Saturday, July 4, 2015

Kirari (Kyoto-shi, Fushimi-ku)

つけ麺 きらり
つけめん きらり
Tsukemen Kirari

Norinori tsukemen: 19 / 20

This shop is special – this is obvious already from the outside, with people inconfortably queueing on the elevated rim of the pavement. I had been there a few months ago to try their shioton ramen, and had been so enthusiastic that it was clear to me I had to come back to try their "norinori" tsukemen. A day of plum blossom hunt in Kyoto was the occasion for this.


Broth: A very thick tonkotsu gyokai that sticks perfectly to the noodles – in a somehow similar fashion to Fuunji in Tokyo, although not as sweet (because it’s tonkotsu, and not torigara, as far as I know), and with maybe a more pronounced gyokai taste. The soup is so thick, and sticks so much to the noodles, that I basically finished all of it with my noodles (although I had order the regular, "nami" size, not the big one!) You also get a piece of lemon that you can press into the broth, but I don’t think it’s worth doing so. And I did unfortunately put too much of dashi in my soup wari, so this part was not a great success.

Noodles: Thick noodles with an egg taste, not very salted, very mochi mochi, just perfect – they were kind of hard to slurp though.

Meat: A few cubes of onctuous, delicious meat, with a very melting fat.

Egg: Two halves of a sublime egg: tasty white, whose taste is progressively submerged by the intensity of the gooey yolk.

Toppings: Many sheets of nori and some white onion in the bowl, that both fit perfectly well with the broth. Three very thick, fibrous menma, not so salted – they had a flavor that was definitely familiar, but I could not put a name on it (if you ate there and have any idea, please leave a comment below).


Look at this tsukemen, proud like a peacock making the wheel. And proud it can be: very simply, this tsukemen is perfect. Your personal preferences might make you lean towards other dishes, but like at Takakura Nijo, I cannot think of any flaw. If you are on your way between Osaka and Kyoto on the Keihan line, do yourself a favor and stop here. Icing on the cake: the employees are very friendly.

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Philoramen (for the shio-tonkotsu ramen)

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