Yamagishi Kazuo “God of Ramen” knew that in order to keep his famous ramen/tsukemen continuing into the future, he would need to teach others his technique and these others became his apprentice. Yamagishi trained over a hundred apprentices and he looked at his apprentices as his own children and when they left to create their own shops, he would support them and never asked for any royalties.
Unfortunately, with redevelopment in the Higashi-Ikebukuro area, his original restaurant had to shut down on March 20, 2007. Yamagishi knew it was time to retire but if Taishoken restaurant in Higashi-Ikebukuro would make its return, who would do it?
And thus, the search of a successor began and it would be a battle between his apprentices who had went on to create their own ramen restaurants.
The victor was Iino Toshihiko and Iino would become the successor to the Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken location while Yamagishi would retire (yet still coming by early in the morning and trying the soup and also greeting customers to the restaurant).
Before I get into my review, let me first preface (please read this first) that there are a lot of Taishoken in Japan but the Higashi-Ikebukuro location is important because it’s where Yamagishi would work for decades.
I went to Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken and was quite fortunate it was a time when there weren’t so many people in line (one it was freezing cold and it was raining).
Immediately, you can see how Iino has paid his respects to his late master, “God of Ramen” Yamagishi Kazuo.
Go ahead and order your ramen or tsukemen! I came primarily for the tsukemen!
The good news also is that in addition to counter seating, there is table seating for families, which you rarely see at ramen restaurants.
The restaurant was clean and for the most part, customer service was very good.
Before I talk about the tsukemen, let’s talk about Yamagishi’s successor and Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken owner Iino Toshihiko.
There is no doubt that Iino is passionate about the food he prepares and his appreciation for Yamagishi.
Iino grew up in Gunma prefecture and his parents ran a cafeteria, where he would observe his parents working at restaurants.
Iino would study at an Italian restaurant for about seven years and also trained at a tonkatsu restaurant.
But it was when he went to eat at Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken where he met Yamagishi Kazuo and tasted the tsukemen, he fell in love with it.
Although he has made noodles, he was shocked of how delicious things were i Tokyo and he would share the noodles around his neighborhood because the noodle culture was not yet popular in Gunma.
He loved it so much that he asked if he could be an apprentice because he wanted to understand how everything tasted so good.
His first two years, he was training and worked with four people including master Yamagishi. Yamagishi had no recipe for people to look over, one had to observe and remember it.
He saw how Yamagishi never used any cutting instruments for noodles, he did it by hand. He also mentioned how at the time, they used kerosene and the power was so great that when you moved the pot on the stove, the flame could reach as high as the ceiling.
He would observe Yamagishi and trusted in his tongue to know which ingredients were used.
After working at Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken for many years, he would go to work at the Takinogawa Taishoken near Oji Station. He then would work at 2003 at the Minami-Ikebukuro Taishoken.
When the Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken location closed in 2007 due to redevelopment/rezoning of Higashi-Ikebukuro (and Yamagishi retiring), his master said he would like for him to open a Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken as he was his successor.
And so, Iino would do so. But there was a lot of pressure because it would be considered as the main restaurant.
He also admitted the anger of regular customers due to the differences of taste. Inno had said the business hours were now twice as long than what master was doing, so there is a difference of the soup from morning to afternoon and soup in the evening.
Inno Toshihiko said he had no choice but to adjust the taste because the morning soup and the night soup were not the same and the taste is always changing and said he this is the same for any restaurant, when the soup changes when you cook it for a long time throughout the day, the amino acids in the soup start to lessen and once you get towards the evening, you need to adjust it.
Inno also said that there are various forms of tweaking that taste throughout the day but he wants to protect the taste made by his master without changing it. He wants the next generation of children to eat and enjoy the taste of Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken, from the elderly to the children. He also said its important for the restaurant to stay in Higashi-Ikebukuro and continue to make the noodles filled with the spirit of his master forever.
With that being said, I can only wonder how difficult it has been to fit in Yamagishi’s shoes. Of course, no one can replace or even replicate the “God of Ramen” but Yamagishi chose Inno as his successor and that means a lot. Granted, a few of the hundred plus apprentice that studied under Yamagishi throughout different decades may not agree but he chose Yamagishi and wanted him to continue a Taishoken in Higashi-Ikebukuro and it’s all good.
I am rooting for Iino and want to see his restaurant to become successful, as I do with all the other apprentice. But for this Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken, I want to see Yamagishi continuing in bringing awesome ramen and tsukemen.
Which leads me to my tsukemen, which I ordered with gyoza (pot stickers).
Master Iino’s tsukemen was delicious! The soup was also great, as with the chashu. As I dipped the tsukemen into my bowl and ate, I was just thinking of how delicious this soup was and how delicious the noodles were. This was no doubt my best experience at any Taishoken by far.
The gyoza was exceptional and they were freshly made right in front of me. I was also amazed by the size, after experiencing Ippudo’s super small gyoza. I was happy these gyoza were much bigger.
But for the most part, I felt that Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken is the best Taishoken restaurant I have ate at so far.
If you are in Ikebukuro, take the train to Higashi-Ikebukuro and definitely experience Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken’s ramen or tsukemen. I highly recommend it!
