Higashiikebukuro Taishoken

Worth hoofing over if you're in ikebukuro. They invented tsukkemen here, and the broth is awesome. The new shop is a lot less crowded than the old place, and has sit down tables for larger groups. They opened a shop in San Mateo, ca but from what i heard they actually prepared their noodles differently there so it would be nice to do a comparison (i don't have the patience to line up in the San Mateo shop).

Since Anthony Bourdain did a show around this place, it must be good, right? No, discovered this is not my kinds of ramen. The soup was too sweet for my taste bud, but they do give you lots of noodles.This place was hard to find, it's in the middle of no where.

Came highly recommended from a ramen connoisseur. The Tsukemen and giant Gyoza were excellent!

Average bowl here costs more than usual... because the portions are gigantic. The gyoza looked like they were twice the standard size and I foolishly upsized my noodles without realizing that I'd gone from 320 grams to 480. Madness. The largest bowl is 640 grams, which I don't even want to think about. Also worth noting that the pork is cut thick so the texture is tougher than I'd like.

Came here on a Sunday afternoon and it was pretty chill. You order when you first get in. We ordered the special with all the toppings and honestly if you’re here with two people only order one special and share— it’s huge. Most people seemed to order the original with gyoza and it was enough. We ordered two big ones and it was WAY TO MUCH FOOD. It felt bad that we left only eating half or so. Put the money into the machine, select your meal and press the square button at the bottom to finish.So much food. The broth was really nice. I would’ve loved to try the miso broth.I’ll defn come back!

Awesome place for some dipping noodles. The location could be a bit tricky to find because Google maps seems to bring you to the back of the restaurant. And yes, the restaurant is underneath a highway. Food is ordered through a machine that gives you a ticket and there is a sheet with all of the menu items on the vending machine in English provided. And be aware that there is usually a line to sit down, but you can watch the chefs work while waiting. The noodles are the right chewiness and they provide a lot of broth to dip in. I also recommend ordering the gyozas.

long line to wait (maybe because couples & families with children also come here to eat)Gyoza is so BIG hence the price. Tsukemen soup is oily, but strangely I was fine drinking their cold water while eating it. Soup flavor was not bad & had a big slice of chashu hidden inside the soup. No tissue on the table so either find the tissue box beside the water dispenser or bring your own tissue.. (you can ask staff for paper apron though)

Friendly service, they don't speak English but they were nice enoughBoth of our ramen came out cold, not sure if this was intended. Looked around and it seemed like it was the case for the people around too. Which was a shame cause the broth did have a really good flavour.The portions are HUGE. See picture.Overall I'd say if you need a quick bite and are in a hurry and for some reason you are in the area, then go for it. Otherwise there are better options around.