Tokyo’s Ramen Restaurants Lose their Michelin Stars | @AbroadinJapan Podcast #55

Tokyo’s Ramen Restaurants Lose their Michelin Stars | @AbroadinJapan Podcast #55

I always talk about how I met Elon Musk and prince Andrew and nobody cares because it’s not a photo so you got make sure if you meet your celebrity always get the photo otherwise it it literally didn’t happen wow hello and welcome to the Abron Japan podcast probably the best

Way of learning about life in Japan that actually being in Japan I’m your host Chris broad we’re joined as always by England’s top Japan Enthusiast Mr Pete Donson himself Pete how the devil are you doing let’s going on a very good morning to you Christopher I am uh

Enchanted by your Vis I’m enchanted by your new hair is this new hair or don’t hair or is this um a recent haircut that just kind of grown out a little bit Chris I have to say you are looking very spunky at the moment I’m I look good do

I said you look good people have been coming up to me and being like you’ve lost weight and I’m like have I I’ve not done anything I don’t I don’t know if that’s like the haircut or yeah I like it’s weird how much a haircut can kind

Of change the shape of one’s face yes it’s good stuff indeed I’m trying to get fit I’ve got like some big silly fitnessyou I mean you’ve for that you’ve been quite busy um recently just uh bashing Out video after video haven’t you uh your your post kind of Christmas

You’re in a post Christmas Crush at the moment you’re in the middle of uh just editing lit at night pretty constantly pretty much and like it’s one of those annoying things where if you don’t release a video for a while I think I I kind of worry that all the viewers might

Assume that I’m just sort of sitting in a room on a bean bag playing gay to suima which I have done quite a lot in February but but I have also been working and making videos and uh I think it should be out now but how expensive

Is it to travel Japan video which is like 30 minutes long and it took 2 weeks to make and uh if you haven’t watched it go and check it out but um yeah no things are ramping up though we’ve got a lot of videos out in March um I’m

Planning a a wacky weekend trip with Connor it’s coming up uh I’m filming in a few days I’ve got a trip to Hiroshima got a thing with natski yeah man it’s it things really pick up in March February is like depression the month and March

Is like the flowers are in bloom and so am I and I feel revived refreshed and ready to kick some ass not literally I’m not that violent but it’s going to be good yeah I’m excited Chris did you read about the um the big Nintendo Yuzu emulator

Issue that’s very specific no I did not what is the the Nintendo switch emulator big news in Nintendo emulation obviously Nintendo big Japanese company they’re spending a lot of time just absolutely smashing [ __ ] out of emulators left right and Center uh the 3DS and the DS was hugely um emulated and pirated sort

Of system so Nintendo have always got stick in their bum about anybody you know um flirting with any kind of emulation or any kind of reproduction of their International prop International rather intellectual property and um they’ve uh this week um put the old put the old hammer on a emulator called Yuzu

Uh who put their um who put their emulator behind a pay wall on on patreon a little while ago and um it looks like they have successfully halted the um development of a um an emulator for the first time I think in a long time uh

Which may spell um a real um end to uh legal emulation around the world it’s hard to underestimate or sorry it’s hard to overstate rather um how uh destructive this this this move might be and once again Nintendo protecting their IP uh is is going to leave a lot of people

Um rather unhappy that’s a shame what is it Nintendo’s ruthless aren’t they I mean there was a time where you play their video games or you know public well in in in Japan there’s no such thing as fair use there’s no such thing as uh you know transforming things so

You can uh find yourself at the end of a very large legal hit from Nintendo of America of Japan of Europe and so yeah they’re uh they’re they’re little sods they really are not as friendly as Mario might might assume I I I actually drove past Nintendo’s

Headquarters last week it is the most depressing looking building it’s just this big blocky office building and it looks really boring and there but what goes on inside is Magic pure magic magic even if they are screwing lots of people over uh but no I like Nintendo I think

They’re cool and I’m anxiously awaiting the switch to which why isn’t it out yet I can’t believe the switch has been out for like how long now8 n years or something it’s cracking on yeah it’s really sort of sneaked up on everyone I think I I feel like the

