Tokyo Japan Akihabara Tanaka Ramen

Tanaka Ramen is a restaurant that serves chuuka soba. Located on the edge of Akihabara, near exit 3 of Suehirocho station.

I’ve been here a few times as a local, and it has usually been not so crowded. The most i’ve waited is maybe 5-10 minutes. The store front looks clean and the warm tone lights are welcoming, a staff will come out to take your ticket after ordering from the ticket machine. This store is pretty English friendly, the menu and information panels have English on them. You don’t really need to talk with the staff, they’ll take your order, seat you, and then serve you the food.

You can use cash or IC card here, which is somewhat rare for this type of ticket machine. The IC option is much appreciated, as it lets you buy the ticket faster. I usually order just the regular Chuuka Soba, which is currently the 850 yen option in the image below.

As prices have been rising recently in Tokyo, I would say that this place is pretty affordable. Their regular ramen portion sizes is pretty filling. They also have rice dishes on the menu, but I have not tried them yet.

This ramen comes with 3 fatty slices of chashu, seasoned bamboo shoots, and spring onion toppings. The soup is salt based, and the noodles have normal thickness. A fair warning, the noodles come extremely hot, and they take awhile to cool down. Since there is very little fat in the overall ingredients, you won’t feel bloated or disgusting after your meal here. For me, I think the portion size is perfect, as it leaves me filling full but not bloated or hungry.

They have a free special condiment called Shantou, and it is a bit spicy. I think the after-taste is pretty nice, I would recommend trying it only in the winter though.

My friend I was with one time ordered the Niku Soba, which is just the normal Chuuka Soba, but with more chashu slices.

The restaurant is located in a pretty good location, next to Suehirocho exit 3, or a short walk from JR Akihabara. It’s on the edge of Akihabara, so it shouldn’t be super crowded like the main road.

I’ll be updating this post as I try out more of their menu.