Marutora (Osaka-shi, Ikeno-ku)

○寅 麺屋 山本流
まるとら めんや やまもとりゅう
Marutora Menya Yamamotoryuu

Shio ramen: 16 / 20

This place features a number of thick ramen, including a kotteri miso tsukemen, but I chose their ebi shio – I trust Ben to sample the miso one some day!

Broth: A good shrimp taste, quite intense – as often with shrimp ramen.

Noodles: Straight and thin, neither soft nor hard, a good match with the seafood notes.

Meat: Thick, soft, fat chashu, with a relativey subdued pork taste, not bad at all.

Egg: Salty and with a gooey yolk, inegally cooked but quite good. The white part has subtle flavors.

Toppings: Some thin menma with a strong classical taste, the classical balance between crunchiness and softness – some of them were quite juicy. Some green, round negi that were a good fit with the soup. A few small shrimps. Some yuzu zest – but its taste was kind of crushed by the strong flavor of the soup.

Overall, a very convincing ebi shio ramen, more balanced that the quite salty IKR51, and which would be interesting to compare with Ganko. A good place to stop on Osaka's loop line, at Teradacho station – note that there seems to be a couple of other quite good ramen places around.

More info on ramendb.

Fusuma ni Kakero (Osaka-shi, Kita-ku)

麬にかけろ 中崎壱丁 中崎商店
ふすまにかけろ なかざきいっちょう なかざきしょうてんがい
Fusuma ni Kakero Nakazaki Ichou Nakazaki Shoutengai

Shio ramen & shoyu ramen, thick noodles : 16 / 20
Shio ramen & shoyu ramen, thin noodles : 15 / 20

Fusuma ni Kakero had been something of a revelation when I went there last time, so living next door, I had to make it discover to my family - and, at the same time, to try their more regular shio and shoyu ramen (last time I had their divine shrimp tori paitan). You can order each of them with either thick or thin noodles.

Broth: The shio ramen had a light but complex taste, and adding the side shrimp oil with the ingenious small syringe system definitely added a layer of complexity. The shoyu was very pleasantly flavored, a bit sweetish, with some smoky, fishy notes (was it niboshi?). It also included some ginger in a shell that you can add to your taste: a little bit may be nice, but I used the whole amount and it was definitely too much, overpowering the bowl.

Noodles: The thick noodles were pleasant, though they could be slightly harder. The thin noodles were definitely too thin and soft.

Meat: A few slices of thin pork (I think) which was pleasantly peppered, but the texture was too soft and not that great. Also, one slice of chicken that felt a bit synthetic – definitely not convincing. You also get some cockles – not so tasty, but a nice change.

Egg: Although it was beautifully presented (with some hot-iron branded inscriptions), it was too hard, I don’t recommend ordering it. That's surprising, as it was quite well-done last time.

Toppings: A very long, sweet menma, with a mild classical taste.



Anyone a bit knowledgeable about Osaka ramen's scene would have recognized the similarity between this ramen and Strike Ken's straight bowl - indeed, the two shops have many affinities and the waiters here were even wearing a Strike Ken T-shirt.

The broth of those both bowls are brilliant, but the unconvincing chicken meat and egg pushed it "down" to a 16 / 20. Compared to my last sublime experience of their limited shrimp special, this was a slight disappointment - how could they screw the ajitama that way? Anyway, overall this was very good, and a great experience for my last ramen of the year 2014!

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Friends in Ramen (for the shoyu ramen), Japan Times, Philoramen (for the tori paitan)

Ganko (Osaka-shi, Chuo-ku)

宗家一条流がんこラーメン 十八代目
そうけいちじょうりゅうがんこらーめん じゅうはちだいめ
Soukeichijouryou Ganko Ramen Jouhachidaime

Negi shoyu ramen: 14 / 20
(正油ラーメン, ネギ油)

Ebi shio ramen: 15 / 20
(塩ラーメン, エビ油 ＋味玉)

Speak about a myth: a small-scale chain of ramen restaurants with branches in Tokyo and Osaka, whose shops are recognizable by a bone suspended in front of the porch, and which can close unexpectedly for the day if the ‘soup is not excellent’ - difficult to make more mysterious! I had been looking for this shop quite a few times but for some reason I always missed it, and thought it had been replaced by the large and flashy Kyo ramen shop next door. But no, it was still there, well recognizable by its bone and "shio" kanji (塩).

