HOPE-KEN-HONPO

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Chūka-soba

Our soup is made from boiled pork bones and finely cooked vegetables. It is very thick and nicely spreads in your mouth a slightly sweet and soft taste. Our home-made curly noodles strongly entwine and bring a lot of umami flavor. Contrary to the current trend, we balance fat and salt in a way that is the perpetuation of our restaurant's original 70s taste. We recommend that you enjoy our ramen with our special spice, ""TOHKA"", vinegar and pepper that are all at your disposal on the tables.
*The photo shows Chūka-soba with seasoned eggs.

Chāshū-men

Our Chāshū is a low-fat shoulder loin that taste fresh and marries very well with our soup. We cut it large and thin so as to let the flavour penetrate the soup, and the 5 slices we put in our ramen come as the perfectly right volume. Soak them in the soup one by one and enjoy the taste !

CUSTOM ORDER

Please let us know how you want to adjust the taste or the texture of your noodles

HISTORY

• 1935
  Our business started as a poor stall
  in Kinshibori (current Kinshicho, Sumida-ku).

  The founder of Hope Ken (aged 19 at that time), Humio Nanba, was working as a delivery service provider at Tsukiji, a coal miner, a docker, and a grocery retailer at the same time.

• 1938
  Opened a new store: Seikankosu.

  Nanba was preteding to be chinese.

• 1945
  Opened a new store: Tokuichiban.
• End of World War II.
• 1947
  Opened Home Run ken
  in Asagaya

  Because another restaurant had the same name, Tokuichiban was renamed to Home Run ken.
  The business went well for 15 years with the number of stores increasing, however due to the reconstruction plans after World War II all of them were forced to close. Nanba was back to operating a stall.
  When he started a new business in Kichijoji, the shop was named "Hope Ken" as a wish of good fortune. It became a franchise renting103 stalls in Tokyo.
  Afterwards, Hideaki Ushikubo (owner of Hope Ken Sendagaya), started his own stall business.

• 1954
  Incorporated his business ad Hope ken Honpo KK
• 1973
  Nanba's older daughter took over "Hope Ken Higashimurayama", and renamed it "Murayama Hope Ken",
  in Higashimurayama
• 1978
  Hope ken Kichijoji opened
  at the Kichijoji Cobalt Shotengai (a shopping street).

  It was closed in 1985 also because of the WWII reconstruction plans.

• 1979
  Hope ken Suginami opened
  in Higashikoenji.

  Closed in 2017.

• 1982
  Hope Ken Otsuka opened.
  in Otsuka
• 1984
  Hope ken Kichijoi opened
  on the Sun Road shotengai.
• 1992
  Nanba's younger daughter took over "Hope ken Asagaya", and renamed it "Asagaya Hope ken"
  in Asagaya

PRODUCT

Home made noodles

We are not using any preservatives. The noodles brings out the full original flavour of the ingredients. It goes very well with the soup.

We have been using thin noodles.
Through trail and error, we started with straight noodles but ended up with the wavy ones since 1965 because it matches the soup best.
Preservatives, ethyl alcohol, PG are not used, and the noodles bring you the original wheat flavor and texture.

TOHKA

Once you add it in your Chūka-soba, it will not only bring spiciness but also a rich flavor and umami. It's a secret special spice mix.

Around 1970, a student from Thailand was eating a ramen with chili and granulated sugar. We tasted it and the idea for TOHKA came from this experience. Without granulated sugar, it is just spicy and has no rich flavor, but once we add some oyster sauce it makes this spice more flavorly and mild. After several trials, we finalized the spice without preservatives and named it TOHKA. In the beginning, customers could taste it when they came to our restaurants. However, since we received a lot of possitive comments about it we started selling it in 1984.

ACCESS