Hirudora

Which is more exciting, a new shop by new people, or a new shop by people you know you love? The people behind Junk Story and Men to Kokoro 7 opened a new shop in convenient Niponbashi: Hirudora. Hirudora stands for "lunch dragon" or some similar pun if that helps it make more sense. The dragon part I assume refers to the style of ramen - red, spicy miso. As with any good Japanese spicy restaurant, they let you choose your level of spice. At level five it starts to cost my money, so I low-balled it with level three.

全く情報がない新しい店か、好きな店の新しい姉妹店、どっちが盛り上がりますか？Junk Storyと麺と心７を作った人によって便利な日本橋で「ひるドラ」という店ができました。名前は面白いですけど、「ドラ」を見るとドラゴンのファイアを指しているかなと思っていました。ラーメンはそれっぽく辛口味噌です。辛さが選べて、５辛からちょっとお金がかかるので、３辛にしてみました。

Well if it isn't some congratulations flowers from Tori Soba Zagin.

鶏soba 座銀からの花です。

The Bowl
What do you have to put in the soup to make it that red? The answer, I infer from the flavors, is lots of ra-yu and red pepper. The abundance of garlic helps draw out the flavors of the soup, too, which ends up tasting a bit like Korean ramyun. Underneath all this, the miso is secondary. The noodles were square and thick, and were good and pulling out the essence of the flavor, while leaving a lot of the spice and oil behind. There were chewy pieces of sliced pork that added some nice texture, and a fatty and flavorful cut of chashu.

真っ赤。ほんまに真っ赤。味見したかぎりラー油と一味がめちゃくちゃ入っていました。ニンニクもスープノ味を引き出しました。韓国のラーミュンにちょっと似ていました。味噌の味もちょっとしました。麺は四角くて太かったので、油抜きの風味が出てきました。食感がいい豚バラと濃いチャーシューの一枚も乗っていました。

Would I Go Again?
This was the weakest of the three shops, which means I still wouldn't mind going again.

姉妹店の方が好きですけど、やっぱりまた行ってみたいです。

Should You Go?
Anyone looking for some spice should stop by, but if you're not into that, this place is not for you.

「辛いから食べたい！」という人は行ったらいいです。

Information
ひるドラ