Good Ramen: Ijinkan

Before I came to Japan, I was tricked into thinking those 20 for $1 packets of dried instant ramen noodles were real ramen--I didn't know any better. Besides, in America ramen isn't part of the international food craze, like pizza or sushi. Americans don't often say "Oh man, I know this great little ramen place..." nope, ramen is something that has remained on the bottom shelves of grocery stores nationwide known only as a cheap meal, and has never really found its way into our hearts. Bottom line: Americans don't take ramen seriously. Well, the Japanese do. I have yet to find a main street, or busy shopping area without a ramen restaurant. As a matter of fact, I currently live within a 5-10 minute walk of 2 ramen shops right now. Though ramen is a Chinese food, the Japanese have developed quite a liking to it, and have adopted it as their own, only of course, after tweaking it slightly. For the record, there are a few different types of ramen: salt, pork bone, and soy sauce being among the most popular. Most Chinese restaurants I've been to serve the clear-broth salt version as a standard, while many ramen shops in Japan give you a few different styles to choose from, most of which seem to be of the cloudier pork bone variety. As it happens, I absolutely love the popular Japanese pork-bone ramen. I've tried ramen in countless restaurants, more times than I care to say, and I haven't been disappointed once. For the most part I think its safe to say that all ramen is really good here. But there is one place that I've found to reign supreme: Ijinkan. The broth is the best I've come by so far: just the right amount of cloudiness and salt combined with the small ringlets of fat floating under and around a heap of beansprouts, bamboo shoots and onion is heavenly. Ijinkan, like many ramen shops in Japan has bar-style seating in which customers just sit and eat at a counter. Ramen shops often seem to radiate a fast-food type atmosphere, though not quite like McDonald's, you can often get in and out in under 30 minutes or less depending on how fast you can slurp those noodles (yes, slurping your noodles is THE way to eat ramen in Japan). Ijinkan is no exception: cheap, quick food that tastes great. Once you enter, you can choose a seat at the counter, or opt for their extra seating in the back of the restaurant. Water is brought automatically, and you can help yourself from pitchers located on the counters and tables (also a common in many ramen shops). After choosing your type of ramen, usually consisting of different toppings as well as broths, you can raise your hand and say "Sumimasen!" ("Excuse me!") or press the bell to get their attention. Yes, I said bell. In many restaurants in Japan, you can often find a bell with which to call a server located right on your table. It usually makes a cute little doorbell sound when you press it too. Ijinken has multiple locations, one of which is in Sakae, downtown Nagoya, at the south end of the LaChic building.