Switch came out yesterday and the Wii U the day before that and the Wii before that like it it seem like the the things are accelerating and you know like um video game uh systems are what happens when you’re busy doing other things as John lenon

Said I uh yeah I’m came to get my one but uh we shall see what they do next we got a story this week from Aaron who says L Celestial Chris and prompt Pete my story is from a recent trip that me and my girlfriend took to Tokyo one day

We visited am oratore Market in weno and we had the same whiskey eyeball uh that that you and American Pete had in your walking across Tokyo in a day video good stuff I love that whiskey Hy after a couple of drinks we noticed a drunk Japanese couple lingering around us I

Accidentally made eye contact and they immediately began chatting to us in a mixture of Japanese and passible English we used our limited Japanese phrases before quickly turning to Google Translate for help bringing us all some good laughs and raising the volume even higher more and more drinks were

Arriving at our table along with loads of food and they went they were clearly enjoying uh summoning the waiters and selecting items off the menu for us to try despite my initial concern over there inebriated state things were going pretty well until I saw what they wanted

Us to try next I didn’t know what it was it was grilled it was white on the outside and worryingly deep pink in the middle as it sounds like Peete as I gently proted it with my Chopstick I realized it was very undercooked almost in completely almost completely raw

Chicken how do we get out of this I thought try it try it it’s very good they exclaimed bet they did but God it’s horrible before I could warn her my girlfriend enthusiastically in and ate a piece just for a millisecond I could see the confusion sweeping across her face

Either the taste or the texture of the meat I was able to employ the classic move of rubbing my stomach and going oh yeah too full too full death to to escape the same fate thankfully they gave up quickly in favor of finishing their drinks but I wanted to ask just

How common is eating raw chicken surely the risks are not worth the reward uh luckily my girlfriend had no ill effects and actually claim to enjoy it though we were both nervous for a couple of days uh we’re heading back in March though raw chicken won’t be on the menu this

Time loving the podcast all the best guys Aaron who did not eat the raw chicken disgusting I hate raw chicken I uh when I did the cycle with Connor last year in kishu we went to a Yaki Nikki restaurant and I uh the menu was all in

Japanese it was very odd kanji but I can make out the word grilled chick I make out the word chicken and I was like oh yeah chicken can’t go wrong with that we ordered that and they brought out like a [ __ ] platter of raw chicken like a

Mountain of raw chicken and we just did not touch it and I felt so bad like you know you feel guilty as we had last week the guy that ordered too much oniri he ordered a thousand pieces of oniri and he Enlisted the help of the internet to

Try and eat them I felt we should have done the same thing with that mountain of chicken Sashimi it’s so bad though it’s so slimy it there’s no like quality red yeah I mean you never had it right I’ve never had it all and and it’s there

Is something about I don’t know to the Western pallette having um raw chicken we we just don’t have the um the food safety standards that the Japanese clearly think they have though I know a lot of people um have fallen foul of the whole raw chicken thing it’s uh yeah

It’s you just don’t want brain worms you just don’t want brain worms that’s the last thing you need to be honest so yeah let’s St a clear of that I mean what do you actually have with it is just a bit of soy sauce just a bit of to make it

Less slimy vinegar how would you kind of make it in any cuz I mean I guess it’s probably the same texture as salmon but something about our brains go nope it it doesn’t T it doesn’t really taste like salmon or chin or anything like that they they basically dip it in

Soy sauce and uh Ginger sometimes um it does it does nothing if you have without that it’s it’s straight up just one of the worst things you could put in your mouth cuz it has this slimy texture and then it’s kind of cheery and just doesn’t something wrong but well it’s

It’s like it’s like I I remember sort of I when I was at University I used to eat um a lot of um uh uh blood sausage black pudding um oh but I used to eat it raw like the French do um Jesus and uh and yeah people found that quite um

Offensive um I mean I mean it’s already boiled it’s already like black pudding is already cooked when you get it in the main uh if you get it from a nice place but uh so that’s worth doing uh worth trying once in your life you can still

You can still you can eat it un uncooked um it’s not as nice uncooked but if you’re in a if you’re in a pinch and you need the black pudding fix just you know just pop a cube in your mouth suck on it oh God I do like black pudding in like a

