Texas Tabelog

Ramen Kousagi Otsuka Ten (らーめん子うさぎ)
Japan, 〒170-0004 Tokyo, Toshima City, Kitaotsuka, 2 Chome−14−2 鈴矢ビル １０２
Tabelog: 3.62 Stars (445 Reviews)
Google: 4.3 Stars (425 Reviews)

Habibi-san’s rating:

Japan was exactly as advertised: efficient, ultramodern, and culturally homogenous. There are very few additional tidbits you learn “on the job” as a tourist, except maybe learning how to avoid another tourist’s tripod setup. Just watch the first five recommended Japan travel vlogs on YouTube and the ambiguously ethnic female influencers will tell you everything you need to know.

0:01 “Konnichiwa, my darlings! I just got ba—” *+ 30 seconds*

0:31 “—are ten you things you need to know befo—” *+ 60 seconds*

Mobile game advertisement skippable in 15 seconds

1:31 “Number two, hit up Ichiran for a late night sna—” *Closes YouTube*

Besides learning that Ichiran is basically a basterdized ramen chain catering to foreigners (this is a fairly controversial take by the way), most of the online advice can be boiled down to line up for the trains, avoid Tsukiji Market, and KEEP TO YOURSELF.

What they don’t tell you is that every elevator on Honshu instantly shuts when you push the close button, practically every hotel serves free alcohol, and that you shouldn’t tell the locals your favorite anime (Solo Leveling) if its main characters are Korean. That’s what you have me for, even though most of my advice is open container related (i.e., you can day drink in Yoyogi Park but probably shouldn’t in Hamarikyu Gardens).

While Japan has been on my travel bucket list for the majority of my life, it is hard to pinpoint the exact moment it cemented itself at the top. It may have been while watching Anthony Bourdain’s trip to the Samurai Bar in Shinjuku, or courting my future wife with cream pan at the local Japanese bakery. Maybe it was eating Kroger sushi for the first time; the point is I don’t know. But, I am certain that a major contributing factor was hearing Nujabes for the first time.

For that, I will have to thank my middle school Latin teacher. An accomplished scholar and linguist, he would often speak freely about art, music, and his progress to becoming fluent in Elvish. During one academically punitive trip to his office, he casually played “Feather” from Modal Soul, Nujabes’ second studio album. While playing a recently deceased Japanese producer’s music may have been his way of connecting with all his students, I choose to believe he played that specifically for me. The cacophony of throaty bass chords, pop cultural ad libs, and most importantly, a scratch DJ, struck me deep.

Tourists worldwide often visit Japan to honor Nujabes’ legacy. That is why you will see a mountain of Nujabes credited records on the sixth floor of Tower Records Shibuya and random merchandise pop ups close to the Pokemon Center. Most of the merchandise brandish characters from the series which made him famous, Samurai Champloo, an anime fusing ancient feudalism and hip hop culture.

Another way tourists choose to feel connected to Nujabes’ music is by visiting his brother’s ramen shop in Shibuya, Usagi (うさぎ) AKA “Rabbit”. And, his little brother might be a ramen genius. Known for his truffle shoyu ramen and tantanmen, I genuinely believe Usagi (うさぎ) would have been popular even without his familial relation to a local legend.

I am still honestly unsure how well Nujabes is received by the Japanese public. For one, Nujabes chose English speaking vocalists to rap over his beats. Also, Samurai Champloo was poorly reviewed initially in Japan (probably because of its lack of overly animated body horror and general scenes of mutilation). Most surprisingly, Japanese locals on Tabelog are genuinely unsure why Usagi (うさぎ) always has such a long line of tourists.

“Tbrn1” would have benefited from my next piece of advice which I learned from my very good friend @JapanEat: go to the satellite location, Kousagi ( こうさぎ ) AKA “Baby Rabbit,” at Otsuka Station instead. You know you are in the right place if you can see the six-seat shop from the Yamanote Line platform.

Upon entry, I was no joke met with “Feather” playing softly in the background. This shocked me because Japanese people typically eat, shop, and drink in complete silence. But not if your brother is Nujabes. His licks get played on repeat. Meanwhile, you can’t go to Northpark without hearing “Abracadabra” by Lady GaGa played between 3-14 times.

I ordered two servings of tantanmen because I accidentally ordered the first one chilled. Both versions were blasted with flavor and incomparable to anything I’ve ever had. Tantanmen is mostly inspired by Sichuan Dan Dan Noodles in that both dishes include chili oil, toasted sesame paste, ground pork, blanched greens, and noodles. The dan dan noodles I most locally crave are at Wu Wei Din in Plano. But tantanmen (dan dan noodle ramen) elevates the dish in a remarkable way by including a sichuan peppercorn and oat/soy milk broth. The broth at Kousagi ( こうさぎ ) is layered like an oil and vinegar based dressing. This decision culminates in distinct and consecutive flavors of dairy to spice to marinated ground pork in a single bite. It is simple and it is fucking addicting.

Another notable mention for multi-cultural infused ramen are the fine people at Bassa Nova in Harajuku. Their Green Thai Curry ramen was insane and could easily be one of the best dishes in Dallas. However, if you have limited time in Tokyo, Kousagi ( こうさぎ )‘s tantanmen must be written on the itinerary in ink.

Now, the few of you who made it through my inaugural blog’s manifesto may be wondering why you are reading about a ramen shop 6,000 miles away when the spirit of this blog is supposed to highlight lunch spots for hungry Dallas salarymen. Good point! I’ll tell you why. Unfortunately, you cannot find tantanmen this good in Dallas. Ichigoh Ramen in Deep Ellum serves it soupless (joyless) and Kabukiya Ramen in Plano serves it tasteless and to be honest, I have not had the heart to order it elsewhere.

Maybe if we are lucky the ramen will come to us. It’s not out of the question. Even Shing02, Nujabes’ longtime vocalist and collaborator came to Club DaDa in Deep Ellum to perform the Luv(Sic) Hexalogy. Little did he know that the American standing next to him would make it his life mission to open up “Bunny” (work in progress) in Dallas.

Ma al salama (さようなら ),
Habibi-san