Tsurumen has apparently decided to stay beyond their original 1000 day mandate. On the one hand, i love this because it’s a great place and I love their ramen.
On the other hand, i confess to being just slightly disappointed because I loved the idea of a restaurant that was like a thousand day cherry blossom that you had to enjoy while it was flowering, and the sadness that it would be gone soon was part of what made it special.
Count me as not disappointed at all. This is fantastic news. I would have been very bitter in day 1001.
I hear you @passing_thru that this commitment to moving on and trying new things was endearing and part of its allure for my wanting to try it. With that being said, like @uni, I loved their ramen and I’m glad the chef is flexible enough to adapt and stay. I would personally love to see him evolve the concept or dishes after certain a time rather than just pack up to a new venture. And I mean beyond just an evolution of a dish or a menu, as many places do, but either break out into a completely new and unexpected type of food rather than just a new flavor of ramen.
Stopped by the “new” Tsurumen 1000 yesterday for the first time since their brief break. It’s essentially unchanged, with the exception of a fresh coat of black paint on the walls, with maps of the US and Japan on the walls. It also seems as if chef Masuo is taking more of a back seat and getting the staff completely prepared to run the shop while maintaining his high standards.
The menu was unchanged and the ramen as good as ever. It’s still the best ramen in the area for my taste (and it’s not close). Happy Tsurumen made it through the pandemic and looks prepared to continue into the future post their original 1000 day goal. It’s one of the few places I still regularly eat at locally.
That’s good to know. I really enjoy this place and try to hit it if I’m up in that neck of the woods. So, no new countdown clock (days) introduced, I hope!
No new countdown clock. The new mantra is a continued commitment to growth excellence, which fits for them.
Stopped into Tsurumen last week and enjoyed a beautiful bowl of their Tuffle Shangtan Shoyu ramen, which is a new seasonal menu item. The black truffle really adds another layer of flavor to the broth. Noodles and chashu were perfect as always. I don’t know how they manage such lean yet tender and flavorful chashu. It’s unlike nay other I have had, and I appreciate not to get mouthfuls of straight fat as at some shops.
It always amazes me that chef Masuo seems to be behind the counter every time I stop in, despite his now more frequent travels to Japan and beyond. Not to be a broken record, but his attention to his craft shows, as does the focus on one dish rather than menu expansion. I dined with a friend who has moved out of the area and MA. She said Tsurumen is the only place she misses eating. This sounded crazy at first, but I get it.