I went there with my mother, who loves shio ramen and therefore had to try this one before leaving Japan. We arrived at the opening time at 11:30 on a Saturday, and the shop filled quickly, although there were not many people coming until 12:10. You can order a shio or shoyu ramen, each with onion (negi) oil or shrimp (ebi) oil . My mother ordered the shio ebi with ajitama, and I ordered the shoyu negi to compare (they also have a sesame ramen that I would be curious to try some day).

Ganko endorses three cardinal rules (thanks for the info, Ramenate):
1. The Noodles Must Be Firm!
2. The Soup Must Be Strong and Salty!
3. The Soup Must Be Hot!
Do they abide by them? As I was about to discover, indeed, they do.

Broth: A good shoyu broth with some small burned onions, a little bit too salty but high quality.

Noodles: Some thin, firm, yellow curly noodles – very good.

Meat: Three large slices of a relatively compact meat, with some good fat – but too compact, and really overabundant, one slice would have been enough.

Toppings: Some crunchy cabbage that was quite welcome. Some thin and very crunchy (some of them too much to my taste) menma with an interesting, peppery taste. You can also help yourself with white or black pepper (very much recommended!), vinegar and laiu (I’m less convinced by those two, although they definitely give a special twist), or minced green chilies.

The shio ebi differed only in the broth (more specifically, only in the tare). The shrimp taste is subtle and not overpowering – if you like shrimp, you have to try one of the ebi-flavored ramen. The ajitama was cut in two halves – the yellow was gooey (on the hard side), but the white part didn’t really have any taste and was too soft.

When we were there, there was only one cook handling the whole shop – seeing him flying between the bowls, the dish warmer and the fridge with a maestro precision was a show in itself.

So overall, this is a good ramen, very well crafted – and especially recommendable if you want some shrimp experience (would be interesting to try this bowl just next to IKR51's). I wouldn’t recommend ordering the ajitama though.

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Ramen Adventures, Ramenate, Ramenate 2 (all in Tokyo)

Mengenso (Osaka-shi, Kita-ku)

麺元素
めんげんそ
Mengenso

Shio ramen: 17 / 20
(魚元素ラーメン, 塩)

Tori paitan with spicy miso : 17 / 20
(鶏元素ラーメン, 辛みそ付き)

Naka naka ramen: 17 / 20
(中々)

Naka naka ramen with ontama and seaweed: 17 / 20

Being talked to in a (good!) English by a friendly waiter when approaching a ramen restaurant is a rare experience - so when this restaurant happens to be one of the best in the area, that’s definitely something not to be missed for the non-Japanese speaker. Accompanied by my family, we sat at one of the two tables at the back of the room. We had the shio ramen, a tori paitan with a side spoon of spicy miso, and two bowls of their signature dish, the naka naka, a mix of shio and tori paitan (we ordered one of them with some added nori, and an onsen tamago replacing the regular half ajitama). But the diversity of their dishes does not stop there, they also have a shoyu tuskemen and a shoyu ramen! Let’s start with the shio:

Broth: Where most shio are too light in taste, this one has a very intense and delicious stock taste. Press the sudachi in your broth after you’ve eaten half of it to give some pleasant citrus-twist.

Noodles: Well cooked, neither firm nor soft, just a perfect middle point.

Meat: To some extent, the letdown of this otherwise perfectly crafted bowl: two slices of lean, firm pork with some taste of brine - not bad, but not remarkable either.

Egg: Half of a perfect slightly sweet ajitama: a white part strong in taste, and a firm-but-gooey yolk that is exactly what you need for a shio broth.

Toppings: The nori gave a very pleasant marine twist. You get a generous amount of sweetish menma, which had the classical mix of texture - crunchy under the teeth, and soft inside - brought to the point of perfection! A few small shrimps, chili stripes and negi.

What a delight! When finishing my bowl, the concentration of spices with the sweet menma formed an absolutely delectable mix. If you like shio ramen, you HAVE to try it, you won’t find much better broth around (although it's kind of a tie with Shiogensui - review to come!), and everything but the meat is just perfect.

Let me now say a few words about the other dishes, which have nothing to envy to this one.

The tori paitan has a shoyu tare and was obviously thicker, but not too much compared to your regular tori paitan - it was more creamy than thick. The chicken taste was not so present, but there were some pleasant bits of dry onions and a generous amount of pepper. The spicy miso was excellent and it was good to have it on the side, so that you can decide how much you want to add. A hearthy (but not overwhelming) winter dish.

The naka naka, which is a mix of the shio and the tori paitan, was, well, intermediate in taste. A bit creamy, with a beautiful variety of flavors.