Fry up it’s really nice there but raw oh I had you are in my mind inextricably linked and inexplicably linked to the very best black pudding I’ve ever had when you did your London show uh late a year and a half year ago um when you did your Christmas shows pre- Christmas

Shows I um I had your I had um some black pudding in Del black pudding I had some delicious black pudding over the road uh for a breakfast over the road from the hotel we were staying in and my God Chris it was the best black pudding

I had tasted in I it was transcendental it was just the best black p i ever tasted I don’t know where they get it from I don’t know how they fry it I don’t know how they cook it but um there is a restaurant quite just over the road

From where we stayed in that hotel that did the best black pudding and I want to go back there and you didn’t invite me you didn’t think oh I should invite Chris to to come along the only person I saw was um was um team leader Ian who

Was going for a run uh and and I was going for black pudding and I felt bad about myself so I didn’t tell anyone Jesus but no raw chicken horrible stuff don’t just just don’t eat that it can’t there’s no redeeming quality it’s one of those I I don’t mind basashi raw

Horse I can do that yeah but and I can another one that’s a bit sketchy is raw eggs I eat that willingly with like rice and things but you know you have to have something with it it’s pretty flavorless but it’s nice with beef you kind of like

I think that’s a daunting thing for folks coming here when you have like Sukiyaki beef hot pot right you get the raw egg in a bowl and you have to sort of whip it up and then you dip the beef into it whatnot and I could see that for

The first few times being a bit like this is a bit wrong can I get sick with this raw egg but it’s good and and that’s the one thing I’d say that might take a bit to get your head wrapped around but it is good same with not Nan

Coder uh chicken cartilage when you go to a Yakitori restaurant you know c chicken cartilage sounds dating daunting but uh when it’s battered and put with a bit of ketchup it’s pretty good it’s pretty good stuff but is it we’re talking about food and actually our news

Story this week this week uh revolves around food uh Tokyo’s three Mitchell and star ramen restaurants all lost their stars in 2024 Pete what the hell happened what’s going on what the hell happened um well they they just lost their they just lost their Stars when the prestigious

Michelin guide unveil this 2024 Tokyo Edition in December last year the Beloved city was awarded 23 fewer Stars than the previous Year all three of Tokyo’s michelan starred ramen restaurants lost their one star status in the new guy this means there is currently no Michelin stard Ramen in

Tokyo or the world for that matter uh up to 2023 over only three Ramen Specialists have been awarded one naku sorry nakiryu for its beloved danand Dan men uh Kiki hot gotu huot hotu for it clam broth nles and let’s uh really Barrel into this last

One and gja hat you go for its Sublime consite Ramen broth in the 2024 michelen guide all three ramen restaurants no longer hold a star so You’ just I mean the food’s delicious let’s let’s take nothing away from it apart from Michelin star and uh yeah you you can’t get

Michelin star Ramen in in Tokyo or anywhere because there there is no Ramen that befits the melan star which is uh astonishing so for actually I went on a bit of a rant on uh Twitter a few weeks ago cuz I went to a Mitchell a three mitchellan star restaurant it wasn’t a

Ramen Shop it was a like a a meeting I had and the person wanted to go there and it was rubbish it was [ __ ] I I’ve eaten at quite a lot of mellin star restaurants over the years and I say mellin it’s probably michelon right and uh of the

Many I’ve eaten at I think you know maybe 20% or less have I gone okay that was pretty good that was value right for the most part it’s literally oh we’ll just take a [ __ ] you know take some mushrooms what’s the what’s the really Swanky

Mushroom what’s the uh the nice no no oh God what’s the really uh expensive one I ranted about Mario I don’t know truff [ __ ] truffles it’s mushroom right sorry not a mushroom then fine okay good yeah all right clever CL I mean yeah you you basically they

They take a food a bit of celery and they rub a truffle on it and it’s like and there we go three metalin stars and Thrice the price and I just I I came at that three melin star restaurant I was just like I don’t remember a single dish

