Musashiya

A popular lunch place for «Salaryman» in Shimbashi office district that is famous for Naporitan.
Naporitan or Napolitan is Japanized Italian spagetti.
It is basically ketchup flavored pasta. For most of the foreigners unfamiliar with Japanese «yoshoku» (Japanese version of Western food), you might be puzzled why people love this food. In Japan, there are numerous Italian restaurants serving high quality pasta. The battle to serve quality pasta in Tokyo might be more fierce than Rome.
Why then, do people wait in a line to eat this «Napritan»?
Well, people crave for this nostalgic flavor. Comfort food we enjoyed as a child. Acquired taste of «Showa» period. Although they give you a fork, some customer prefer to use chopsticks to eat their spaghetti. As a side item, they actually give you a miso soup for free! Miso soup with pasta? That is Yoshoku culture.
LINE: Don’t get discourage by the line. It moves quickly. BUT, be prepared! They will ask you to place an order BEFORE you get a seat. Average dining time per person in 10 minutes, so you sit, you eat, then go!
Note that you pay as you sit before you eat.
VERDICT: So some may think that I am giving a harsh score of 3 stars to this famous shop. Some may argue that Tomo usually eats at expensive restaurants, thus do not appreciate «B-​Kyu Gourmet» (budget gourmet food). That is a wrong assumption. I love B-​Kyu Gourmet, but I honestly did not think that Musashiya’s Naporitan was anything special. Yes, I will admit that the portion was huge! You won’t go home hungry. However, I found this to be an issue. I became tired of the taste ½ in to the meal. I wanted something different.
Perhaps next time, I will order «Omu-​rice», which actually comes with Naporitan on the side! That is so much better than eating a mountain full of Naporitan.
But the fact that the taste of Naporitan was «average» is still the case. I felt that I could personally cook a better tasting Naporitan in my kitchen.
Cost:
Naporitan — 650 Yen