If you choose to take the runny onama rather than the hard ajitama, you can mix it in the soup, which becomes then nicely thicker.

All these variants are excellent in their own way and I honestly cannot chose one over the others. I would just recommend, if you don’t mind spicyiness, to pay the additional twenty yen to get the spicy miso side spoon (in case you take the naka naka or tori paitan) - you can then try it and chose whether you want to add some or not. Interestingly, since the naka naka is a mix between a tori paitan with shoyu tare and a shio ramen, if you order it with the spicy miso spoon, you will then get a rare example of a spicy shio-shoyu-tori paitan-miso ramen! Try to make sense of the traditional four categories of ramen after that... Will a shop go further and add some niboshi and tonkotsu to the mix?

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Friends in Ramen

Ramen Expo, round 3 (Osaka-fu, Suita-shi)

This year, the Ramen Expo at Bampaku Kinen Koen was structured in three rounds in a row, with twelve different ramen shops at each round. I had been to the first round with Ben from Friends in Ramen (here and there), now it was time to go to the third round with my family - and sample as many bowls as we could! Here are a few short reviews.

Enraku x Jirochou: 12 / 20
(えん楽 × ラーメン次郎長)

This bowl was a collaboration between two Hokkaido shops: Enraku, from Hakodate, and Jirochou, from Kayabe. The shio broth, a specialty of Hakodate city, was relatively concentrated in taste and not bad, but well, a shio broth rarely reach etheral heights in taste. The noodles and menma were too soft, and the meat insignificant. The egg was good, though, and the mushroom brought some originality.

More info on ramendb: Enraku, Jirochou.


Ramen Nagi Niboshiou: 17 / 20
(ラーメン凪 煮干王)

The second ramen was the niboshi broth from Tokyo's Nagi. Superb, as usual, and the thick noodles held remakably well the difficult conditions of the Ramen Expo: it takes some time to go from the ramen stand to your seat, and most noodles become quickly too soft, but the Nagi's thick noodles didn't - that’s really the kind of noodles you need in such circumstances! It seemed to me that the meat tasted less good than at the mother shop, though.

More info on ramendb.


Takemotoshouten x Shimadakeimen: 12 / 20
(竹本商店 × 島田製麺食堂)

Two shops from Akita were collaborating for this third bowl. It had a very powerful and quite pleasant shrimp taste. However, the noodles sticked too each other and were too soft, they felt like some kind of pot noodles. The wanton was too soft too.

More info on ramendb: Takemotoshouten, Shimadakeimen


Raatsuu: 8 / 20
(千葉拉麺倶楽部 拉通)

This bowl from Chiba had a ton of meat on top of it - much too fat, unfortunately. The noodles were thin and elastic, and felt like some kind of industrial ready-made noodles. The shoyu broth did not have any special taste, and the menma were quite soft. Why on earth bring to Kansai such an insignificant bowl from as far as Chiba?

More info on ramendb.


Menya Sou: 11 / 20
(麺屋宗)

I was quite eager to finally try this famous Tokyo ramen, and my disappointment was huge. The broth was not unpleasant but relatively unremarkable, and the meat both too fat and too firm. However, the egg was very good and the menma quite interesting: fibrous, with a mild taste of fresh bamboo - they did not have the typical taste of preserved food that you can often find in menma. The last disappointing note were the seaweed and duck-meatballs (flavored with ginger) for which I paid 300 yens more: the idea is original for sure, but they were very average and insignificant. I’m quite puzzled here, is that really this famous ramen everyone adores? I would have to wait one month to discover that it isn’t... Stay tuned!

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Ramen Adventures, Ramenate, Ramen Walker, Ramenislove


Saeki ramen Aikoukai: 16 / 20
(佐伯ラーメン愛好会)

This last ramen was coming from Oita, and had a good broth with a delicious garlic taste - it was apparently tonkotsu, but in a clearly different style from the classical Hakata bowl. The sesame sprinkled on the meat formed a good alliance, and the noodles mixed well with the moyashi. Very convincing.


So, in a nutshell, only two really positive experiences (Nagi and Aikoukai) and four very average bowls - that was not a great success. Clearly, the Ramen Expo is not the perfect place to taste the ramen as you would in their natural environment. Sure, the atmosphere is fun and pleasant, and that's an occasion to discover ramen from other horizons, but some of them are clearly below the quality that you would enjoy in the original restaurant. I had a much better experience during the first round.

