Ramen Bar Gorilla / バーゴリラ - Shimo-Kitazawa
Thanks to Brian a.k.a. Ramenadventures for introducing me to this place
Bar Gorilla is a truly unique ramen spot in Tokyo. For one, bars that serve ramen are an absolute rarity. Normally you are supposed to get in and out as fast as possible for quick turnover. But it is even more rare to find a ramen bar that serves a proper bowl of Jiro style ramen. Even more surprising to find a ramen bar like this in the trendy neighborhood around Shimo-Kitazawa station.
So how did I find this place? Well apparently Ramen Adventures’ Brian got a tip from a maiko in Kyoto (an apprentice geisha) that his place here is her favorite ramen spot. Pretty random, so of course we had to go!
The owner of Bar Gorilla is a pretty fun and quirky guy, who said he was inspired by his favorite ramen spot "Ramen Riku” (らーめん陸) which is within 30 minutes from Shimo-Kitazawa. Apparentlz they took some time out of their day and taught him how to recreate their ramen, which he does on a small scale in his bar. So what is his ramen like?
A bowl of “Gorillamen” ramen at Bar Gorilla
As per description of the owner, he combines a rich tonkotsu (pork bone) broth with a mirin heavy shoyu tare, which is infused with lots of kombu. He actually made more tare when we were there and it seems like he is reusing the kombu, only throwing away like 10-20%, and adding new dry one in its place. He also seems to simply fill up his big jar of tare with the newly made one, only taking out parts of it for service. I felt like I could taste a sort of aged component, slightly burnt and bitter, almost like in the Takeoka Shiki ramen I had some time ago at Ramen Lovel. The amount of tare was also indicative of a Jiro inspired bowl with 60ml tare and roughly 250ml of tonkotsu ramen broth. Next step is him pressing seabura pork back fat through the noodle sieve into the bowls, before adding the thick noodles.
The toppings were typical Jiro inspired, a bunch of blanched moyashi bean sprouts and cabbage, plus some very juicy and well seasoned chonky chashu. He also added some very bright orange and well executed ajitama eggs. Of course, minced garlic is also available and can be added to your liking by yourself.
The ramen fun at Bar Gorilla does not stop there. I saw him prepare a basically “no noodle” ramen bowl with sprouts and cabbage replacing the noodles and just a small amount of noodles getting added as a topping.
“No noodle” ramen with ramen added as topping, instead of main part. Under the noodles and the meat is just a large heap of sprouts and cabbage. Perfect for the low carb crowd.
He also has mazesoba mixing ramen and tsukemen dipping ramen on the menu, which I will surely try the next time I make it to Shimo-Kitazawa. Because, another surprise, the ramen here was actually quite good. Definitely a good choice to end a long Shimo-Kitazawa night with a big bowl of ramen.