I ate I don’t see how anything that was done was sort of unique or you know High it just it was just truffles it just truffles it’s rubbish and I got really angry cuz the price tag was formidable for what it was and it kind of tax sounds like it

Was a business meeting I mean yeah I don’t think don’t think I pay for it either so that was good but anyway it it uh it left a sour taste my mouth not the Truffles and um no it’s sad though like I I there’s the mitchellan star restaurant the ginsa

Hator I saw a video on this place recently and it does look very good he cooks the pork so well and there’s some good YouTube videos on it and I do want to go and I looked into it but you’ve got to like you can reserve seats or you

Can get there at 7: a.m. and wait for like 6 hours and I can’t wait 6 minutes for my food let alone six bloody hours in the middle of Gins in a street so you can reserve I think every week on Sunday at midnight they open it up so you can

Reserve your seats right and it gets sold out instantly and even then once you reserved it you still have to turn up really early and wait for a few hours I think so it’s just like how much do I want my Michelin star Armen am I willing

To wait you know three to four hours to eat some noodles is it going to be that good I don’t know if I can justify it and you’re not allowed to take photos or film it so I can’t really film it and make a tax deductible trip did it did it

Really happen yeah if it’s if you don’t film it didn’t really happen exactly right I always talk about how I met Elon Musk and prince Andrew nobody cares cuz it’s not a photo so you got make sure if you meet the celebrity always get the photo otherwise it literally didn’t

Happen you don’t want that prince Andrew probably that you don’t want that com back to yeah get a photo with prince Andrew that’s what everybody wants that’s what every kid wants under the [ __ ] tree good God oh God oh man but like I don’t know so why did they get

Rid of the mellin star is there any indication as to why was the French guy just a bad mood that week I don’t know I mean why would you get yeah it just seems like do familiarity breed contempt when it comes to the the Michelin system

Does it I mean I imagine like uh novelty plays into it as well I don’t really know what the kind of how you kind of go oh the very daughter you lost your Michelin star like do they have to do they is there a Michelin star do they

Take the star out of the window do they sort of um or do they just release their guide and the and the chef opens it up one day and goes oh oh [ __ ] we’ve lost that’s lit what happens there’s a there’s a good documentary [ __ ] cowards a documentary called

Boiling point on uh I think it’s G Ramsey in the 90s getting one of his stars at his restaurant yeah and he’s like livid when he’s not got his three mitchellan stars they literally wait they get a book he Rings up his friend he’s like open the book turn to page 65

What we got oh no stars [ __ ] and it’s like you know a big deal for a lot of people right um I don’t imagine I don’t know you know how these Japanese ramen shops would feel I imagine they don’t care so much because they’re not actually sort of

Their aim is not to make Michelin star Rama necessarily right it’s not like a French restaurant that’s like trying to take all the boxes right with the serving and the preparation and the cutlery and the staff and all the factors that go into getting a Michelin star I always felt the Michelin stars

Were kind of rigid and very French and you got to be you got to do the French Playbook you know you got to have a certain way of doing it but you know some of the good Michelin star restaurants I’ve been to there was one

In Hong Kong I went to that just did dumplings that were very reasonably priced you know um for like $10 having a a top Michelin star dumpling it was really good though the dumplings were exceptional and this ginsa uh Ramen Shop the reason it’s SC Michelin sty clearly

A lot of thought goes into every stage of the the process like I know he you know developed these special noodles and he takes a lot of time with the broth and he you know brazes the pork very slowly and Cooks it with like a blowtorch cuz blowtorches equals good

And then finally of course there’s truffles there’s truffles in the ramen Pete and that seals the deal Stars you can find that’s right I should I should cook for Charlotte like spaghetti bolognese and just get a truffle just great it Michelin star now it Michelin star

Dinner but um yeah that’s a shame though but I’m still going to swing by this Ramen Shop God damn it I’m going to go and I’m going to eat this Ramen I’m going to try it and at the very least I’ll make it Instagram real and that

Will make the trip tax adoptable because that’s all I get and prove that I ate there because that’s all that matters now is it yeah if you don’t film it you don’t take a photo it simply did not happen we’ll back in just a moment guys you the stories comments and questions

