Kuso Oyaji Saigo no Hitofuri (Osaka-shi, Yodogawa-ku)

くそオヤジ最後のひとふり
くそおやじさいごのひとふり
Kuso Oyaji Saigo no Hitofuri

Asari ramen: 18 / 20

Contemporary artworks and rows of Corona beers in a Swiss-chalet-looking restaurant... an oshiburi brought to you as you arrive... this ramen restaurant is different, as should be clear from its name ("the last crappy old man"??). To be convinced, just look at the menu, which offers three kinds of clam ramen: asari ('littleneck clams' - not to be confused with 'assari', which means 'thin'), a thinner-taste shijimi ('freshwater clam') and a hamaguri ('common orient clam'). I chose the former.

Broth: This first spoon was a ramen-experience like I did not have had so many times in my life – one of the most prominently examples was five years ago at Ippudo, the very first sip that made me fall in love with ramen, or Nagi, which triggered my love for niboshi. Wow! Such an intense shoyu, with sweet notes and a deep umaminess from the clams that will sweep you away. The art here is not only on the wall, it is first and foremost in your bowl.

Noodles: Whole grain, a bit firm but not too much, just perfect.

Meat: Two large but thin slices of smoky chashu, quite intense in taste and with the right amount of fat – an excellent fit with the broth.

Toppings: To change from menma, an intense and sweet takenoko – gosh, that might be the best bamboo I ever had in a ramen! Some clams: they were good and a nice change, but after a while, I got a bit tired of them, especially because of the sand to be found in some of them. Maybe the only fault in this otherwise perfect bowl.

Frankly speaking, this shoyu ramen is close to perfection, and instantatly joined my personal pantheon of ramen next to places like Fuunji, Takakura Nijo, Nagi or Kirari. Even if you usually do not like shoyu ramen, you have to try this bowl. Clam-based soup might be my new love after niboshi.

More info on ramendb.

Kukan (Narara-ken, Nara-shi)

麺屋空間
めんやくうかん
Menya Kuukan

Mazemen: 16 / 20

This time, it was decided: I would go to Mitsuba! This famous ramen restaurant a few stations away from Nara, at Tomio, happened to be close last time I try to go there – but it was 2 pm, so that was understandable. As I drew near around 12:20, I was surprised not to see anyone queuing. Hmm, strange. Anyway, I enter the restaurant, get ready to pay my ticket at the machine when the waiter comes to ask me if I have a reservation ticket: all tickets for the day had already been sold out by 11:30, as he told me – unbelievable!

On the other side of the road, a huge queue of probably similarly disappointed Mitsuba-wannabe-eaters were queuing in front of Hanayama, which didn't looked bad either – but there was no way I would be waiting behind twenty-five people. Thus, I decided to turn to this well-kept secret I had found last time, Kukan, and use this opportunity to try their mazemen (be informed that they also offer tsukemen, tonkotsu shoyu ramen, tonkotsu shio ramen, chuka soba…).

Sauce: Quite good, it had a pronounced taste of sesame.

Noodles: Firm, whole grain and good quality

Meat: A few cold bits of firm chashu, with a nice macerated taste.

Egg: One raw egg to mix with the rest.

Toppings: Some excellent bits of fresh, warm bamboo (not menma, apparently), as well as the regular negi.

 

The whole mix was quite good, not too salty, and the egg gave a nice viscosity to it. You can also add some laiu and vinegar, but I don’t think that it brings much more to this bowl – it is already very good as it is.

I still have to eat a bad mazemen, and this was no exception to the rule. Kudos for the use of fresh bamboo!

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Philoramen (for the shio lemon ramen)

Motor Boo (Osaka-shi, Kita-ku)

MOTOR BOO
もーたーぶー
Motor Boo

Tsukemen (with raw egg): 18 / 20

(Note: I'm slightly changing the layout of the blog in order to increase the size of pictures; that may change a bit again during the next few days while I'm fine tuning this. Let me know in case of problems etc.)

After 7.5Hz+ and Monjiro, I decided to continue the exploration of the ramen-rich Kitashinchi area. Difficult not to notice the odd name of "MOTOR BOO" standing out amidst all Japanese-named places (by the way, a small piece of advice: if you want to get extra attention for your place, just write it in capital letters; cheap but efficient). I was about to discover that its name is quite fitting: it is probably one of the most unusual tsukemen place ever.

Following the signs, I arrived on the second floor in a fancy small bar. I was surely wrong – but no, the waiter asked me if I was looking for tsukemen! If you’ve ever wanted to enjoy a Yamazaki whisky with your bowl, that’s the place.

Simple to choose your food: they only offer tsukemen, that you can order with a raw egg on the side – as I did. The friendly, dressed-up waiter started to prepare my bowl.

Broth: A delicious sweet and sour gyokai tonkotsu, that transferred the perfect amount of taste to the noodles. You can dip your noodles in the egg after dipping them in the broth – don’t let them too long, or the egg will dilute the taste of broth, but with a quick dip this was a simple, perfect combination!

Noodles: Perfectly firm – they could have a little bit more taste, but nothing really to complain about. I barely dared slurping in such a fancy atmosphere!

Meat: A fair amount of meat, with both tasty lean and melting fat, and the perfect crumbliness. A model.

