Menya Cocoro

Never heard about 'Taiwanese maze-soba' ('mixed noodles')? Neither have many Taiwanese people – this dish is actually a Nagoya-born corruption of Taiwan-style ramen, first developed by the Hanabi noodle shop and now a soul food staple in Japan's manufacturing capital. This strange but delicious dish has been making waves in Tokyo too since early summer or so, and Ookayama's Menya Cocoro is the top representative of the trend: the owner was trained at the above-mentioned Hanabi, so you know you're getting the real thing. The dish itself resembles Tokyo's abura-soba, so it's basically ramen without soup, but this one comes topped with everything from spicy chilli minced meat, chive, garlic, fish flakes, green onion, nori seaweed and egg yolk. Before eating, make sure to mix all the goodness throughly with the noodles to really bring out the spicy, flavourful taste. Prices are fairly standard – their signature dish goes for ¥780.