This is the third year in a row that Kagestu ramen chain has produced a seasonal vegan ramen. This year it’s an Italian-themed bowl called Nana Rosso, with basil, tomatoes, cabbage and onions to accompany the noodles.

Not everyone is going to like this. It’s got more grease than a muscle-man competition, and though they shove some basil and a baby tomato on top to make it look healthy, it’s not going to fool anyone who takes more than two mouthfuls.

I liked it. This is after-drinking food. Since I hadn’t been drinking, I tried to catch up with a couple of beers. What is it about beer that tells the stomach it needs copious amounts of oil?

I went to the Yutenji branch on the Toyoko Line. The shop smelled so porky that I took my first sip of the soup gingerly. The head office might have made a vegan recipe, but that doesn’t mean the staff care quite so much. There’s no meaty aroma from the food though. I wonder what kind of grease this is. Maybe there’s a teenage heavy metal fan cooking the food. Sorry for that image. Anyway, it’s nice and unhealthy and leaves you with that same feeling you get after scoffing a chain store pizza.

The ramen is heavily promoted in-store, which persuaded the old lady next to me to go veg for a meal, but everyone else in the place was sticking to their porky favourites.

Here’s the joint I went to. Check their website for other stores. The ramen is available until April 12th.

Yutenji Kagetsu
目黒区祐天寺2-12-20
2-12-20 Yutenji, Meguro-ku
Tel 03 3713 5031
Open 11am-4am

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