Ramen has traditionally always been served in hot broth (soup); however a relatively recent trend is tsukemen style, in which the noodles (served luke-warm) are dished separately on their own plate while the broth remains served in a bowl. The idea is simple yet fun, take some noodles and dip them into the hot broth, consume, repeat.Tsukemen is now a mainstay and is offered at almost all Tokyo ramen shops; however its origins go back about 40 years when then inspiring Ramen chef Kazuo Yamagishi was "caught" (viewed by a customer) dipping his noodles into a separate cup of broth. Today Yamagishi-san is retired and considered a legend for the contributions he made to this once simple dish.
Tsukemen broth is usually a thicker and more hearty than its counterpart's. Taishoken's is made from pork, chicken and anchovies and is boiled down until additional ingredients are added, such as shoyu, miso, or spice.
I've been to the two Ikebukuro branches, unfortunately neither are the original shop- which was torn down a few years ago due to a city construction project. On my first visit I had to go with what made them famous, the tsukemen. The broth was almost sweet & sour in flavors, and was a little thinner than I was expecting. I consider it excellent tsukemen, but not the best I've had. On my visit to their other Ikebukuro store I tried out their traditional soup-based ramen; again the broth was on the light side (though broth can definitely get lighter). And again I very much enjoyed the quality and taste, but... I've had better.
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