$110 Ramen at Fujimaki Gekijyo

[sel]

Read the story through to the end, it belongs on L.A. Area Board! Will this be the Urasawa of noodles?

http://af.reuters.com/article/oddlyEn...

[Scharn]

i would mark this down as marketing trick. While I may want to try it out, it is worth noting that they are only ranked at 51/100 points at the database. That certainly is no good sign.

ps: if you want to google it, the shop's name is "藤巻激城" and it's in Nakameguro.

[Chemicalkinetics]

I am speechless, but then we have >$100 burger, don't we?

[Scharn]

Which is the exact same bad idea. I understand that some food is expensive, because the produce is expensive. For example I have no problem to pay around $250-350 for excellent Sushi. But I will not pay $1 extra if they clue a little gold leaf on it. Same for $1000 omelet. This is a normal omelet ($10-15) plus caviar for $950. While this ramen seems to be a slightly different situation it reminds me starkly of such "ideas."

Not saying that this shop is bad, but to sell ramen for 100 dollars just has written "PR STUNT!" all over it.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Scharn,

Wait. There is a $1000 omelet?

By the way, I am not disagreeing with you. I were just saying this is not an isolated case and we have multiple restaurants in US which serve >$100 burgers.

[small h]

<Wait. There is a $1000 omelet?>

Yes.

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/...

[Silverjay]

The ingredient list is here when you click MENU- http://www.fujimakigekijou.jp/top.php. It says "A full course of Thai in one bowl". Most of the ingredients are seafood- shrimp, shellfish, dried shellfish, but there is also pork and beef hind shank, ham, some kind of chicken. Fresh cream is also in there. And something about tapioka flour. "Imperial Tom Yum Soup". Actually, the word "ramen" does not appear in the description. Oh, and you need to reserve 3 days in advance....It's not a marketing trick either. This is the only dish they serve. The ramen database rating is based on a sample size of 13 reviews- all for a previous menu items, not this one.

[K K]

I guess it is all subjective, and is still being classified as ramen, if not high end ramen.

If you compare it with Cantonese seafood, or even that "buddha jumps over wall" seafood and dried seafood dish/soup of Fujianese origin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha_Jumps_Over_the_Wall

then the ramen broth is way expensive.

It's still cheaper than the NT$10,000 (US$333) bowl of Beef Noodle Soup at Niu Baba (Beef Daddy) beef noodles in Taipei City

http://www.688beefbowl.com/

http://www.688beefbowl.com/beef_ad200... for a Chinese style Forbes magazine article writeup about the $300+ bowl of beef noodles (which contains 5 kinds of beef cuts, including Japanese Matsuzaka beef

)

But interesting how the most expensive known bowl of ramen is more Thai in nature.

[Chemicalkinetics]

K_K,

I love good foods, but I won't want to be excessive. I feel like foods should still be foods, and not come sometime like fashion clothing where people pay for style, fashion and recognition. Eating should be between you and the food. Well, fashion clothing is exactly the opposite, it is between the cloth and the other people. Foods should not become that.

I feel alot of people pay for these $100 burger or $333 noodle to prove something and often to show other people of something.

Oh humanity.

[K K]

Exactly...which is why a $5 bowl ($10 tops) of beef noodles in Taiwan is already quite excellent, without having to go to excess.

Or any ramen that costs between $5 to $10 in Japan.

I'm sure Fujimaki and Tony of Niu Baba are not just flash in the pan douchebag types like people who only want to make money, fusionize stuff with nothing to show for (tons of those around), they are realy serious folk who are even more serious about their craft. And they recognize there are overzealous enthusiasts (e.g. particular type of bloggers) who want to experience this and brag about it, so it is there for the niche of the market.

You can say they are the Thomas Kellers in their fields (I mean look at the high end Bouchon and Ad Hoc's, offering the likes of $50 set dinner with buttermilk fried chickens and biscuits with mac and cheese on the side, that everyone loves even though it's seemingly pretentious).

While there's a $1000 omlette, there's also a $1000 High Roller fusion sushi roll (off menu) at Koi in Las Vegas

http://universeofluxury.com/food-and-...

excerpt of the roll process somewhere else:
1.) Using Hudson Valley Foie Gras we will marinade the foie and poach the foie in the sauterne. It is then formed into a torchon (Shape) to the roll.
2.) After the roll is made.. Langoustine (A sweet succulent Lobster) is cut into sashimi and placed on the outside of the roll.
3.) Saffron/Vanilla bean butter will be drawn and brushed over the lobster.
4.) The roll is then encrusted with the caviar
5.) White Alba truffles are shaved table side (By the Chef
)6.) 100 year balsamic is then drizzled over the top

[Silverjay]

There are a bunch of places like this in Japan- especially Tokyo- where someone has set up some kind of exclusive, ultra focused cuisine mini-restaurant in a residential area. The owner fancies himself a genius/artist type breaking culinary rules or whatever. I’m guessing they are usually establishing it on family property they inherited and long since amortized the cost of. It’s not a PR stunt. This guy really believes he’s doing something. He used to offer a $30 ramen before this- 3 different types including a coconut soup.?!??!!... Again, whatever. In Japan, a 10,000 YEN note, for some reason, doesn’t feel like as much as a $100 bill. You can use 10,000 YEN notes in subway ticket machines or to buy a bottle of tea at 7-11 without getting funny looks. People will try this as a novelty. Wealthy people who have money to burn or are just curious. People already cream in their pants over Michelin stars. The idea that working man’s ramen is now elevated to that price range will attract patrons. It makes sense to make it based on Thai or some other cuisine. Direct Japanese ramen analogs would make it too easy to compare and critique.