There is a New Ramen Joint in Town

There is a new ramen joint in the city of Tsukuba. It opened a month ago and has been making waves throughout the Tsukuba ramen-eating community. This ramen restaurant not only does ramen but they are famous for their maze soba too. Their ramen and maze soba are so famous, that customers wait hours to get in and try their ramen or maze soba. The place I am talking about is High Mount and they make a mean maze soba.

High Mount

High Mount is a new maze soba and ramen restaurant located in the Tsukuho area of Tsukuba. The restaurant is located on Route 55 on Higashiodori Ave. If you are driving to High Mount, take Route 55 going towards Mt. Tsukuba. When you see the 100 yen shop Daiso, take the next left side street and take another left which will lead you to High Mount's parking area. Once you park, head inside and grab a ticket at the ticket vending machine.
I should mention that High Mount is not an Ibaraki original. This ramen chain comes from Tochigi, and it is well-known there. The sad news about the Tochigi original High Mount Ramen place was that it burned down recently. I am not sure if the original High Mount will come back, but I am glad they opened a new location in Tsukuba.

Inside

The inside of High Mount is the same as most ramen places. You walk in, you are greeted by a ticket vending machine, and you grab your ticket and wait. There is only counter seating at High Mount, no tables. The main counter can fit up to maybe ten customers. There is also a back counter area that can fit a few more customers. The blue board above the counter seating area is all the toppings for your ramen or maze soba. Sorry, my non-Japanese speakers, the topping menu is only in Japanese.

The Menu

You have two choices at High Mount: Ramen or Maze Soba. The other buttons on the ticket vending machine are Coccoman (I have no idea what that is), pork, uzura which I believe is Japanese quail, 3 pieces of rich cheese, and a chashu rice bowl. I am not sure what the other buttons are and I did not have time to figure it out. There were people waiting behind me so I had to choose quickly.
I decided to select the maze soba and ordered the chu (medium) size for an extra 100 yen. You can order a small size, regular size, or large size for your ramen of maze soba. My ticket was printed and then I waited.

Maze Soba (Medium Size)

When I finally sat down at the counter, I gave my ticket to a staff member, and she asked what toppings I wanted on my maze soba. I looked at her and said, "All the toppings." She looked at me with a look of slight concern but then said, "Ok. All toppings." I waited for a few minutes, and then this behemoth of a bowl of maze soba was put in front of me. "This is a medium!?" I thought to myself. I was in shock. I was scared that I would not be able to finish this massive bowl of maze soba. By the way, my wife was working that day and could not help me finish this huge bowl. What shocked me even more was that there are still two bigger sizes than this on the menu. I also looked at all my toppings which were bonito flakes, fried noodles, onions, a garlic sauce, more garlic, chili flakes (I think), and two other toppings which I still have no idea what they are.
I grabbed my chopsticks and started mixing. The egg yolk broke down and mixed with the noodles at the bottom, which gives maze soba that nice thick feeling.
I grabbed a few noodles with my chopsticks. They were thick and brown and had a sort of ripple to them. They weren't straight like most maze soba noodles that I have had, but that was not a problem. I slurped up the noodles and immediately understood two things. One, I know why this place is so popular. This maze soba was outstanding. All the toppings in this maze soba were delicious and vital. I loved getting different delicious flavors with every chopstick full of noodles. I also need to mention that the chashu is incredible. It might be one of the best pieces of chashu I have had in a while. It is that soft chashu that breaks down in your mouth easily and also gets stuck between your teeth. I loved this maze soba and it is taking all my willpower not to stop writing and go back to High Mount for another bowl.
Two, this maze soba might kill me. This might be one of the unhealthiest maze sobas I have ever had. I felt my arteries clogging with every swallow. Saying that though, maze soba is not a diet food so I know the risks.

After finishing my ramen, which I was amazed I was able to finish it all, I used all my power to get off the stool I was sitting in and thank the staff for a lovely bowl of maze soba. High Mount was quite an experience and I would love to have their maze soba again.
The next part I am going to write feels incredibly weird to write but I have to do it. I write these blog posts to let my fellow Ibarakians know where all the good places in Ibaraki are. I hope that after reading my posts, some of you will make plans to visit the restaurant, food truck, or event soon. This time though, I have to advise against visiting High Mount. What I left out at the beginning of this blog post was how long I waited for my maze soba. I was in line for one hour and twenty minutes. Unless you have a lot of time to kill, I do not recommend visiting High Mount at this time. Plus, High Mount has a parking problem. I was very lucky to find a spot but most customers have to park somewhere else and the surrounding businesses are not happy about that. I would wait a few more months until the hype dies down and then give High Mount a chance.

So if you are in the mood for some tasty maze soba and have some time to kill, why not give High Mount a try? Unfortunately, you will not see me there. I do not have the time to wait hours upon hours for my maze soba. But maybe in a few months, you might see me there. Enjoying High Mount's maze soba with all the toppings.
Enjoy!

For more information on High Mount, check out their X page:
https://x.com/MountJ0629