Ramen Jiro Ikuta Ekimae-ten(ラーメン二郎生田駅前店): Newest Jiro in Kanto; Ikuta, Kanagawa

Newest Jiro to open in the Kanto area, Ikuta Ekimae-ten is the 44th (out of 45) currently operating shop in Japan and 6th in the Kanagawa prefecture. The restaurant officially opened on May 21st, 2023 and the master here was a disciple at the now closed Koganei Kaido location. After the closure of the Koganei Kaido Jiro, the master developed a reputation as a 6th man, going to the many Jiro locations scattered around Japan and filling in whenever they were short on staff. I guess after a while Yamada-san of HQ Mita allowed him to operate his own shop and Ikuta Jiro was born. I decided to make my visit a week after their grand open with Abram of Ramen Beast, thinking we might be able to avoid the initial rush, but we arrived to a queue of maybe 50 people. However, most in line were hardcore Jiro fans that kept the queue moving quickly so we waited, sat, and ate in about an hour and a half.

Simple menu here with the Sho (small) Ramen with 2 pork chashu slices being sold on the first row (yes, all three buttons), Sho Buta Ramen which comes with four pork slices on the second row far left, Mini Ramen with half size noodles and 1 pork chashu slice on the far right of the second row, Dai (large) Ramen with 2 chashu on the third row far left, and lastly Dai Ramen with 4 chashu slices next to it. I believe they now have a raw egg for 50 yen on their menu as well as a summer limited option to change the ramen to a cold Hiyashi version for an additional 100 yen.

First time here so just went with the basic Sho Ramen and my “Call” was Ninniku, Abura, Karame which indicates I want extra garlic, pork back fat, and seasoning tare over the top. If you’ve never been to a Ramen Jiro before, I recommend checking out my ebook or my review on their HQ location, Mita Honten. The “Call” is a unique system to Jiro style shops where you shout out how much of the free toppings you’d like; the toppings being Ninniku (garlic), Abura (pork back fat), Yasai (vegetables), and Karame (tare seasoning). I explain it better in my ebook and original Mita Honten review so read up on it there. First impression, garlic portion is out of control and the vegetables are pretty hefty despite asking for a normal amount. Very glad I got the extra tare, something I don’t always get, but it helped season the plentiful veggie portion nicely. Pork back fat is chunky, just the way I like, and honestly super impressed with how good it looks in just their first week as it usually takes time to find that right balance.

Always have to start with the soup and I immediately fell in love. Soup is low emulsification with a sharp, shoyu punch. Obviously very biased and this is just my personal preference, but these thinner Jiro soups just hit different. I love the heavier emulsified soups as well, but I feel like the pork flavor is bit more nuanced the lighter it is and usually has a much more balanced overall profile. Oil floats beautifully on the surface and weird to say for a Jiro, but is…refreshing. It’s the kind of Jiro that I honestly crave and is usually the type that I polish off the soup for. Of the low emulsification soups, I thought this was thinner on the garlic…but as you can see from the photos, this easily be counteracted with the garlic topping.

Noodles are house made and is a basic, neutral strand. Probably the most boring part of the bowl, but absolutely nothing wrong with it. Some Jiro locations prefer a thicker, denser noodle while other serve a softer, longer cooked thinner noodle. Ikuta falls right there in the middle and I would probably go as far as to say it is the median in terms of noodles across the entirety of Jiro locations. Oshon flavor is solid and on point, kansui isn’t particularly pungent, but just felt a bit too simple. Given how delicious the soup was, I kind of hoped for a noodle with more character.

Photos don’t do the chashu justice, which is a shame given how amazing they were. I would say it stays pretty true to the OG Mita Honten pork and it has a much softer, fall apart characteristic than other more modern locations. The Yasai, or vegetables, had a high cabbage to bean sprout ratio which is always appreciated. I know cabbage prices have gone through the roof lately, but the sweetness it imparts push this bowl to the upper echelon for me. If it looks like they skimped here, be sure to order extra and you’ll be met with a huge mound. I’m more than happy with this portion size, but they have no problems piling it on if you so choose.

Ikuta station is a pretty popular area for students with a number of Universities having campuses in the area so you’ll probably see a line of hungry students regardless of when you go. I do hear though that the lunch time rush, particularly on weekdays, is more tame than the evenings so I would aim for an afternoon visit. Line doesn’t start forming until about 30 minutes before opening so if you really want to get in and out, going early is probably your best bet!