If you ask any Tokyo local what the spiciest ramen shop is in Tokyo, you are likely to hear Kikanbo as your answer. Ramen might not be what you typically associate as being a spicy dish, but Kikanbo's spicy ramen specialties has Japanese lining up throughout the day. Since their signature dish is a Karashibi Miso Ramen (味噌ラーメン, Miso Rāmen), you can choose how spicy and how much shibikara (シビから, Numbing Spiciness) you want the dish to be. As a tip, you can tune both of these down to Level 0, and the base miso ramen without any spiciness still tastes sublime. Kikanbo is a must-visit if you want to challenge your spicy tolerance levels, or to just get a good bowl of miso ramen in Tokyo.
Kikanbo Kanda Honten's Unique Points (こだわり, Kodawari)
Kikanbo's motto is "a spicy and numbing miso ramen that delights the five senses". Using their own original blend of miso (味噌) to make a thick and rich soup, they mix it together with a range of togarashi (唐辛子, Tōgarashi, Chili Pepper) and spices, to create a soup that is fragrant, spicy, and numbing. They aim to live up to the name of being the "golden club" (金棒, kinbō) of a demon (鬼, oni) in Japanese mythology with its deep spiciness, and unique shibikara (シビから, Numbing Spiciness) tastes mixed together to create a powerful stimulating taste that will leave a mark on your memory.
The shop itself is also a part of "delighting the five senses", as the decor is filled with imagery of oni, and the loud beating of taiko (太鼓, Drum), with a lively open-kitchen concept where you can see pillars of flame light up in front of you as the smell of spices fills the air.
There are three types of custom-made noodles that are carefully matched to the kind of dish that you order, in order to maximise the taste and spice of it.
The miso (味噌) is a Shinshu (信州, Shinshū) miso that has been fermented in a natural wooden barrel that's been used for fermentation for around a 100 years. This miso is then mixed together with cheese, peanut paste, fish sauce, spices, and seasonings, and then kneaded together multiple times in order to get a rich and umami (旨味, Savoriness)-filled miso paste.
The spiciness of the ramen is not just a single-note, but comes from many different types of togarashi (唐辛子, Tōgarashi, Chili Pepper) that have been blended together to provide a multitude of tastes like sourness, sweetness, bitterness, spiciness, and fragrance. The highest grade Budō Sansho (山椒, Sanshō, Japanese pepper) from Wakayama Prefecture (和歌山県, Wakayama-ken) and Sichuan kasho (花しょ, Sichuan Pepper) is mixed together and roasted over a low heat, in order to produce a fragrant and rich numbing oil for the shibikara (シビから, Numbing Spiciness).
For the soup, tonkotsu (豚骨, Pork bones), chicken bones, and a variety of different vegatables and seasonings are boiled together and stirred over 10 hours to create a rich meat-based soup, that is then mixed together with a seafood based soup to produce a "double-taste soup". Cooked to order, vegetables, the original blend of miso (味噌), and togarashi (唐辛子, Tōgarashi, Chili Pepper) are stir-fried at a high heat over the wok, before being mixed together with the soup and served freshly-cooked.
Lastly, the bowl is topped with moyashi (もやし, Beansprouts) stir-fried over a high heat, that brings out the fragrance even further. The chashu (チャシュウ, Chashū, Roasted Pork) uses kakuni (角煮, Braised Pork Belly) that is marinated with a sweet tare (たれ, Sauce) in order to serve as an "oasis" or a respite from the spiciness and numbingness of the broth. Lastly, young corn is added atop due to its likeliness to a demon's club.
Kikanbo Kanda Honten Review and Thoughts
Recommended
Kikanbo is one of those ramen restaurants that hits you with a deep and rich soup that overwhelms your tastebuds. It's the true embodiment of the kotteri (こってり, Rich)-style of ramen, with an extremely rich and flavourful soup, as well as the insane levels of spiciness and numbness. If you're looking for a rich and hearty miso ramen (味噌ラーメン, Miso Rāmen) then this is it. It's no wonder that you often find long queues at all of their branches throughout the day, and it's truly a shop worth queueing for.
Since the spiciness and numbness levels can be configured, it caters to both spice lovers and those who can't eat spicy food. For the spice lovers, you can choose between low to high, or top up ¥200 for the demon level of spiciness or numbness. For the non-spicy eaters, you can choose "None" for both spiciness and numbness.
Personally, we love both the spicy and non-spicy versions. For the spicy version, the "high" level for spicy and numbness really hits the right spot, and has the right level of being just tolerable, and also "my tongue is on fire" hot. If you've been lamenting how un-spicy Japanese food is, well Kikanbo is here to change your mind. For the non-spicy version, we love it as a great bowl of miso ramen, with a very rich and flavourful broth, together with a delicious piece of chashu on top. Every sip of the soup is nice and rice, and the noodles are nice and chewy.
Kikanbo really lives up to its name of being a demon's golden club, because each sip of that spicy soup really makes you feel like you're being hit by a demon's golden club. The spicy version of the ramen is truly not for the faint of heart, but even if you're dying, Kikanbo is nice enough to provide a cold water tap at each seat.
Kikanbo Kanda Honten's Story
Kikanbo was created by three friends with the idea of creating a bowl of noodles that customers would "want to tell others about" (人に伝えたくなる, hito ni tsutaetakunaru) and "delight the five senses" (五感で楽しめる, gokan de tanoshimeru). During their research stage, they looked into all sorts of spices that would make a big impact, and the one that stood out the most was sansho (山椒, Sanshō, Japanese pepper). It had a unique fragrance and a numbing effect that made the imapct they were looking for, and combined perfectly with togarashi (唐辛子, Tōgarashi, Chili Pepper) to reach the "spicy and numbing" (カラシビ, kara-shibi) concept that made the foundation for Kikanbo. Then as they worked towards the opening night, each night they would stay glued to the television for inspiration, and continue working away at developing their ramen. A small mishap during R&D led to the birth of the Karashibi Miso Ramen, and so that turned out to be a happy accident. With that discovery, Kikanbo finally opened its doors in September 2009.
Kikanbo Kanda Honten Menu Recommendations
味玉カラシビ味噌らー麺
Ajitama Karashibi Miso Ramen
¥1,150
The signature version of the Shibikara Miso Ramen with an ajitama (味玉) on top.
Getting to Kikanbo Kanda Honten
From
神田駅
Kanda Station
G
13
銀座線
Ginza Line
JY
02
JR山手線
JR Yamanote Line
JK
27
京浜東北線
Keihin-Tōhoku Line
JC
02
中央線快速
JR Chūo Line (Rapid)
Take Exit 3
Walk
2 mins
150m
Take East Exit
Walk
4 mins
280m
東京
Tokyo
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