Teuchi Mensai Kamei (手打麺祭 かめ囲) is Tokyo's hottest new ramen shop. Think delicious soup, handmade noodles, and beautiful toppings. Their ramen is the real deal.
Teuchi Mensai Kamei - Prodigy Kid
The masterchef at Kamei is somewhat of a ramen prodigy. He's only 24 years old! His ramen journey began 6 years ago, when he started working at well-respected Tokyo ramen shop Miyamoto.
At Miyamoto, he'd serve his ramen creations on days when they'd normally be closed. He eventually saved enough money to open Teuchi Mensai Kamei in 2021. Today, Kamei is part of Tabelog's Top 100 Tokyo ramen shop list. In short, he made it.
Let's see what all the fuss is about!
Stellar Shoyu Ramen
The top seller at Kamei is a shoyu (soy sauce) seasoned chuukasoba (ramen). The shoyu base is fairly bold, with lush flavors coming from chicken, duck, pork, and dried fish in the soup. In this meaty medley it's the chicken flavors that stand out most.
This is partially thanks to a sprinkling of chiyu (chicken oil).
Furthermore, they use three types of chicken in the soup. They include the high-grade Kurosatsuma (from Kagoshima) and Shonan (from Odawara) breeds.
They even prepare the soup with pi water. The drinking water for customers is also pi water!
The pictured shoyu chuukasoba is with all toppings. The big-sized toppings are a fun contrast to the relatively delicate soup. For example, there's brick-like menma (bamboo shoots) and hefty slices of grilled pork loin and slow cooked duck.
The green wrapper pork dumplings are exceptionally good. The same could be said for the noodles. They're thick, bouncy, hand-pressed, AND hand cut.
Rested a whole day, they have lot of water in them too (58% hydration). For these noodles they blend udon flour (Mensai), medium strength wheat flour from Australia, and pastry flour (Kame tokujo).
You can tell they spend a lot of time on them. This is evident by the dedicated noodle space inside.
Amazing Abura Soba
There's no doubt that the above shoyu ramen is outstanding. But this next ramen might edge it out. It's an abura soba, or soupless ramen. In place of soup is a thick oil. Normally abura soba oil is pork grease.
But at Kamei they use chicken oil from the same Kurosatsuma breed of chicken. It delivers a buttery rich flavor. Compared to pork grease, it tastes cleaner and even more elegant. This chicken oil is mixed with a sweet-tasting shoyu (soy sauce) for flavor.
The abura soba also comes with a side of iriko (dried fish) soup.
The abura soba pictured is also with all toppings. The biggest difference vs the shoyu ramen is the extra thick slab of pork steak. This is a tasty highlight. In addition to the soft-boiled egg, there's egg yolk (the "Maximum Koi" egg brand). It's as rich as Croesus.
The same thick noodles will put a big smile on your face.
A New Sheriff in Chofu
Teuchi Mensai Kamei, in its emerald green awesomeness, has made a colorful impression since opening in 2021. Do expect to wait. But the line isn't as long it could be.
This could be due to the fact that they're in Chofu (West Tokyo). Chofu is about a 30 minute train ride from Shibuya. But if you make the hike, you won't be disappointed.
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