Stumbled upon Billiken Ramen while walking from my hotel to Senso-ji temple at Asakusa. It's a lucky find as its specialty is duck ramen and I love ducks 😋
Walking up Asakusa-dori Ave towards the temple, I quickly joined this line. It was a cold, wet day ☔
While waiting in the queue, a staff will come out to bring you in to take your orders and prepayment. Then, you return outside to wait for available seat(s) which the staff will usher you to. Service standards are very high in Japan but tipping is not the custom.
Everything was very orderly, polite and well organised. This is Japan.
There is only room for ten, which is typical of Tokyo ramenyas.
My first time here, I opted for shoyu ramen topped with duck, the obligatory pork chasiu, and egg. It also came with greens (spinach), slivers of scallion, bamboo shoot, kaiware (daikon sprout) and dried seaweed.
I love it that the soup was umami savoury with gentle ducky flavour which I like so much. The soup was made with shoyu, duck and rounded up with chicken and dried kelp.
I opted for the thick crinkly house made noodles which were tenderly spongy chewy. The thick wavy strands picked up the soup and its umami savoury ducky flavours well.
So proud to hear myself slurping the extra thick noodles 🤭
The piece of lean pork chasiu had little fat and was fibrous and stiff. Not my favourite type of chasiu but it actually provided good contrast with the duck which was the exact opposite, thus providing interesting variations in the bowl.
The duck slices blew me away.
The alluringly pinkish, sous vide duck breast slices with a strip of skin and fat were soft tender spongy chewy with a nice savoury ducky gamey flavour.
The delicious soft ajitsuke tamago (seasoned ramen egg) was beautifully done.
Looking around, I noticed that most customers had their small bowl of duck donburi which made me envious. I took a picture of my neighbour's don 🤭 (with permission) and told myself that I have to come back for it.
Muahaha... so I am back for dinner. This is a crazy thing as I would normally try as many different restaurants as possible and not repeat visit a place during the same overseas trip.
Anyway, I found out that the duck don is an optional add on for ¥280 and not a standalone dish 🙄
So, I ordered a duck ramen instead. I asked for the "dry" no soup version.
The same thick crinkly noodles wet with a savoury ducky sauce of shoyu and duck oil. Muaks! Delicious.
I added a raw egg which when folded into the noodles, made the strands velvet smooth and added eggy taste on top of the savoury ducky flavours.
Crazy man indulged in more duck 🤭
If you love duck or if you are a ramen fan in Asakusa, you can give Billiken Ramen a try. If you are a hard core duck lover, I suggest the "dry" no soup version for full blown duck flavour. Next time, I will skip the pork chasiu and remember to add on the duck don.
Restaurant name: Chukasoba Billiken 中華ソバビリケン 浅草店
Address: 2 Chome-4-1 Kaminarimon, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0034, Japan
Nearest MRT: 5 minutes walk from Asakusa station
Tel: +813 3845 6577
Hours: 11am - 3pm | 5:30pm - 9pm
Written by Tony Boey on 8 Jan 2025
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