In the facts machine wow and we’re back with the fax machine what do we got this week from our listeners Mr do P we got a message from Nick uh hi Chris and Pete I’m going to be moving to Japan for three months during my last visit the country I

Greatly missed the chain Chipotle and craved Mexican food in general what are the dishes you missed from home when traveling in Japan uh what would you guys suggest for a last meal before heading to Japan Nick from La o that’s probably not a bad shout is it like like

Getting just as much kind of right really I mean I didn’t realize that um Chipotle had that good uh representation of of food but um yeah I mean just absolutely piling in on all those kind of like those forbidden South of the Border solders and and and and delicious

Oh food oh delicious Mexican food yeah that i’ absolutely like proper put yourself into a food corn which will help you sleep on the flight that’s true actually yeah that’s a good point I uh I personally Miss Greg’s sausage rolls and pasties and pastries like pastries and

Yeah sausage rolls just can’t really get them here you can get pretty much everything else now I found I found places that do fish and chips or Sunday roast and all that British stuff but sausage rolls are still like a nogo Zone it can’t be done and I think I should

Set up a restaurant the sausag Ry the the sausage I don’t know think of a better name than that you’re good at this think of a name for my sausage roll restaurant Pete help me out um it’s we’re on a roll on a roll I like that

Yeah on a roll perfect I like it on a roll better the sausag Ry which sounds borderline x-rated I uh yeah sausage Rollo missing Big Time bring them over we got story this week or a question rather from James who says Dear Cool Chris and perverse Pete in a recent podcast you talked

About the film all of us strangers this film was based on the Japanese novel and my microphone is collapsing around me who doesn’t like that talk about some Japanese novels uh in a recent podcast about all of us strangers the film was based on the Japanese novel by by famous Japanese

Novelist and screenwriter ta taii Yamada this leads me to ask what Japanese stor is whether folklore or literature would you want to see realized as a film personally I believe there is a lot of untapped potential in yorai based horror or slasher films thank you guys James I

Really I’m in a mood to I I’ve always wanted to write and direct my own film but I’m thinking maybe I should start by taking somebody else’s idea like a good idea and then giving them the money and buying the rights to it and then making it because that’s probably better than

Something I can think of and that could be a good way to do it although I might butcher their work so I just steal it from for claw which um is being suggested here um there there is a there is a character that I would love to see

You direct a sort of horror film about um momotaro um a little baby who came to Earth inside a giant peach which is found floating down a river by an old woman who was washing clothes there the woman and her husband discovered the child when they tried to open the peach

To eat it the child explained that he’d been sent by heaven to be their son and the couple named him momotaro from Momo meaning Peach and Taro meaning the eldest son in the family years later mamara left his parents for an island called onigashima to destroy the

Marauding demons that dwelt there I was really impressed mamaro met a befriended a a talking dog monkey and fesser who agreed to help him in this Quest at the island matara and his animal friends penetrated the Demon’s F and beat the Demon’s leader as well as his army into

Surrendering motara returned home with his new friends and his family live comfortably from then on Baby Peach kills a lot of [ __ ] demons and then comes back and his baby Peach Boy again we don’t enough we don’t pay enough do we he’s good I I was really impressed there when he started

Wheeling off motaro facts I was like wow P NOS stuff and it slowly but surely became clear it was being read off a Wikipedia sorry I was there there’s another one that I I think would really adapt quite well um bonku chagama any idea about what that might

Mean uh what was it again bun bun bun bunbuku chagama roughly translates to happiness bubbling over like a teapot um the story the forcl story tells of a man a poor man who found a raccoon dog Tanuki uh caught in a trap feeling sorry for the animal he set it free that night

The Tanuki came to the poor man’s house to thank him for his kindness and the Tanuki transformed himself into a teapot and basically told the man the poor man to sell him for money so the man told the sold the teapot the Tanuki teapot to a monk who brought it home

After scrubbing it harshly set it over the fire to boil some water unable to stand the heat the teapot sprouted legs the Tanuki tea pot and basically half transformed and ran away uh and the Tanuki returned to the poor man with another idea about the man setting up a

