Ramen Jiro Maebashi Chiyodamachi Branch

As of September 2024, I visited the Maebashi Chiyodamachi branch of Ramen Jiro, the only direct lineage Jiro in Gunma Prefecture. This restaurant opened in October 2019, about 5 years ago, and at the time of its opening, it was the only one in Gunma Prefecture that did not have a direct lineage Jiro in the Kanto region, so it was quite a hot topic at the time of its opening. The owner of this shop had trained at the Mita Head Shop and the Hachioji Yaen Kaido Branch, so I wondered if the taste of the ramen was similar to that of the Yaen Kaido Branch. With this in mind, I went from JR Maebashi Station to Chiyodacho, where the restaurant is located……

The ramen shop is quite prosperous in the shuttered shopping arcade… Ramen Jiro Maebashi Chiyodamachi Branch is such a restaurant

Ramen Jiro Maebashi Chiyodamachi Branch is located in a shopping street about 1 km north of JR Maebashi Station. This area has a unique atmosphere with a mixture of old-fashioned arcades and nighttime stores, but perhaps reflecting Maebashi’s declining population, many stores are not even open during the daytime on weekdays. I had the impression that the area had become a shuttered street.

In such a situation, Ramen Jiro Maebashi Chiyodamachi Branch was quite prosperous. I arrived at the restaurant at around 12:30 on a weekday. As expected, the line was not as long as at other Jiro’s in the city center. Most of the 19 seats in the restaurant (including 10 seats at the L-shaped counter) were already occupied, and customers were arriving one after another. I guess there will be a line on weekends and holidays…be prepared for a certain amount of waiting time on weekends and holidays.

At first glance, the small pork ramen at Ramen Jiro’s Maebashi Chiyodamachi Branch looks small, but…

What I ordered at Ramen Jiro Maebashi Chiyodamachi Branch this time was the small pork ramen (priced at 1,040 yen including tax) with more chashu pork. The call is “with garlic,” so the volume is the same as the standard ramen.

After about 10 minutes of waiting, the small pork ramen arrived in front of me…

At a glance, I did not feel the volume of the ramen was too large for the amount of pork I ordered. I was seriously worried that it might have been mistaken for a small ramen. I was seriously worried.

Well, I guess I’ll just have to give up and say it was bad luck…I took a sip of the soup as I usually do. Can you see it in the image above? There is a thick film of fat (oil?) on the surface of the soup. It’s a visual that I’ve come to expect from Jiro… It’s not hard to imagine how many calories I would consume if I drank the soup in its entirety. However, the flavor of the soy sauce was more pronounced than the sweetness and umami of the pork derivatives.

The noodles were made thinner than the noodles of most Jiro-style restaurants. This area is influenced by Hachioji Yaen Kaido Branch 2. The noodles are hard-boiled and chewy as expected, but the thinness of the noodles makes them a little less chewy. Also, I think the amount of noodle is a little less than 250 grams. I think it is a little less than 250 grams. If you can eat the standard amount of Jiro’s noodles, I think you can have a large ramen and still enjoy it.

Now, the pork (chashu pork) I was worried about, but it was present in a hidden form under the vegetables, and when I counted, there were 7 pieces in total. I’m glad they didn’t forget the pork… Each piece was so thick and tender that it made me think from the bottom of my heart, “This is what Jiro is all about…”. I don’t know how many pieces of pork come with the small ramen without extra pork, but if you can eat this much pork for only 150 yen extra for a small ramen, I guess those who like chashu pork should choose the more pork option.

In this way, I was generally satisfied with the small pork ramen at Ramen Jiro Maebashi Chiyodamachi Branch, except that the overall impact of the noodles was weak. If I ever visit Maebashi again, I will definitely stop by. Nowadays, Jiro-inspired ramen has spread all over Japan, but it is still nice to be able to enjoy the taste of direct lineage Jiro in a local city, isn’t it? On my way home, I wondered if the taste of Jiro-inspired restaurants would spread to western Japan…

Other Ramen Menu Items at Ramen Jiro Maebashi Chiyodamachi Branch (prices include tax)

• Small ramen 890 yen
• Large ramen 990 yen
• Large pork ramen 1140 yen

If the timing is good, you can enter the restaurant without a wait… Access to Ramen Jiro Maebashi Chiyodamachi Branch is a 6-minute walk from the nearest station, Chuo Maebashi Station on the Jomo Electric Railway line.

I’ve seen other food blogs about Ramen Jiro Maebashi Chiyodamachi Branch, and it seems that if the timing is right, you can enter the restaurant with no waiting time. I’ve been to a lot of Jiro restaurants where you had to wait in line, so I’m glad for us customers that this is the case. Not having to wait in line is not a problem of bad ramen or bad customer service, so there is plenty of potential for Jiro to become a must-go-to restaurant in the future. If you are looking for a Jiro restaurant in Maebashi, now might be a good time to visit.

Now, here are the details of the restaurant…

From Maebashi Station on the JR Ryomo Line, it is an 18-minute walk.

P.S. Just behind Ramen Jiro Maebashi Chiyodamachi Branch is that restaurant that is getting a lot of buzz on YouTube…