Getting to Kinpeki without a car takes some commitment. The roadside shop is about 12 minutes’ walk from Kameari Station, and we can only imagine what navigating the surrounding residential streets would have been like in an age without Google Maps.
But no matter how long you take to reach it, this joint pays you back handsomely – in the form of a perfectly balanced bowl of artisanal shoyu or shio ramen. Crafted by the unlikely duo of a veteran ramen craftsman and a former engineer, the bowls here come in three tiers. The Classic (¥950) contains just the basic toppings, while the Signature (¥1,150) gets you char siu and an ajitama egg. The Noble (¥1,500) adds a third type of char siu – this one a show-stopping duck – plus some sansho peppers on the side.
Whichever ramen or topping combo you go for, you can look forward to a remarkably refined soup. The shoyu version highlights a tare made with three types of soy sauce, including a transparent ‘white’ variety, while the shio draws on high-end French salt and chablis – yes, the white wine – for a concoction that tastes heavenly while feeling decidedly out of place way out in Showa-coded Katsushika.