Good Ramen on Route 6

Route 6. A street that goes straight through Ibaraki. It goes from Tokyo all the way to Sendai. I am not sure if you use this street, but I do. A lot. I usually drive from Tsuchiura to Hitachinaka. I try to avoid Route 6 and take the highway, but sometimes I want to save money and take this long street toward Hitachinaka. Route 6 has a lot of traffic and a lot of restaurants. There are yoshinoyas and sukiyas everywhere on Route 6, plus a lot of ramen restaurants. There is one ramen restaurant in Mito's Route 6 that has stood the test of time. This ramen place has been at the same spot on Route 6 since I can remember, and I have been in Japan for 15 years! It is a crime that in all that time, I had never tired this place. That all changed a few weeks ago when the Ibaraki Eats Duo decided to grab a bowl of ramen at this place. Today, I will be talking about Montsuru.

Montsuru

Montsuru is a mom-and-pop ramen restaurant located on Route 6 in the Hamadacho area of Mito City. If you plan on going to Montsuru, I highly recommend going by car. Route 6 is a busy and somewhat dangerous street. Add that to the busy intersection that Montsuru is close to, and it might not be safe for cyclists. If you do come by car, Montsuru has a parking area next to the restaurant and also shares a parking area with the auto shop next to it.
The Ibaraki Eats Duo visited Montsuru one Saturday night for dinner. We walked up the steps to the entrance and walked inside.

Inside

When I walked inside, the first thing I asked my wife was, "Why is there a yellow alien in the corner?" My wife shrugged and checked out the ticket vending machine. Montsuru has a few booth tables and two counter areas. This restaurant is pretty popular, so you might end up waiting for a while. There is a small wooden waiting room with benches and chairs located to the left of the entrance, where you wait after obtaining your ticket from the ticket vending machine. Luckily for us, it was not a busy night, so we were seated almost immediately. We were seated near the alien, which made me laugh a little bit. Montsuru feels like a ramen restaurant that should be in the middle of the woods. It feels like I am sitting in a huge log cabin with a bunch of other travelers. What immediately took me out of that trail of thought was when Rick Astley came over the overhead speakers. After that, I wasn't sure what to think of the atmosphere.

The Menu

Montsuru's menu is on their ticket vending machine and on their wall in the waiting room. Unfortunately for my non-Japanese-speaking readers, there is no English menu.
The available ramen is White Miso Ramen, Soy Sauce Ramen, Tsukemen, and Maze Soba. The most popular ramen is the white miso ramen.
The Ibaraki Eats Duo waited for our ramen while still contemplating why the alien was in the corner.

Shrimp Tsukemen

This was my order: the shrimp tsukemen. My shrimp tsukemen was a simple kind of tsukemen. It came with thick noodles and a piece of seaweed. The soup had a bunch of vegetables with a fried egg and dried shrimp. I grabbed my noodles with my chopsticks and started dipping. After my first slurp, I thought that this tsukemen was pretty good. The shrimp flavor was strong, but the soup was nice and thick, and it went well with the thick noodles. My wife gave it a slurp and didn't give it a thumbs up, but didn't dislike it either. As I kept eating the tsukemen, as with all tsukemens, the soup got colder. This made the shrimp flavor of the soup get stronger, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. The thick soup also made me extremely thirsty. I believe I finished off a pitcher of water. Good tsukemen in the beginning, not so good towards the end.

White Miso Ramen

This was Mrs. Ibaraki Eats' order: White Miso Ramen. My wife made the right choice. There is a reason this is the most popular ramen at Montsuru, and that is because this ramen is fantastic. This miso ramen brought everything that a usual miso ramen brings, but it had a little extra. The grounded sesame seeds and the red hot sauce on top of the ramen are a welcome addition to this delicious ramen. My wife gave this ramen the thumbs up and let me try it. This ramen was hot, delicious, and full of meaty chashu. I loved every slurp I had of this ramen. The noodles were great, the egg was tasty, and the spicy sauce just gave everything a delicious kick. I would love to have this ramen again the next time I am driving towards Hitachinaka.

After we finished our ramen, we thanked the old couple in the kitchen (whom I assume are the owners) and headed back to Tsuchiura. Our experience and ramen at Montsuru were both great and OK. My ramen was OK, but the white miso ramen was great. I liked the log cabin feel of Montsuru, but I think they should maybe revisit their music choices. Not that I don't like Rick Astley, I do. But that was just a weird atmospheric mixture.

So if you are driving up or down Route 6 and are craving some ramen, why not give Montsuru a chance? Who knows? You might see us there. Enjoying the white miso ramen and still wondering why the alien is in the restaurant.
Enjoy!

For more information on Montsuru, check out their website:
https://montsuru.com/