The Japanese have always taken their ramen seriously. Aficionados of this noodles-and-broth dish happily traipse halfway across Tokyo to sample the fare at some recommended spot. Once there, they often have to queue outside for 20 minutes before noisily slurping down their noodles. Competition is fierce - and it just got fiercer. One ramen restaurant in Saitama, outside Tokyo, has decided the best way to draw customers is by introducing the law of the jungle.
The Ra Senba (Ramen Battleground) restaurant, which opened in December, employs four chefs who each create and serve two original types of ramen. The restaurant sells about 1,000 bowls of noodles a day and keeps a tally of how many dishes are sold monthly by each cook. The chef whose dishes sell best has the satisfaction of knowing his noodles have won customers' hearts: the cook who sells the least has to quit.
The failed chefs don't find themselves out on the street, however. Those who are forced out go back to work at another Mujaki Foods outlet. All have worked successfully at another of the 34 ramen restaurants in the Mujaki Foods chain, which owns the restaurant. Before landing a plum position at Ra Senba, the chefs must give a presentation to the company's executives, explaining why they want to work there and what they hope to achieve.
The company has long prided itself on producing exceptional ramen: its recipes are original and made with noodles ingredients. Ra Senba ramen costs 630 yen (HK$45) and 880 yen and the menu features broths such as pork and seafood, tuna with miso, and pork with soy sauce. Ra Senba, 9/F Omiya Sogo, Sakuragicho 1-6-2, Omiya-ku, Saitama, tel: 48 646 4471.