Ramen Tajima

The chicken broth uses Daisen Chicken from Mount Daisen (大山, Daisen) in Tottori Prefecture (鳥取県, Tottori-ken). Due to the clean air of Mount Daisen and the fresh underground natural water springs, it is said that this high-quality chicken meat has a unique sweetness to it. The soup broth then takes that sweetness and chicken fragrance and concentrates it to bring out the umami (旨味, Savoriness) of the soup.

For their niboshi (煮干し, Dried Sardines) broth, they use a variety of different types of fish for the niboshi broth depending on what is in season. A number of the seasonal niboshi are then blended together for the soup, meaning that the taste of the soup actually changes from season to season

For the noodles, whole wheat flour is used in order to bring out the flavour of the noodles. A variety of different kinds of wheat are also blended together in order to produce noodles with the right texture, chewiness, smoothness and balance.

For their tsukemen (つけ麺, Dipping noodles), the noodles are covered in konbu (昆布, Kelp) water, which is said to have attributes good for weight loss, reducing high blood pressure, increasing natural immunity, and many other types of healthy effects.

For the chashu (チャシュウ, Chashū, Roasted Pork), pork shoulder meat is slow-roasted over a low temperature for a long period of time to give a final colour that is pink, yet soft and tender.

Ramen Tajima is a rather new entrant in the Shibuya ramen scene, offering a decent bowl of shoyu ramen (醤油ラーメン, Shōyu Rāmen, Soy Sauce Ramen). While the shop makes a big focus on the Daisen Chicken used in their broth, it doesn't really come out as much in the actual taste of the soup. Although we gave it a 2 of 5, it is by no means a bad ramen, it would rank slightly above the average. However, as shoyu ramen lovers, we've also had far better shoyu ramen than the ones at Ramen Tajima, and so that earns it a bit of a lower grade. Especially since when you get around to it, the soup itself is nothing special, and in fact, comes across as kind of bland at times. There's just no wow factor to the bowl of noodles, nor is there any reason for a repeat visit. It is definitely a solid bowl of ramen no doubt, but it also fades into the immense competition in Tokyo. That being said, if you're a foreigner and you haven't had a good shoyu ramen in Japan before, Ramen Tajima would be a decent first shop to give a try to.

So it's a good option if you're looking for something light around the Shibuya area, but if you're looking for the Best Shoyu Ramen in Tokyo, then this isn't it. Honestly, if you're in the area, and you don't mind traveling a bit, Kuramu (貝出汁中華そば くらむ, Kai Dashi Chūka Soba Kuramu) has a pretty mindblowing broth.