A circus uh and charging admission for for people to see a dancing or you know a t teapot doing tricks it sounds like basically this Tanuki is just more trouble than he’s worth he’s coming up with these Hain schemes and uh this poor man is is just you know embarrassing

Himself with his trying to sell his teapot I would pay good money to hear you read out yorai stories with bril my favorite one was that one where like you know like like in like a in a in a bathroom um the the ceiling gets all wet

Isn’t there one that like climbs through the window and licks all the condensation off the ceiling now that’s a goddamn [ __ ] Fu tail is it hey God it’s pretty cool though like yeah I need to there’s a really good book I saw recently on yorky that I wanted to buy

And it tells you about what they do and what they are cuz there’s so many right there’s so many bizarre on and like I had never heard what was it bun bun bunbu bunbu chug it just sounds like CH Mas I I remember ited that’s a good where did

You find all these stories where’ you find this I think I I honestly uh I think Googling something at 6 o’cl in the morning you’re never going to get there’s never a paper trail Chris I can’t remember beautiful have you seen uh I mean while it’s a bit out my depth

Filming something like this have you you ever seen uh have you been watching Shaun yet I’m not but it’s it’s heavily advertised uh in on on the old Amazon and stuff I’m still trying to get through is it what was the thing is it one day I’m I’m bashing through one day

At the moment uh about um two uh kids who are just living their life in London n don’t watch kids watch shun it’s really good we’ll talk about it in a another podcast I’m only two episodes in but uh yeah check it out it’s really I think people are excited there seems

To be a lot of uh relief I think cuz Shogun the original Shun in hindsight doesn’t look so good now because it’s the story of like a white guy just setting up in Japan fixing Japan single-handedly right which is what I’ve done now for 12 years and like it’s that

You know white Savior sooy and like but this one is a bit more he’s very mindful of that and um yeah put the the Japanese cast front and center really good check it out we’ll talk about another episode we got one last question here from Angela who says ell chis Pete last time

I was in Japan was in 2018 for two weeks and I’m planning to go back in the next year or two for a month my question is since the yen is so low right now is Cash still King and should I seriously consider picking up some Yen now while

It’s still low I don’t know how acceptable credit cards are and the last time I traveled there I brought just enough yen to cover my expenses uh I’m sure I feel like many others out there who would love to take advantage of such an amazing exchange rate all the best

Guys Angela from Los Angeles and um I mean I I think the end won’t get better necessarily touch would for travelers but I don’t see it sort of getting stronger anytime soon um but yeah it’s like a price right now yeah yeah so so

Is it worth s of I don’t I think you know I don’t know Finance so I don’t know whether um so I don’t know whether it makes sense buying some now or would you make as much kind of hair if you just kept the money in your bank account

I don’t know I don’t know how it works I person I mean I I don’t think the N is going to it might get a little bit stronger it might go up or down but I don’t see any dramatic shifts on the way in terms of the currency this could

Be like a sound clip in a year’s time when the yen is the world’s strongest currency and Japan is back to take over the world but I don’t think that’s going to happen I think don’t don’t don’t bother this my this my inclination but um yeah make no mistake now’s a great

Time to visit Japan if you are thinking of doing it do it now I know a lot of friends who have who have been sitting on the fence about whether to go to Japan and uh now they’ve seen the Yen and how much their money gets in Japan

They’re like all hopping on the plane and I’ve got to show lots of people around and that’s half my year now just showing people around the sen SOI Temple and Asaka and bloody Shabu Crossing we’ll be back later in the week guys keep the stories questions comments coming into Japan podcast gmail.com or

Comment down below here on YouTube if you’re watching but for now have a great few days and we’ll see you right back here to do all over again with the great Pete Donaldson very soon bye for Now

“Slurp!” – the sound of Michelin, slurping up their stars.

⭐ PREVIOUS EPISODE:

Feat @AbroadinJapan

00:00 Nintendo Bans Emulation
05:36 Raw Chicken on the Menu?
12:35 Tokyo’s Ramen Restaurants Lose their Michelin Stars
20:37 Dishes we miss?
22:09 Good Yokai Movies?
28:03 Is Cash Still King in Japan?

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