Operation Hot Mother (restaurant no. 6)

#6: Sora Ramen (中央区南3条西6, half a block south of Tanuki Koji arcade 5)

Sora Ramen is the kind of place you see in movies. A tiny hole in the wall, not unlike those in my favorite Japanese movie Tampopo, a strange and fabulous story about the quest for the perfect noodle soup. It's the real deal...rickety wooden door, plastic covering the windows, six stools and a buzzing flourescent bulb. The kind of place with a lone, frowning purveyor, his forehead wrapped in a towel to catch the sweat produced by lingering over a gigantic, blackened wok.

I'd passed Sora numerous times, mainly in the summer months when the doors and windows are rolled open to alleviate the heat, but never had the courage to go in. You see, Sora is always packed with men, six deep, slurping their bowls. On a Wednesday afternoon recently, we decided to give it a go. Though the place was empty, the purveyors - 2 youngish men - were clearly not overwhelmingly thrilled to see us. We took a seat at the tiny, dark counter (imagine having dinner inside an ice-fishing hut: wood paneling blackened with smoke and low ceilings) and promptly ordered two bowls of ramen, one shio [salt] and one miso [fermented bean]. We watched as our noodles were whipped up and then, seconds later, steaming bowls of ramen piled high with green onion were placed before us. The miso soup was piping hot and incredibly rich, with just a hint of smokiness from the well-seasoned wok, the noodles chewy, and the pork so soft it dissolved in our mouths. This was a REAL bowl of ramen. No frills...napkins, toppings, beverages, friendly banter all made superfluous. We had finally arrived.

Sora is one of a short list of places we've eaten here that are of that distinctly old-world Japan variety we idealized from afar. The kind of place that is more or less un-replicable abroad. Unfortunately, that smoky, oil-laden bowl of soup left both our stomachs in knots. In Japan, we are definitely on a campaign to try anything once, but unfortunately, with Sora once is probably enough.

[digging into miso ramen at Sora]