Very good Ramen

These last few days in Tokyo we had dinner most nights in this restaurant across the road at the end of our block. It's at a cross-roads or intersection. Ramen in tastey soup that's non-oily (maybe just minimally) in a huge bowl.

We always spent some time outside the restaurant working through the photographs of the different ramen items on the menu. It was necessary as everything was in Japanese.

They shout greetings to you when you enter, all the staff shout, not just a doorman or a waiter.

There are no tables. You sit at the counter which was like a 'U' shape against the wall. The staff and kitchen are on the other side of the counter. Positions at the counter are numbered so nobody spills over to another's space.

Your order is taken. After our first dinner here one night, it was not a problem on subsequent nights. Everything's there in front of you. A neat black lacquered box with lid holding throwaway wooden chopstick pairs, toothpicks and tissue paper. You help yourself. A black lacquered tray with a lidded pot of pink coloured ginger, bottles of chillied oil and vinegar, and drinking glasses. You help youself. A a tall glass vase of cold water.

There are no spoons. You get a ladle instead! It comes in your bowl of ramen. In some establishments, you don't get any spoon or ladle and you have to raise the bowl to your lips to sup the soup, and suck in the ramen noisily without a spoon like the locals.

Pay on the way out, cheered on by loud shouts from the staff.

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