This ramen behemoth only appears two days a week, but for serious carnivores, it’s worth waiting for.

Even with the continual upward creep of restaurant prices in Japan, 1,800 yen (US$11.60) feels like a lot for ramen, considering that it wasn’t all that long ago that basic bowls of the stuff could be found for well under 1,000 yen, even in downtown Tokyo. However, the rumors we’d heard about the 1,800-yen ramen at Ramen Niki, in the capital’s busy Shinbashi district, claimed that the Monster was well worth its asking price.

And yes, that’s Monster with a capital M, because the official name of this massive offering is called the Kaibutsu, which translates as “Monster.” To put a finer point on it, kaibutsu refers to hulking, brutish behemoths of mythological stature. So Ramen Aniki’s Kaibutsu isn’t going to try challenging you with incapacitating spiciness, but instead test the limits of your carnivorous instincts with more meat than just about any other noodle joint in Japan.

▼ ラーメンニキ = Ramen Niki

You probably wouldn’t guess that there’s a Monster lurking within Ramen Niki from its low-key sign and unassuming shopfront, located at the back of the first-floor hallway of a mixed commercial/office building about a two-minute walk from Shinbashi Station’s Karasumori exit, and actually, like any good legendary creature, the Kaibutsu only appears at certain times, Sundays and Mondays, to be exact. These are, ironically, the days of the week when Ramen Niki’s owner/chef works the restaurant entirely by himself, with no support staff. Ordinarily, in that situation you’d expect a restaurant to limit itself to smaller, easier to prepare dishes, but instead Ramen Niki’s owner, all by himself, serves up ramen like this.

And yes, there actually are ramen noodles and broth in that bowl. It’s just that they’re entirely covered by no fewer than four different kinds of meat!

▼ Chashu pork

▼ Another type of chashu pork

▼ Chicken

▼ Duck

We honestly had mixed feelings looking at the Kaibutsu. On the one hand, we were filled with gluttonous glee at all that meat, but we also felt some trepidation as we wondered if we’d actually be able to eat the whole thing.

However, as soon as we started eating our taste buds told our brain/stomach to stop worrying and just enjoy the ride. The flavor is outstanding, with all four kinds of meat being of excellent quality and pairing wonderfully with the strongly salty broth, and adding a dollop of the grated garlic the restaurant provides made it even better.

Much as the Kaibutsu can’t be limited to a single kind of meat, so too is it not bound to a single kind of noodle. There are both thin and thick noodles sharing space in the bowl, all part of the Monster’s dominion.

This is, by no means, a ramen eating experience to be taken on lightly, and as we walked slowly away after finishing the whole thing, we were as full as we could be…but also pretty much as satisfied as possible too. So if you’re looking to cap off your weekend with a finale of decadence, or feeling the need to treat yourself to something special to fight off a case of the Mondays, this Monster just might be your best friend.

Restaurant information
Ramen Niki / ラーメンニキ
Address: Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Shinbashi 3-16-9, Kyoritsu Building 1st floor
東京都港区新橋3-16-9 共立ビル 1F
Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (Sundays, Mondays), 11 a.m.-4 a.m. (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays), 11 a.m.-6 a.m. (Thursdays, Fridays, days before holidays)

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