Aoshima Shokudo Akihabara

This is literally my favorite ramen shop in the world.

My husband and I recently took a trip to Japan, at the recommendation of our brother-​in-​law we decided to check out this ramen place. At the time we had no clue what this place was called and only referred to this yummy spot as the ramen spot southeast of the Akihabara Station next to a playground. Ummm, yea. Anyway, my instincts suggested to take a shot and look to see if there were any ramen spots within the area that had a blue sign, who knows what it even says?!? Unilocal,thanks for coming thru even in Japan, a fellow Unilocaler posted a photo of the «blue» sign. Ramen with the locals can’t get any better than this. Place your order on the machine right when you enter the door, select different options without even really know what you’re ordering, you won’t be disappointed. Pay and the machine spits out a ticket, bring the ticket to the restaurant crew and you’re set. Enjoy!

This is a really excellent ramen shop a short walk away form Akibahara. My friend took me here, saying it was from a famous shop near her hometown of Niigata.
The shop is small, but clean and has a decent amount of room for waiting around. The counter probably only fits 10 or so people at a time. There are only two distinct options on the menu, with two sizes for each. My understand is that one is «some chasu» and the other was «more chasu», both having small and large sizes.
The bowl itself is rather simple, noodles, shoyu borth, green onion and chasu. Nothing too over the top, no eggs (that I saw?) and no spicy versions. Though the broth was _​very_​good and very rich. The chasu was really excellent, for the most part I’ve been loving the thin slices that are charred at most shops — but this style was more of a thinker cut and roasted. The chasu and the broth definitely pack a powerful punch.
The noodles where perfectly cooked. Not super thick, though not super thin. A nice middle ground on size and chewiness.
While most places in Tokyo tend to use at least some MSG, this place did use a bit more than I expected. It really was not _​that_​much, but for an American (where almost no place will us MSG) it might be a bit much. I’ve had plenty of food here where it was killed with MSG, though this place seemed to have a good balance… Though do be aware if you are not used to MSG.
Definitely a must have — especially as it appeared to be different tasting the the other ramens I’ve had.
On a random though, this was one of the more clean establishments I’ve been to in Tokyo. While cleanliness doesn’t really make me turn away from a place (who doesn’t love a good dive?) — I was impressed that this shop was so clean.