Tokyo ramen shop Soba Dining Quattro has remarkable ramen. Featuring an assari (lighter) broth, their ramen is as contemporary as it is flavorful. They have four distinct, themed bowls: Mountain, Sea, Sky and River. Soba Dining Quattro is near Omori station – just a 6 min train ride from Shinagawa station.
The Seasoning and Soup
Quattro uses 2 types of seasoning – shoyu (soy sauce) and seafood-heavy shio (salt). Here’s to give you an idea of how complex their ingredient gathering is. The shio seasoning includes asari (clams) from Kumamoto, kaki (oysters) from Hiroshima, murugai (mussels) from Iwate, and 4 salts also gathered from around the country.
Quattro works with 2 soups. One soup is fish-based, with konbu (kelp) from Dounan in Hokkaido, dried ago (flying fish) from Goto in Nagasaki, and dried iwashi (sardine) from the Seto Inland Sea. They carefully extract the flavors from these ingredients for over 12 hours. They don’t stop there, using dried katsuo (bonito), saba (mackerel), urume (herring) and mejika flakes.
The other soup, chicken-based, uses Hyuga chicken from Miyagi, which is low in fat. Using different parts of the Hyuga chicken, they uniquely blend it with maple. For 8 hours they simmer everything on low heat, which appropriately releases enough collagen to create a refreshing and hearty chicken soup.
MOUNTAIN
Before being served the Mountain (Yama), they’ll ask if you prefer the fish or chicken soup. I went with chicken and don’t regret my decision – it gives the whole bowl a bold richness.
Mountain (Yama), All Toppings: ¥980
They pair this with their sweet shoyu seasoning. But there’s also a slight sourness – which might mean they’re still using some flying fish.
You’ll also be asked at the beginning if it’s OK to add negi (onion). Say yes. The long pieces of negi nicely complement the chopped bell peppers floating about.
SEA
For their Sea (Umi) ramen, they of course use the seafood-heavy shio seasoning.
Sea (Umi), All Toppings: ¥1,100
The overall broth is less salty and lighter than the Mountain’s but obviously has a stronger ocean accent. Corn, wakame seaweed and little scallops wade in the broth.
Just like with the Mountain ramen, Sea ramen can come with roasted pork that’s rolled and placed in the middle of the broth. It’s a bacon-like bonus.
SKY
The Sky (Sora) ramen broth is comprised of the seafood shio seasoning and chicken soup. They match well – like the ocean meeting the sky.
The broth is clear, due to boiling on low heat. But with the long duration of boiling (8 hours), the broth comes alive with a special chicken richness.
Sky (Sora), Basic: ¥850
As toppings, they delicately place slices of Hyuga chicken. You’ll also find corn, menma…and even a bit of ice plant!
Unfortunately the River ramen was sold out at the time. Life will not be complete until I’ve had all 4.
When it comes to ramen near Shinagawa or even across Tokyo – this is one of my new favorite shops. Soba Dining Quattro is 21st Century Ramen at its best!
Soba Dining Quattro has only 8 seats, so going at an odd hour is recommended.
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