Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken
東池袋大勝軒 · Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken
- Ward
- Toshima
- Price
- ¥1,000~1,400
- Hours
- 11:00–22:00, or until the brot
- Closed
- Wed
- Getting there
- 8 min walk from Ikebukuro Stn
- Founded
- 1961
- When the noodles are gone, ask for soup-wari
- In 1961 Kazuo Yamagishi served a staff-meal dish called morisoba in Higashi-Ikebukuro
- A regular portion is 300g of noodles, a medium 450 — nearly double a normal ramen
We do not republish copyrighted photographs. Use the links below to see the actual venue.
Obvious to locals, invisible to visitors
There is a simple reason guidebooks leave this out: to the people who live here it is too obvious to be worth explaining.
When the noodles are gone, ask for soup-wari — broth poured into your remaining dipping sauce to thin it to drinking strength. Leave without it and you have had only half the meal.
In 1961 Kazuo Yamagishi served a staff-meal dish called morisoba in Higashi-Ikebukuro. Regulars talked, it joined the menu, and it created the entire tsukemen genre — still known abroad simply as Taishoken.
A regular portion is 300g of noodles, a medium 450 — nearly double a normal ramen. Start small if it is your first time. The dipping sauce balances sweet, hot and sour so it never cloys.
Posted hours notwithstanding, the shop closes the moment the broth runs out — arriving late is a gamble. Many franchised offshoots exist nationwide, each lineage tasting slightly different.
What it is
Toshima is a ward centred on the Ikebukuro entertainment district. Walking from the station you will pass it once. It only registers the second time you take that street. First time? Order the top item. It is usually what the kitchen has been making longest. A rainy weekday is the sweet spot — the crowd thins dramatically. Seats are tight and coats end up on your lap — layering thin works better in winter. One stop off the tourist line and this is what appears — that is the nature of this city.
What to order
Why locals keep coming
The layout suits solo diners: mostly counter seats, and nobody encourages you to linger. Prices have barely moved in a decade, meaning the shop has absorbed much of the rise in ingredient costs.