Fuunji

A narrow counter of fifteen seats, a few minutes from Shinjuku's south exit, and a queue outside it for most of the hours it is open. This is Fuunji's original shop, and it has been on Tokyo tsukemen lists for years. Tsukemen means the noodles and the broth arrive separately. Here the noodles are thick, cold and firm, and the dipping broth is a gyokai tonkotsu: pork and chicken bones cooked down and then loaded with dried sardine and bonito powder until it is closer to a paste than a soup. It is intensely savoury and it clings to the noodles rather than running off them. The standard order is the tokusei tsukemen, which adds extra chashu and a marinated egg. Finish the noodles, then ask for soup-wari. Staff top the remaining broth with light stock so you can drink it, and skipping this step wastes the best part of the meal. Practical things. Buy a ticket at the machine before joining the queue, which is the local rule and not obvious to first-timers. Expect thirty to sixty minutes at peak, less if you arrive right at opening or in the mid-afternoon before the evening service. The shop is open every day, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00, and closes early once the soup runs out. Portions are large and the default noodle amount defeats a lot of people. Bring cash: the ticket machine is how you order, and cards are not accepted. If the queue is beyond your patience, Fuunji has two more shops, in Tokyo Ramen Yokocho under Tokyo Station and near Yokohama Station, both open until 23:00. Shinjuku also has several hundred other ramen shops, though very few of them do this particular bowl as well.