IKR51 (Osaka-shi, Chūō-ku)

IKR51
あいけーあーるごじゅういち
IKR51

Ebi-shio tsukemen: 15 / 20
(海老塩つけ麺)

Ebi-shio ramen: 15 / 20
(海老塩ラーメン)

Nōkō (thick) ebi Z shio ramen: 14 / 20
(濃厚海老塩Z ラーメン)

Nōkō (thick) ebi Z shoyu ramen: 14 / 20
(濃厚海老醤油Z ラーメン)

Last time I went to this ramen-restaurant-with-a-name-from-outer-space, I had been intrigued by the variety of dishes they offer, and really wanted to come back to explore more. My family's visit was the perfect occasion for that. We ordered the ebi-shio tsukemen, the shio ramen, the ‘thick’ shio ramen, and the ‘thick’ shoyu ramen. On top of that, we shared a big ikura-umibudon domburi. Let’s start with the tsukemen’s review.

Broth: Now, that’s what I'm looking for in a shio tsukemen! The shrimp taste of the broth is so intense that dipping your noodles into it immediately coats it with a thick shrimp flavor. Also, the broth is quite fat – maybe a little bit too much for my taste, but perfect for sticking to the noodles. The soup wari turned the whole thing into pure shrimp essence – I think that may even surpass Go no Kami Seisakujo in Tokyo.

Noodles: Pale noodles, firm enough, thinner than your usual tsukemen noodles (which is to be expected for a shio tsukemen).

Meat: A couple of small bits of very lean, French ‘pot-au-feu’ style meat.

Egg: Relatively hard with a very orange yolk, but well-cooked – exactly like last time.

Toppings: A long menma branch, with a fibrous structure, very mild in taste but pleasant. Lots of negi.

Although I’m not a die-hard fan of shrimp-flavored ramen, this dish has everything a shio tsukemen needs to have: a broth that sticks enough to the noodles, and some strong flavor to make the shio base a bit more interesting.

Thanks to my ramen-addicted family, I could discover the subtle variations between most of the ramen the shop has to offer:

The regular ebi-shio ramen was in my opinion the best, nicely enhanced by strong shrimp and yuzu notes.

The thick shio Z ramen was good too, with some added black mayu (roasted garlic sauce), but definitely too salted.

The thick shoyu Z ramen has some interesting sweet notes (some of which reminded me lemongrass, although I may well be wrong), but was even more salted than the shio one - stay clear of that unless your tension is below 8/5 and your stomach immune to cancer!

I must add that all the ramen had slightly too soft noodles for my taste - hence the not-so-exceptional ratings.

Oh yeah, and the ikura-umibudon bowl was great! If you’ve never tried umibudon (Okinawa 'sea grape') I definitely recommend ordering it.

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Ramen adventures, Friends in ramen, Philoramen.

Fusuma ni Kakero (Osaka-shi, Kita-ku)

麬にかけろ 中崎壱丁 中崎商店
ふすまにかけろ なかざきいっちょう なかざきしょうてんがい
Fusuma ni Kakero Nakazaki Ichou Nakazaki Shoutengai

SCS ramen (with ajitama): 18 / 20

Located close to Nakazakicho station, this restaurant has always at least a few people queuing in front. I would soon realize that this was justified. Inside, the atmosphere is quite pleasant, with a two-tier counter in the middle of which the waiter can bring the dishes, and some fresh jasmine tea to wait for your dish. They usually feature a shio and shoyu ramen, but on this day, they only had one option: a special ebi (shrimp)-flavored, kotteri (thick) tori paitan (chicken ramen), with the intriguing name of ’SCS'. Let’s try it, with ajitama.

Broth: Shrimp it tastes indeed! Don’t think about ordering it if you don’t like it. The chicken taste was relatively subdued, but this broth was delightful. Also, I must say that it was not too thick, contrarily to some very kotteri chicken Kyoto-style broth (who said Gokkei?).

Noodles: Thin and firm, relatively similar to the ones you would find in a Hakata tonkotsu ramen.

Meat: Two very beautiful lean, pink slices of meat, which were simply delicious, tender and full of flavor.

Egg: A very well cooked ajitama, with a slightly sweet white part and a firm-but-gooey yellow.

Toppings: This bowl was a wonder of toppings: some ‘rice krispies’ nicely soaked the broth and brought some additional thickness. There was also some finely shredded seaweed that brought a delicious marine twist. And in case there is not enough ‘ebi-ness’ in your broth, you can even add some shrimp oil with an intriguing syringe system.

