Naritake Ikebukuro

If you’re looking for an intense, large bowl of fatty ramen, this is your place. The taste is delicious, but very strong. I went with the spicy version, and while not very spicy, it was enough to tickle the senses. The gyoza was quite good as other reviews have said. Be ready for an oily bowl of noodles, with fast and friendly service. Prices are similar to other ramen shops.

- Alright Food Reviews -

First time having fatty, creamy kotteri style ramen. This particular kotteri is paitan style where they use chicken broth mixed with pork fat. You actually choose the amount of fat you want (S, M, L). On top they serve chashu, ajitama and other traditional ramen toppings. It was delicious! My family of 4 loved it. Just beware this is a special type of ramen, not your typical flavor, so as some reviewers noted, it can seem too salty or fatty or rich in general for their tastes. We did not think it was too salty, but it was very rich, like an even creamier tonkotsu. Naritake has a handful of shops in Japan and even one in Paris. The Ikebukuro shop is small but inviting with a very friendly head chef. He was very kind and helpful to us foreigners. He suggested a L amount of fat was too much for our first time for us to handle, so we should do M or S, and he was right . ごちそうさまでした！

- Joey FLORIDA -

池袋にあるなりたけへ訪問。本店は津田沼らしい。 土曜の昼に訪問し、空席は2席ほど。 店を出る頃には外待ち3名ほど。 注文はしょうゆらーめん900円。背脂は普通。 スープは濃厚とホームページでは謳っていたが、意外とあっさり。豚ゲンコツ、鶏ガラなどですっきり。そこに背脂の甘みがあり、濃厚感もある。よくある白湯系スープの濃厚とは意味合いが違う。 もやしのデフォトッピングはこのラーメンと合っていてうまい。チャーシューは良い感じの煮豚のとろける脂身がうまい。 麺は香りとモチっとした中太麺が癖になる。 スープの塩味が前回来た時には合ったので、今回は弱めでスープもゴクゴクいける。塩味が強い時は麺がうまく感じた。 流石老舗ということで納得のうまさだった。パンチが効きすぎないこの手のラーメンは飽きずに食べられて好きだ。

- たかやん -