Warito (和利道) serves one of the tastiest bowls of tsukemen (dipping ramen) in Tokyo. They're conveniently located near Shibuya station too.
Warito's Tsukemen
More specifically, Warito is closest to Tokyo's Ikejiri Ohashi station. Shibuya station and Nakameguro station are also accessible, but are farther away.
Warito's owner once trained at Tetsu, a Tokyo tsukemen (dipping ramen) specialist.
Warito's menu is simple. They too specialize in tsukemen (dipping ramen) and once in a while, serve a limited time ramen. The ticket machine has photos of the options, making ordering easy.
In the tsukemen, the soup is thick and heavy. But it's well balanced. Pork bones deliver a round richness and sardines and other fish deliver sharper-edged flavors. The toppings include chashu pork slices, bamboo shoots, spring onions, and a soft-boiled egg.
The noodles are straight, thick, and slippery. They're not as dense as they look though and even if you order the largest 300 gram portion, you'd be surprised how easy they go down. Noodle portions are as follows:
Regular (Futsu): 200 grams
Medium (Chu): 250 grams
Large (Dai): 300 grams
If you ask, they provide you with a boiling hot rock for reheating the soup (which tends to get lukewarm after the noodles are constantly dipped into it).
Warito Maze Soba
During a more recent visit, Warito was serving a limited time maze soba. Maze soba is a style of soupless ramen that requires mixing. But it surprisingly had quite a bit of soup. In a way, the soup is like a watered down version of the tsukemen.
But this isn't a bad thing - tsukemen soup flavors are often quite concentrated. Even if more watery, the maze soba soup is still packed with flavor. On top, there's a generous amount of chopped spring onions and fried garlic shavings.
Lastly, it comes with a raw egg yolk, which can add to the existing richness. This is a solid ramen if one desires a break from the tsukemen.
Tsukemen Thoughts
Other Tokyo tsukemen spots may have surpassed Warito in terms of achievement. Michi, Menya Itto, and Hirai are a few that come to mind when it comes to this heavier style of tsukemen.
But Warito still remains to be one of my personal favorites. But don't expect exceptional customer service. Like a lot of high-level Tokyo ramen shops, it's very much "eat and leave".
Comments