There weren't many options for late night food after arriving on Saturday night. Well of course that's if you exclude the wurst and kebabs. Luckily a friend recommended a ramen place that wasn't too far away. He actually said the best tonkotsu in Berlin is at Hako Ramen, but unfortunately I won't have the opportunity to get out that far.
Even at 2245pm, there was a short queue and in the end had to sit outside next to a bunch of young French smokers. At least the staff are all Japanese.
- Gyoza €5 - quite expensive for 5 pieces fried together. Small amount of filling too;
- Tonkotsu ramen (poached pork, pork belly, egg) €10 - the best parts were the thick slabs of delicious chashu and pork belly. Really excellent. However the noodles were cooked until soft (they didn't offer a choice, although I could have asked I suppose, but wanted to see how they would naturally serve it) and the broth had ok flavour but not very thick and could have been more "porky";
- Wantan (shrimp dumplings, poached chicken, vegetables) €10 - a chicken-based broth with obviously less flavour than the tonkotsu. It wouldn't be my choice of ramen (and it wasn't) so wouldn't recommend it.
There's shichimi and sesame seeds to grate on the table although no pickles or garlic. Given more time and a slightly larger belly, I would definitely have ordered kaedama €2 (and requested extra hard). They also have calpico to drink (which is a nice touch). I'd try the tantan next time for a change just to see if I liked it more than the tonkotsu.
It's not the best but don't get me wrong - it's decent and serviceable and I'd eat it happily again.