Kinkatsu

Kinkatsu, which means “Gold Scorpion,” is a restaurant that specializes in tantanmen, a noodle dish with a sauce made from sesame paste and chili oil. This is a small restaurant with 8 counter seats which usually attracts a line outside during lunch time. There is a big banner outside the restaurant that touts the positive effects of “kingoma” (gold sesame), the big selling point of Kinkatsu’s tantanmen. There are 3 major types of sesame: white, black, and gold. Gold sesame contains the highest amount of oil in it among the three varieties, and is said to have a better taste than white and black sesame. Their banner says kingoma is “the king of sesame” and its effects are (1) beautiful skin, (2) diet, (3) cholesterol removal, (4) preventing hair loss and gray hair, (5) getting rid of anemia, (6) medicine for cough, (7) reducing inflammation, and (8) relieving stress and stabilizing mental health. The most popular dish among the menu is the Shiru-nashi Kingoma Tantanmen (soupless gold sesame tantanmen). The dish is seasoned with chili oil and Japanese pepper for a nice balance of numbing spice and pepperiness. You can choose from 3 levels of spiciness depending on your tolerance. The restaurant's recommendation is level 2. Level 1 is for those who don't like spiciness so much and level 3 is 1.5 times as spicy as level 2. If your dish is not spicy enough, you can adjust by adding chili oil, Japanese pepper, black pepper on the table for free.