This was simply perfect. The shrimp taste may be a little bit too overpowering for my personal taste, but I found it excellent all along. Best ramen I've tried in Osaka so far - and that’s someone who is usually not a big fan of tori paitan who says that. I don’t know how often they serve this special though, it may have been a limited offer. Don't worry, their regular ramen are also delicious (reviews soon to come!)

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Friends in Ramen (for the shoyu ramen), Japan Times.

IKR51 (Osaka-shi, Chūō-ku)

IKR51
あいけーあーるごじゅういち
IKR51

KS51Z shio kasu ramen: 14 / 20

Hidden in a small alley in a building, you might easily miss this restaurant, so just remember it is located next to the Ippudo. They specialize in seafood-oriented meals, with massive ikura-don, but of course also feature many ramen dishes, which happen to have quite esoteric name. I ordered the KS51Z (sic) shio ramen - KS stands for "kazu".

Broth: A distinctive shrimp taste, a bit too salty but pleasant - with some yuzu notes.

Noodles: Very yellow, curly and brittle.

Egg: An ajitama with a relatively hard and dark yolk, but well cooked though.

Toppings: Some bits of what tasted like a mix between tofu and cheese - could it be the kasu? And a very long branching menma, again the BASSANOVA style (how is it that I keep seeing it around now although I had never encountered any before my visit to BASSANOVA?? probably some kind of attentional bias behind it)

My friend ordered the ebi shoyu ramen, which had a very original and enjoyable taste, a bit difficult to characterize (I may give it a 15/20). Add to this a homey atmosphere (you can seat at one of the few low tables), and you get an interesting place that should be recommended. Also, you can order udon or kaisen-don if you’re not that much into ramen (but then you would probably not read this blog in a first place).

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Ramen adventures, Friends in ramen.

Hamaya (Tōkyō-to, Shinagawa-ku)

浜屋
はまや

Ebi-karashi tsukesoba: 16 / 20
(エビ辛しつけそば)

A few hundred meters from Gotanda station, this pleasant restaurant is relatively isolated from anything of interest. But as I was soon about to discover, its ebi-karashi (‘shrimp-mustard’) tsukesoba is worth the trip.

Broth: A relatively sweet, thin broth (I mean, thin for a tonkotsu gyokai tsukemen), it gets a delicious shrimp-spiciness when you mix in the special karashi. Moreover, the soup wari add an interesting twist – maybe more on the gyokai (seafood) side.

Noodles: Not so thick, not so tasty, but they have the right 'mochiness' (elasticity) and do the job.

Meat: The letdown of this bowl: a large, relatively thin slice of chashu that falls into parts and does not have any especially remarkable taste.

Toppings: A few thin, crunchy, sweet menma.

Despite the average chashu, the shrimp-spiced broth is definitely something to try. If you like shrimp, do not miss this bowl.

More info on ramendb.

Gonokami Seisakujo (Tōkyō-to, Shibuya-ku)

つけ麺 五ノ神製作所
つけめん ごのかみせいさくじょ
Tsukemen Gonokamiseisakujou

Ebi-tsukemen (with ajitama): 16 / 20

This restaurant is famous for having one of the most intense shrimp broth you will find around. Obviously, I had to try this oddity. I arrived at 1 pm and waited only 10-15 minutes (it seemed that the queue did not decrease until 1:45 pm). I ordered the ebi-tsukemen (they also feature a version with tomato, and another one flavored with miso), with ajitama.

Broth: As expected, this is a shrimp-bomb. Imagine that you take ten kilograms of shrimps and mix them a dozen of time until you get the very essence of that taste: that describes quite well what you get here in one bowl. After I added the wari soup at the end, I could not even perceive the shrimp taste anymore: my tastebuds had been fully shrimp-desensitized.

Noodles: Thick, very mochi-mochi whole grain noodles - with an actual taste of whole grains.

Meat: A few long pieces of chashu, some of them quite bland, some of them nicely tasting like French 'petit salé’ (salted pork).

Egg: It had an interesting taste (difficult to characterize - maybe flowery?), but was overcooked. Disappointing for such a famous ramen place, I do not recommend ordering it.

Toppings: Some triangular, slightly sweet vegetables, and a fibrous, very salted menma.

I might be slightly less enthusiastic than shrimp-afficionados about this restaurant, but it's definitely worth the experience. I would be curious to come back to try their tomato version - especially since it looks like I forgot to order the cheese toast.

More information on ramendb.

Other reviews: Ramen Adventures 1, Ramen Adventures 2, Go Ramen!, Chowhound