Initially, Kavita and I came for Fuunji’s renowned tsukemen, a plate of noodles with a small bowl of thick sauce for dipping. Then my complete lack of any Japanese language whatsoever finally became an issue when neither of the tickets that I chose from the vending machine turned out to be tsukemen. Oops?
But at Fuunji, it didn’t really matter. The house special ramen was phenomenal, with a mindnumbing depth of fishy, brothy richness. Topped with a generous dose of chopped scallions, the bowl arrived steaming hot with a few fatty slices of pork and crunchy bamboo shoots, as well as an oil-sheened egg. I churned the noodles a bit, took one slurp-bite, and literally did not look up until I was finished.
Unlike the thin, hard-cooked noodles that came with the shoyu ramen at Afuri, these noodles were springy and heavy, soaking up the broth. The egg was also a must-have, delectably salty, yet light by comparison to the rest of the fish-infused bowl.
Fuunji (風雲児) Hokuto first 2-14-3 1F, Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
