After the first ramen place we rushed to get to the second, Rikimaru (力丸), before our stomachs told us we were full. Or that was the logic anyway. I'll prefix the rest of the post by stating that the reason for choosing this restaurant was that this follows the last place we went as the second most popular ramen place in Saku.

We took the last two parking spaces out the front and went in. My god what a stench! It was pretty awful, sitting somewhere between mouldy parmesan cheese and feet that haven't been washed in three months, at least to my nose. The others were also really surprised, with Master describing the smell as similar to an old dishcloth that has been left to get damp and fester for a long period of time.

So while holding our noses we checked the menu and ordered:

- two fish-and-pork-flavour soup (豚と魚介の醤油) - photo 1
- one pork-flavour soup (豚醤油) - photo 2
- one fish-and-pork miso-flavour soup (豚と魚介の味噌) - photo 3

Ten minutes later they came, and my word did they look unappetising. I think we were all pretty taken-aback by the dirtiness of the bowls - they looked like they hadn't been washed for ages, as they had what looked like old soup marks on both the inside and outside - and the scum on the surface of the soup. According to Master, who himself has cooked ramen in his restaurants for years, it means he just doesn't take care to scoop out the natural residue left by the meat when cooking the soup.

Of course that was before we'd even tasted them. Absolutely disgusting! And it wasn't just me (who had one of the two 豚と魚介の醤油) but everybody. Everybody agreed though that the worst tasting was Master's pork-flavoured one; hideous! Not one of us could finish our ramen, even Master who is a seasoned ramen eater.

Needless to say we all left as silently as possible, and Master ended up paying for the lot, apologising for his choice of restaurant. To be fair though looking some other reviews of the place they're all reasonably positive. How?!

Outside we all decided to go and look for somewhere where we could wash the taste out of our mouths with some coffee or tea. There is a Starbucks in Saku inside the JUSCO, so I bought us all a coffee and we all laughed about our experience of the number two ramen restaurant in Saku.