つくしんぼ tsukushinbo: skip it in seattle

by rameniac | 13 Aug 2008

Last I was in Japan, I sucked down twenty-two bowls of ramen over the course of a week. I’m still backlogged with notes to sort, photos to crop, and reviews to write, and yet, every time I take a trip, I find myself compelled to visit as many ramen shops as humanly possible, if only because one prevailing thought overrides all - just hit the spots and get the shots, because who knows when I’ll be back? 

Such was the case this past weekend, when an impromptu trip to Seattle turned into a ramen bacchanal. A childhood friend had flown me up to help him decorate his swank new Capitol Hill loft, and between trips to Ikea and BoConcepts and moments spent wondering why I never became a software engineer, it was all ramen, all the time. One of these days, I told myself, maybe I’ll actually eat some salmon or something, whatever the Pacific Northwest is famous for. 

Because ramen certainly wasn’t it. Tsukushinbo, a well-regarded Japanese “homestyle” restaurant in the city’s International District (a.k.a. China/Japan/Koreatown rolled into one) serves the stuff, but only on Fridays as their featured lunch special.  Ramen, gyoza, and rice is the way they do it and the way you’ll have it, like it or not.

Locals apparently line up for the stuff (there were indeed a few customers waiting for the place to open), but as far as ramen goes, let’s just say you’re in for a treat when a place advertises itself as a “sushi bar” and serves ramen on Fridays simply for the heck of it.

Tsukushimbo’s shoyu was fairly rote. The assari soup had a decent, shrimp-infused flavor - one does sense potential here - but was ultimately lacking in umami and anything resembling depth. The yellow, eggy noodles, though thinner than average, were likewise unremarkable. The chashu had some flavor to it, but was firm and unfriendly like the weather, while the bamboo were tough and fibrous. Perhaps most offensively, they had an overpickled, downright sour flavor to them, as if they had actually spoiled or had been sitting in the jar for the better part of a few, I don’t know, years.

I was still fighting the effects of a Thursday night red-eye into town, and had woken up simply to try Tsukushimbo’s once-a-week ramen. Not an auspicious start to a weekend of slurping; thankfully, it wound up being the worst ramen on the weekend’s intinerary. Skip it. In Seattle, there’s definitely better to be had, as I would soon find out.

a light, assari-style shoyu with hints of shrimpy flavor and flecks of promise, but not much else. is umami really all that hard to achieve?	6
generic noodles typically warrant a score between four and five. tsukushinbo's batch had a good, slender width, but the same mouth-feel as noodles you'd find in any other thoughtless application.	5
firm but flavorful chashu was lacking in personality. the shinachikubamboo shoots, however, were practically inedible. it must be the weather that makes seattle's pork all grumpy like this!	3
mealy, pasty gyoza was lacking in flavor, though competently fried. altogether average in so many ways.	5
tsukushinbo is clean and spartan with no frills at all really. a karaoke machine in the corner left me all excited, but not at noon on an overcast Friday.	1.5
this appears to be one of those hole-in-the-wall japanese restaurants that probably has earned its spot in seattle's asian american community. that in itself is a great thing, and yet i can't really recommend the ramen to anyone. perhaps the other food on the menu is better? could be a while before i'll back to say.	2
515 S Main St Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 467-4004	14