Fuunji, not far from the Shinjuku Train Station, has been on the radar of many ramen fanatic and still continues to be immensely popular since their opening in 2007.

Tsukemen (つけ麺) – also known as “dipping ramen” is a Japanese ramen dish, eaten after the noodles are dipped in a separate bowl of thick miso or shoyu broth. With Tsukemen, the noodles are usually chewier and thicker than ramen noodles and served cold with a separate bowl of hot broth that’s usually stronger in flavor compared to the standard ramen broth.

Due to their popularity, there is usually a line forming outside the restaurant (especially during peak lunch/dinner hours). It does move fairly quick though, as most diners are quick to slurp down the delicious bowl of ramen rather than to sit and chat. As you enter the restaurant, you’ll need to order your ramen from the ticket machine. There are two types of ramen on their menu – the regular Japanese ramen with soup and the tsukemen, dipping ramen. Both options comes with a choice to make it “special” which basically means it’ll come with an egg and char siu. All the ramen comes with dried seaweed, menma bamboo shoots, green onions, but there are also choices to add extra of the above toppings for 100 – 200 yen each, which seems fairly reasonable.

After picking up your tickets for your ramen from the ticket machine, there’s still a queue to be seated, which took about 10-15 minutes for us. The small ramen shop is relatively cozy, with only about 15 bar seats within the whole store. You can see how organized everyone in the kitchen works as the workers focus mainly on their own tasks.

We chose the Special Ramen and the Special Tsukemen because we wanted to try both the regular and the dipping. Once you’re close to the front of the line, they’ll take your ticket and ask if you want small, medium or large portion of noodles. We opted for small and medium serving of noodles so we can save belly space for dessert afterwards.

It didn’t take long for them to serve our Special Ramen. I almost wish we had this to begin with. We were left with such a strong aftertaste from the dipping ramen, that it almost drowned out the taste of the Special Ramen soup. It is understandable though, as Fuunji is more known for their Tsukemen than the Japanese Ramen. I would turn elsewhere if you’re seeking the typical soy or miso ramen.

After finishing the noodles, you can dilute the dipping broth with diluted dashi stock they provide with you on the counter and drink the remaining broth just like soup.