Friday, September 5, 2014

BASSANOVA (Tokyo, Setagaya-ku)

BASSANOVA
ばさのば

Green curry ramen: 18 / 20
(グリーンカレーソバ)

Tonkotsu-gyokai ramen: 17 / 20
(豚濁ソバ)

BASSANOVA is something of a fame among ramen lovers, as this is the place where Keizo from 'Go Ramen!' has been working for some time. I had been in BASSANOVA during my one-month stay in Tokyo, and it was my firm intention to come back there to try their green cury ramen. Thus, a visit at Shimokitazawa was the perfect occasion to complete my discovery of this great ramen shop. I ordered the green curry ramen:


Broth: A very smooth and creamy, quite spicy green curry broth. Divine.

Noodles: Curly, katame in a curious way - not really elastic, they break into small pieces when you bite them. It’s an interesting change though.

Meat: A couple of marinated chicken pieces, quite good, with a very pleasantly flavored skin.

Toppings: Some negi and hot chili, and probably the longest menma I’ve ever seen - a kind of small, branching menma tree!
 
My friend had the tonkotsu gyokai ramen (the top left choice on the machine, as I remember):


Broth: A mix of fish and pork, quite good, thinner than - and overall quite different from - the classical tonkotsu gyokai you would find out there.

Noodles: Typical tonkotsu-style noodles, thin and long, they become quickly too soft for my taste though.

Meat: A delightful slice of chashu, braised, with some crunchy fat - so not melting, but excellent though.

Toppings: The menma, crunchy and mild, were also quite different from the one you can find in the green curry ramen.

Both bowls were excellent, but my personal preference goes to the green curry - I’m partial to Thai food, so having it skillfully adapted to ramen was a great experience (even if the chashu in my friend's bowl was a bit more to my taste than the chicken meat of the green curry ramen). This is a much better experience than any curry ramen I've ever tried (I’m not a big fan of japanese curry, I must say). Interestingly, the green curry broth has the same base as the tonkotsu gyokai broth, with some added nampura (fermented fish) sauce - and, obviously, green curry paste. The cook was extremely friendly and I appreciated that he took so much time to answer my questions.

At just one station from the hip area of Shimokitazawa, it would be a mistake not to run there. Another one on my Tokyo's top 10!

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Go Ramen!, Ramen Adventures, Etaku.

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