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.
I have reviewed Taishoken restaurants, including the one located in Higashi-Ikebukuro, but I wanted to try the Taishoken Maruichi Shibuya restaurant.
It’s important to note that while there is infighting between the former apprentices trained by Yamagishi (especially who would be his successor), I rather not get into the politics on this blog post but you can read it here and here. I understand it but I’m not picking sides. But one thing that is known, those who were trained by Yamagishi, learned a lot to open their own ramen restaurant and remain successful with it.
So, what is Taishoken Maruichi Shibuya?
What we know is that this restaurant is ran by Yamagishi Kazuo’s last apprentice who worked at the Higashi-Ikebukuro restaurant and this master’s name, I have no idea because it’s not publicized anywhere
But Taishoken Maruichi Shibuya restaurant specializes in homemade extreme tsukemen and their ramen with rich soup.
The master started his first restaurant in Akabane in 2007 and went on to create a total of five restaurants in Tokyo (Shibuya, Shinjuku East South Exit, Akabane, Nishiogikubo and West Ikebukuro).
The company that owns the restaurant is Egoipse Co. Ltd., and Taishoken Maruichi is a trademarked registered name. And the representative director is Hayashi Yozo.
How to order?
For ordering, like most places, it’s done via ticket machine. I recommend having Google Translate if you can’t read Japanese, if you are unable to read Japanese and take a picture to translate (or select camera mode).
But the top portion is tsukemen (Y790), ramen (Y790), vegetable ramen (Y940) or special ramen (Y1250). The second row is “popular menu” such as Miso Tsukemen (Y880), salt tsukemen (Y830), curry tsukemen (Y890) and maze soba (Y790) [Please note: Prices may have changed since the post of this article].
The bottom portion is “Recommended Menu” such as “Kara Tsukemen or ramen” (Y890), White Onion Tsukemen or Ramen (Y940) and Toro char siu tsukemen (Y1090).
Boiled egg is Y100, vegetables is Y150, gyoza is Y690, etc. Please note: Char Siu is Chinese BBQ pork.
But I ordered the “Special Tsukemen” for Y1,250.
Eating
Eating at Taishoken Maruichi Shibuya, it is booth-based. And like all ramen or tsukemen shops in Japan, not a place to sit and chat with friends. You pay, you eat and value the food and leave.
You have a pitcher of water and they will give you a cup (you can order beer for Y500 or lemon sour for Y350, oolong tea for Y350 or soda for Y200. And menu is set, in case you need to order more or plan your next eating adventure at the restaurant.
I ordered the tsukemen, which I love and it’s very tasty. While the char siu was OK (I have had better elsewhere), but the broth was wonderful and the tsukemen was a very good. Everything about it was delicious.
The soup broth is made from pork bones, chicken bones and possibly seafood soyu (I read sardines but I can’t say that is definitely fact). Noodles are thick but once combined with the soup, it is absolutely delicious. But I tend to compare with the original Higashi-Ikebukuro, which I am quite biased towards and I like the original much better.
But for the most part, Taishoken Maruichi Shibuya is very good, but in some ways, different from other Taishoken restaurants. But it’s good to have a Taishoken restaurant not far from Shibuya Scramble.
