Yokohama Ie Kei Ramen ( 麺家 黒 - Menya Kuro in Meguro)

Yokoyama Ie Kei Ramen (横浜家系) is a style that has been around for some time. Yoshimuraya (吉村家) is credited as the birth of Ie Kei. This shop started in 1974 in Yokohama, and is known for their rich broth and quality noodles. The name Yoshimuraya can be translated as "House of Yoshimura", kinda like "House of Windsor" or "House of Usher". The last kanji (家) means house. When Ramen shops put this kanji at the end of their name, it usually implies that their Ramen is influenced by the "House of Yoshimura". Years ago I had a chance to visit Yoshimuraya and have to say it was pretty awesome. Didn't have a camera on me that day though...

My ex-colleague lives in Meguro, and is always encouraging me to check out the Ramen shops there. I finally got off my lazy butt and let him take me to his favorite spot. We went to Menya Kuro.

I knew something was up when I noticed the wall was covered in autographs of random celebrities.

This can be interpreted in two ways. Either the shop puts a lot of time in PR and hits up every famous person for an autograph, or the Ramen is really damn good and they earned all the praise. I've seen some shops try too hard for recognition, and it makes them look desperate. I'd say Menya Kuro is in the "good" category and earned their praise.
Here's what I ate:

Pretty tasty. Typical Ie kei Ramen is made of very rich blend of tonkotsu and chicken broth with a shoyu tare. Standard toppings are nori, thick chashu, and spinach. The eggs are usually soaked in the same soup the chashu was stewed in. At most Ie Kei shops, you can customize your order including volume, hardness of noodles, richness of soup, and oiliness. Noodles are straight and thicker than average.

Menya Kuro follows everything to a tee. Because the broth is so rich, they offer a bowl of rice free to dump in the soup (after the noodles are gone) or eat separately to give your taste buds a break from the soup. Overall I'd say this is a great bowl of Ramen if you are in your 20's. Any older and you might feel pretty heavy the next day.

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