Because ramen doesn’t always have to be steaming hot.

It’s nothing new, but every year in Japan the summer brings with it not just cool-looking seasonal sweets and fireworks displays, but also the dreaded relentless and even dangerous heat. So when we heard that ramen chain Menya Musashi was serving a cold shaved ice ramen dish, we knew we had to go try it.

The shaved ice ramen, or Hiyashari Kōri no Consomen (“cold crunchy ice consommé noodle”), is apparently a limited item offered only at their Roppongi Kosho branch, so off to Roppongi we went.

▼ Here we are at the Roppongi Menya Musashi Kosho location.

▼ Sure enough, there was a poster advertising the Hiyashari Kōri no Consomen. The word Consomen, by the way, is a play on the combination of the words “consommé” and men, which means noodles in Japanese.

▼ Inside, each seat was partitioned with acrylic dividers as a COVID-19 countermeasure.

▼ And every customer had their own bottle of hand sanitizer.

▼ Each order of the shaved ice ramen gets topped with freshly shaved flavored-ice right in front of you.

▼ And here’s the shaved ice ramen! Just look at the beautiful color of the ice.

The ice is basically frozen consommé soup containing tomatoes and watermelon, which is what gives it such a striking red color.

▼ We took a bite of the frozen red soup.

We could definitely taste the tomatoes, and combined with the garlic, it was a bit like eating frozen gazpacho. The watermelon wasn’t as noticeable as the tomatoes, but it still made for a tasty combination.

And we couldn’t wait to see what other ingredients there were mixed along with the frozen soup.

When we dug in, we saw that the noodles were cut into short pieces about 2 centimeters long each, which made it easier to eat the noodles together with the soup to fully enjoy the combination of all the flavors. Pieces of cut cucumber and tomatoes added a refreshing, salad-like element to the dish.

▼ We also found pieces of shrimp ….

▼ …and roast beef, which added some lovely substance to the dish.

Not surprisingly, the shrimp and roast beef mixed delectably well with the consommé and garlic flavored frozen soup. And the crunchy texture of the shaved ice was thoroughly enjoyable, especially as hot as the weather was that day. Another interesting element of the dish was that the combined flavor of all the ingredients would change as the ice gradually melted.

All in all, we have to say we were delighted with the unique idea of presenting ramen soup in a frozen form, which kept the noodles ice cold until the very end, and we also found their selection of ingredients including meat, seafood and vegetables well-balanced and satisfying.

The Hiyashari Kōri no Consomen is available at the Roppongi Menya Musashi Kosho for 1,200 yen (US$11) until August 31, but if you’re interested in trying the dish, you’ll want to get there early in the day, as they serve only 10 bowls per day.

Whether it’s bubble tea ramen or chocolate ramen, we’re always thrilled to see unique creations from Menya Musashi, and we certainly hope they’ll be surprising us soon with something unexpected again!

Restaurant information
Roppongi Menya Musashi Kosho / 六本木　麺屋武蔵　虎嘯
Address: Tokyo-to Minato-ku, Roppongi 4-12-6 Uchida Building 1F
東京都港区六本木4-12-6 内田ビル1F
Open: 11:00 a.m.-10:30 p.m. weekdays, 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. weekends
*Closes at 10:00 p.m. on 3rd Sundays of Jan/Mar/May/July/Sep/Nov
Website 

Photos: ©SoraNews24
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