Ramen Shichisai Hanten

Ramen Shichisai Hanten is a new ramen shop concept fully produced by Menya Shichisai, a super famous restaurant in Hacchobori, Tokyo, located in Yaesu Underground Shopping Mall "Yaechika" Yaesu Underground Street No. 2, Tokyo Station. The main branch, Menya Shichisai, is a regular on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list and Tabelog's Top 100 Ramen Shops, known for its unconventional style of kneading, cutting, and boiling noodles only after an order is placed. Inheriting the brand of the main branch, this sister shop opened in 2023 as a more casual dining option directly connected to Tokyo Station's Yaechika, earning a high rating in Tabelog's TOP5000. The signature dish is "Kitakata Ramen" (1,000 yen), available with a choice of three soups: soy sauce, salt, or dried sardine (niboshi). The noodles are hand-kneaded, flat, medium-thick, wavy, multi-hydration noodles, made to order, blending domestic wheat varieties such as "Haru yo Koi," "Kitahonami," and "Yumechikara" with "Mochihime" mochi wheat as the base. It's a unique evolutionary form, often described as "NEO Kitakata Ramen," differing from authentic Kitakata Ramen, offering a delightful double texture of chewiness and slipperiness that generously carries the soup. The clear, light-bodied soup, prepared with a double broth of animal and seafood ingredients, is additive-free and characterized by a rich yet mellow soy sauce flavor. The presence of two types of chashu (chicken and pork), with a default of four slices, is a welcome topping. Popular sub-menus include "Aburasoba" (oil noodles) in three varieties (soy sauce, salt, or dried sardine), "Special Niboshi Aburasoba," and the shop's hidden gem, "Spicy Tsukemen" (1,100 yen). The Spicy Tsukemen is a unique dish inspired by Ogikubo's "Maruchō," a junk-food-style bowl that stimulates the palate without unifying its elements: crunchy black pepper so intense it grates when slurped with a spoon, the numbness of sansho pepper, and a sweet and spicy rich sauce with heavy oil. As the name "Hanten" (Chinese restaurant) suggests, side dishes like "Yakimeshi" (fried rice) (half size / regular size) are also popular, prepared piping hot in a wok with each order. The half yakimeshi with an egg yolk on top is said to be even more delicious when dipped halfway into the ramen soup before eating.