But…do they that taste as good as they look?
We’re always on the hunt for new and unusual ramen around Japan, but now we’ve found a bowl of noodles unlike any we’ve ever seen before, and it comes to us from the My Ramen Glass Noodle Shop in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward.
What makes this ramen so unusual is that it doesn’t even look like noodles at first glance. Instead, it’s fashioned to look like a colourful bouquet of flowers, and even goes by the name “Bouquet” on the menu.
▼ The “Bouquet” can be served with either Shoyu (Soy Sauce), Kombu Shio (Seaweed Salt) or Miso broth.
▼ The signboard at the front of the store advertises it as “Bouquet Noodle” in both English and Japanese.
Needless to say, we were eager to find out what a bouquet of noodles would taste like, so we placed an order for the unusual dish, and were incredibly surprised to find it looked just as good in real-life as it did in the promotional photo.
▼ You can choose either gluten-free “glass noodles” or regular “original noodles”, and we opted for the original noodles with a soy sauce broth.
The edible bouquet was spectacular to look at, and with roughly ten different types of vegetables in the mix, including broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and zucchini, it promised to be one of the healthiest ramen we’d ever eaten.
▼ The careful scattering of edible flowers on top made it look like a gorgeous ikebana flower arrangement.
It actually looked more like a salad than a bowl of ramen. Still, it’s a clever way to get people to eat their veggies, because if you don’t eat the bouquet first, you won’t be able to reach the ramen below.
We picked up a few of the vegetables and found they were delightfully fresh — the zuchini and young corn were crunchy and particularly satisfying to eat.
▼ After eating about a third of the vegetables, we finally got our first glimpse of the broth.
We couldn’t resist fishing out a clump of noodles to enjoy with our bunch of vegetables, and when we ate the two together, with a dash of the broth, it added a salty, moreish flavour to the entire meal.
My Ramen’s noodles were actually created by the chef at popular ramen shop Menya Shichisai in Hatchobori, Tokyo, which has received a mention in the Bib Gourmand section, for meals under 5,000 yen (US$45.48), in the Michelin Guide.
The noodles and the broth are both vegan-friendly and made using ingredients and manufacturing methods founded on macrobiotic principles. Because of this, the broth and noodles have a very soft taste and feel much easier to digest than regular ramen, suggesting this is actually one of the healthiest ramen options available in Tokyo.
Unfortunately, My Ramen’s Glass Noodle Shop will only be open for a limited time until the end of August 2021. There’s really nothing else like this on the culinary landscape in Tokyo right now, so here’s hoping the store pops up at more locations around Japan in future!
Restaurant information
My Ramen Glass Noodle Shop / マイラーメン グラスヌードル ショップ
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jinnan 1-22-6 Shibuya Marui 1F
東京都渋谷区神南1-22-6 渋谷マルイ1F
Open 11:00 a.m.-8 p.m. (These are shortened business hours due to the current state of emergency)
Website
Photos ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!