台店): The Far West Tokyo Jiro Delight; Mejirodai, Tokyo

One of my favorite Jiro locations in the Kanto area is one that I’m sure many would rather skip as it is located quite far from central Tokyo. Ramen Jiro Mejirodai-ten is the furthest West of all the Tokyo Jiro locations and they first opened their doors back in 2002 during the early 2000’s Jiro boom with Matsudo Ekimae-ten, Ogikubo, Kaminoge, and Keisei Ookubo all opening in the same year. Back then, Mejirodai was called the Mejirodai Hosei Daigakumae-ten as it was located right out front of Hosei University. Shop moved in 2017, changed their name to reflect their new location, and has been here ever since. Closest station is Mejirodai on the Keio Takao line and is a few stations from Mt. Takao so it’s the perfect place to have dinner after a long hike up Takao’s summit. It is a bit of a walk from the station though and many end up making the drive here which might be the way to go. Space for 4 cars is available around the corner, but there is plenty of paid parking nearby as well if you do decide to drive.

As is with most Jiro shops, menu here is quite simple. Starting at the top row is the Sho Ramen (small) followed by the Sho Buta (small with extra pork chashu), and Mini Ramen. Second row is the Dai Ramen (large) followed by the Dai Buta (large with extra pork chashu) and the third row is to make your above ramen Tsukemen, Tsuke-aji, and Shirunashi with raw egg option at the very bottom. My order for the day was the Sho Ramen and my call was Ninniku, Abura or extra garlic and pork back fat. If you’ve never been to a Jiro and need a rundown of what a “call” is, here it is. Once your ramen is done the master will ask, “Ninnikuwa?”, which is the signal asking which free toppings you want for your bowl. Available toppings are Yasai (vegetables consisting of blanched cabbage and bean sprouts), Ninniku (minced garlic), Abura (pork fat), and Karame (seasoning sauce) and you’ll get an average amount of each topping you call out. If you want a little extra of a certain topping, you can say “Mashi” after which ever topping you want more of. “Mashi-Mashi” will be even more of said topping. So for instance, if you wanted no garlic, extra vegetables, and normal pork fat and seasoning sauce, you would say “Yasai mashi, abura, karame”. If you want extra of all the toppings you can say “Zen-Mashi”, or everything extra.

After about 10 minutes my bowl was ready and I was presented with this beauty. What makes Mejirodai special to me is their Abura, pork back fat, which is marinated in a sweet, shoyu marinade. You can see it topping my bowl, but these succulent rectangular cuts of pork fat literally melt in your mouth and burst an addicting, savory, oily flavor bomb that’s incredibly hard to resist. It pairs with everything acting as a dressing to the blanched veggies and as little flavor capsules during slurps of the noodles. The sweet and salty tango it does in your mouth is unmatched with any of the other Jiro locations and, in my mind, is what makes this Jiro unique so do yourself a favor and grab some during your “call”.

However, for how much praise Mejirodai gets for their fat topping, surprisingly, the soup is quite reserved and is on the lower emulsification end of the Jiro spectrum. Typically with Jiro you’ll find it varies from a rich, emulsified soup to a lighter thinner soup. If you look at Jiro rankings, you’ll see a majority of the heavily emulsified soups at the top of the list while these lighter ones occupy the bottom, but it really is a matter of preference. I quite liked this soup style as it has a more nuanced flavor of the pork and Karame, shoyu tare, but I know that rich bold flavors are currently the trend and it probably won’t scratch that itch here. Noodle are made in house as per Jiro and are flatter and straighter than the other locations. Texture wise it has a stretchier, bouncier feel and the pairing with the soup was spot on as anything thicker would probably overwhelm this light pork broth. I think the Karame shoyu tare really compliment these noodles and is one of the more balanced Jiros.

Yasai blanched vegetables are steamed to a crispy finish and soak up the soup beautifully. I personally love a Jiro with a high cabbage to bean sprout ratio so Mejiro-dai hit the spot with its veggie mix. Might sound like a broken record here, but the abura pork fat with the veggies is out of this world and this heavenly pairing is worth the price of admission in my opinion. I rarely get large servings of Yasai, but I regretted not going for it with extra Abura after finishing my meal. Finally pork chashu is very fatty, but uses the OG shoulder cut. I personally found the cut more appropriate here as the abura on the side is so popular, but I know some hope for a belly cut which has a bit more impact. At the table is some pepper and karame seasoning if you feel your bowl need a bit more flavor.

All in all I think Mejirodai was sneakily one of the better Jiro locations. It is heavily dependent on your preference in soup emulsification, but if you do enjoy the low ones, I highly recommend a visit. And even if you prefer the heavy emulsification soups, I still recommend making a visit and trying one of the top tier shops as well. Who knows, you might have a change of heart after having the bowls here, I know I have and I’ll definitely be back for their Tsukemen and Shirunashi options.