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German automaker offers two kinds of noodles at Tokyo showroom restaurant.

Ramen has come a long way in terms of earning respect in the international culinary world, but even in Japan, it’s still largely considered cheap, fortifying comfort food. It’s a quick meal to fill your belly and warm your body, and not exactly the Mercedes-Benz of the Japanese dining scene.

Nevertheless, the German luxury automaker is now serving bowls of piping hot ramen in Tokyo.

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In the swanky Roppongi neighborhood you’ll find Mercedes Connection Tokyo, a Mercedes-Benz showroom with an attached cafe and restaurant. Right now the building is decorated for Christmas, but the even bigger seasonal event is that it’s currently offering two kinds of ramen, stylishly called Umi (“Ocean”) and Riku (“Land”),

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While our paychecks put us in less expensive transportation than what’s parked in the building’s showroom, we could afford to try both varieties of Mercedes-Benz ramen, which are identically priced at 1,200 yen (US$10.60), and we started with the Umi.

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True to its name, the Umi has a seafood-based broth, made in the French fumet de poisson style, and the nautical theme continues with a pair of scallops being the star toppings.

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The thin noodles tasted great with the broth, which had notes of grilled fish in its flavor profile. With grilled fish and rice being such a common meal in Japan, we couldn’t resist putting our grilled rice ball, which comes with the Umi ramen, into our leftover broth, providing an excellent finish to the first act of our Mercedes-Benz noodle taste test.

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Moving on, the Riku was the polar opposite to the Umi.

▼ Even their bowls’ color schemes are reversed.

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The Riku replaces the Umi’s thin noodles with much thicker ones, and also swaps the seafood broth for one made from duck ham.

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▼ The broth is flavorful and delicious, with no hint of gaminess.

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Instead of a grilled rice ball, the Riku is accompanied by multiple baguette slices, along with foie gras butter and blackcurrant compote to dip them in.

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And if you’re looking for one more way to indulge, you can mix the condiments with the ramen broth, then use their combined form to flavor the bread.

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Both types of Mercedes-Benz ramen left us fully satisfied, and they’ll be available from now until December 25.

Restaurant information
Merecedes-Benz Connection Tokyo / メルセデス・ベンツ コネクション トーキョー
Address: Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Roppongi 7-3-10
東京都港区六本木7-3-10
Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Website

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