らーめん 太陽 高円寺店

🍜 Celebrating 50 years, this long-standing local store is known for its "Japan's Number One Dashi Ramen" and huge gyoza!

This shop is located in the pure-hearted shopping street of Koenji, not directly on the main avenue, but it's easy to reach by turning into a nearby alley.

The exterior looks very local, with a wooden door that needs to be pulled open manually. Although it's a ramen shop, it has received the title of "Top 100 Gyoza Shops in 2021," so this time I ordered a ramen and gyoza set.

The set menu in the shop has photos on the wall, so you don't need to worry if you don't understand Japanese. I ordered a half portion of wonton ramen with an egg and a set of 5 mini gyoza, which is quite filling for a girl.

The ramen here features thick noodles resembling Chinese oil noodles, which pairs perfectly with the salty and rich dashi broth. Even for those who usually don’t enjoy dashi, you can still drink quite a bit of the soup. The bamboo shoots provided are generous, helping to cut through the richness.

The gyoza, even in their mini size, are already the standard size at other shops, so it's hard to imagine how big the signature gyoza must be 🤔. The filling in Japanese gyoza is usually saltier, so they really need to be paired with rice or beer! If you don't order those like I did, I recommend passing on them, as they are quite salty 😂.

With the current prices in Tokyo, there are fewer shops that can still keep ramen at a thousand yen. I recommend giving this dashi ramen a try if you like it!