Ramen is one of those foods that exist beyond my understanding, simply because I can’t (or choose not to) eat food that contains red meat or chicken. (It should also be said that I’m not a huge fan of noodle soups like udon for example so I don’t feel like I’m missing so much.) So, I stand outside on occassion, especially when the shop is “famous,” and wonder a bit what all the fuss is about. This particular shop, in Nakano (one of Tokyo’s “Ramen Towns” apparently), is called Aoba and Naoko confirms that it is indeed famous and consistently in the top 10 of ramen establishments. I’ll leave those assessments to the aficionados but will chime in that it is certainly on my current short list of top 10 fascinating shop exteriors in Tokyo.