Tsukemen Yasubee Shunjuku

I traveled to Japan earlier this month for the wedding of a friend, and on the plane ride over I sat next to a gal who travels to Tokyo regularly for work. I asked her for ramen recommendations, and she told me about «tsukemen,» which I’d never heard of, and told me to go to this place. I am SO GLAD I went. The dinner I ordered — tsukemen with a spicy kick to it in a soy sauce-​based broth — was literally one of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten. They have an English menu, though it’s truthfully still a bit confusing. But really, anything you get here will be delicious and freshly made. You walk in, go to the vending machine to your left, put some cash into the machine, choose your dish, and give the ticket to the attendant. Then take a seat at the counter and await your amazing order. A note on the vending machine: Sizes of the dish increase from left to right; so the «small» size is on the far left, then medium, large, and extra large, as you move to the right. The top row is a soy sauce-​based soup; the row under that is a spicy version of that (you’ll see the characters in a red font, indicating the spiciness). Then the third row is a different dish; the row under that is the spicy version; and so on. The staff is here exceptionally friendly, and also perfectly understanding if you have no idea what you’re doing, which was pretty much the case with me, my husband, and my in-​laws when we descended upon this place. We THOROUGHLY enjoyed our food though, and thanked them profusely upon leaving, trying to communicate just how amazing the meal was (we just repeating «oishii,» or «delicious»), and they kept bowing in appreciation. It was most fabulous. :) The place, which was busy with the local after-​work crowd — is a short walk from Shibuya Crossing (a MUST-​SEE in Tokyo), so if you’re a tourist in Tokyo, get yourself there!