First day on the job...

As you probably deciphered from the title, yesterday was my first day working at Mentanpin. After I got there Ushizaki (big boss man) told me just to follow him around and he will explain the basics.


Firstly he went over all the ingredients he uses in the soup and then went on to explain how long he usually cooks the different kinds of noodles.


Around about 6:30 the shop went from a couple of customers to being packed to the rafters. The kitchen heated up to about 40 degrees and sweat was literally dripping off me. Making ramen is definitely no walk in the park…


I noticed a lot of people were ordering chashumen, so I asked Ushizaki if it was normally this popular. He said not usually, but it depends on what the first couple of customers order. “What do you mean?” I replied. He went on to explain that people usually order the first meal they see when they walk into the shop. Makes sense I guess…



After 3 hours of tasting, asking questions and getting in the way I decided that it was time I head off. As I was leaving Ushizaki turned around and shouted “come anytime you want ok”.
I love this casual ramen affair.