Butakaze / 豚風 - Hatanodai
Butakaze is a new Jiro style ramen shop right next to Hatanodai station in Tokyo. Opened by a disciple of the famous Butaboshi, their shops show many similarities, from offered bowls to available additional paid and free toppings.
By the way, the name Butakaze 豚風 translates to “pork wind”. It’s more of a promise than a threat.
The big spoon adds big spoon aroma to the tonkotsu soup
The ramen served at Butakaze is a heavy and rich tonkotsu, which is seasoned with lots of soy sauce based tare, 80ml to be precise, as I saw them ladle it in. As a comparison, a regular ramen bowl has only around 30ml of tare. In addition to that, they ladle in around 60ml of lard into the already rich tonkotsu soup. All in all, a rather filling bowl of ramen.
A bowl of “miniramen” at Butakaze with extra quail eggs and ginger, plus “ninniku abura karame”
On top of the soup, you will get 2 plump pieces of tender meat which easily clocks in with around 200 grams, roughly 7 ounces or so if I had to guess. The meat is covered by a hefty serving of sprouts and cabbage, although the sprouts definitely dominate. When asked "ninniku iremasu ka?" you can add pork back fat, garlic, more seasoning and chili flakes for free.
On the ticket machine you will find additional toppings like raw egg, quail eggs, nori, raw ginger, gyofun fish powder, cheese and curry.
Full menu on the vending machine of Butakaze
Looking further on the ticket machine, you will find the first 2 rows filled with all the varieties that they offer. Starting with their "mini ramen", which I had in the video (not mini at all!). Next one is their sho "small ramen", which is already quite a big portion. You can add additional noodles via the oomori button in the third row. Next up are the karamen spicy bowl, the shirunashi soupless bowl, tsukemen, Taiwan ramen and shio ramen. An incredible variety for a Jiro style ramen spot, which often only serve exactly one bowl, just in varied sizes.
Look from the front, you can see the spacious inside of Butakaze
After buying the ticket, the waiting line is along the wall, which is indicated on several signs. You will be assigned a seat by the staff, don't just sit down by yourself. The staff aren't the friendliest bunch, which also explains their low score on Google Maps. Pay attention and follow the instructions, and you will do fine. If you don't know what to say when asked for the free toppings, just say "ninniku abura karame" and get a bowl of lardy happiness. I can also recommend the raw ginger topping, which you can get on the machine.
More information about Butakaze (豚風):