Toppings: A few very large and thin slabs of menma on top of the noodles, relatively sweet, neither soft nor firm, but very good. You also get a few squares of white negi in the broth that bring some sharp crunchiness, a few brins of rucola, and some black pepper to sprinkle on the broth. A lot of small twists that made this bowl a real culinary roller coaster!

Soup wari: A very round and harmonious soup wari – and totally huge! I could barely drink half of it, but it was a perfect ending to this bowl.

What an unexpected surprise! This place reminded me Sugari in many respects – an excellent tsukemen in an unusual atmosphere – although both bowls are pretty different. This bar is clearly Osaka's ultimate ramen dating place, and – taking into consideration not only the quality of the bowl, but also its atmosphere – ranks among the most exceptional ramen place in Japan. The question is not whether you should go there, but when – and, most importantly, with whom.

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Friends in Ramen

Kukan (Narara-ken, Nara-shi)

麺屋空間
めんやくうかん
Menya Kuukan

Lemon (shio) ramen: 15 / 20

It is difficult to screen good ramen restaurants in Nara prefecture, as few of them got many reviews on ramendb. There was however this place, Mitsuba, that stood up and was conveniently located near Tomio station, on the Kintetsu line from Osaka to Nara. Unfortunately, when I arrived there, it was already close (and as I would find out a couple of months later, the soup is usually already finished by 11:30 on week-ends! yes, you read right, 11:30) There were some other good options, but they were either already closed for lunch or offered only jiro style (and my stomach was begging me not to order a jiro), so I turned to the unkown at Kukan. Good surprise: on the second floor, it happened to be a very pleasant, spacious restaurant, with the atmosphere of an American diner, decorated with some comics figurine. They offer quite a diversity of dishes, and I was very tempted by their mazemen, but then I noticed they had a shio lemon ramen. What, lemon ramen?! I’ve never tried that, I have to!

Broth: As the name says, this is a shio ramen (made from torigara) flavored with lemon – a definitely interesting and refreshing twist. You even get a few slices of lemon in your broth that you can press for more zing, but I do not recommend doing so - the broth tastes enough lemony like that and it would become overpowering. A little bit too salty though.

Meat: Two slices of a firm, delicious chashu, with just the right amount of melting fat.

Toppings: Some long white negi and microgreens.

This simple but good lemon ramen was an excellent surprise; I definitely recommend this convivial place, especially if you are with friends.

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)

Strike Ken (Osaka-shi, Kita-ku)

ストライク軒
すとらいくけん
Sutoraiku Ken 

‘Straight’ shoyu ramen: 14 / 20
(ストレート)
’Sinker’ tori paitan: 14 / 20
(シンカー)

My family had just arrived to visit me for some time, and obviously our first meal together would be a ramen! I had been to Strike Ken in summer to try their delicious reimen, and it looked like a perfect place for my family's first bowl, as it famously features two very different kinds of ramen: a traditional shoyu, and a more ‘new wave’ clam-based tori paitan. Being in a shoyu-run, I ordered the former, and the rest of my family the latter. Let's start with mine:

Broth: A high quality, intense in taste, classical shoyu broth, with some pepper and herbs for a more Western finish.

Noodles: Some yellow noodles, with a more square section than the regular shoyu ramen noodles you will often find out there.

Meat: Some lean meat with crunchy fat - a nice change.

Toppings: Some thin menma, crunchy outside and soft inside. Some elegant long negi. A sheet of nori, to complete the classical 'chuka-soba' picture.

A good ramen, for sure. And classical. Maybe too classical?

Let’s see how does fare her extravagant cousin, the sinker:

I did not eat enough of it to make a full review, but the tori paitan was good (I don't have so much experience with tori paitan though), heavy on the bone texture. The shellfish was a nice change, but the chicken meat was unfortunately not that great. An original bowl, maybe slightly over-hyped, but surely worth trying - especially if you like discovering ramen oddities in a cool atmosphere.

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Friends in ramen, Ramen Adventures, Philoramen (for the reimen)

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.

Shinpuku Saikan (Kyōto-shi, Sakyō-ku)

新福菜館本店
しんぷくさいかん
Shinpukusaikan

Chuka soba: 13 / 20
(中華そば)

Chuka soba, without meat: 14 / 20
(中華そば 肉なし）

Although Kyoto station is especially famous for its ramen street ("Kyoto Ramen Koji") on the 10th floor, the ‘real’ afficionados know that the appeal of the area does not come from the sometimes-average ramen restaurants in this ramen street, but a couple of hundred meters east from the station, where two monuments of Kyoto ramen history stand exactly door to door: Shinpukusaikan and Honke Daiichi Asahi.

As we arrived there with my friend, there was a long queue in front of the latter, so we chose the former, a big room with a very canteen-feel. They serve only one kind of dark-shoyu ramen, that you can order with (or without) various toppings - as well as in a large version, and with additional meat. I was pleasantly surprised to see a version without any meat, which I ordered (with additional menma); my friend ordered the regular version.

Broth: A relatively intense shoyu broth, which was pleasant even for a non-shoyu-lover like me.

Noodles: Yellow and relatively firm at first, they got soft relatively quickly though - which is, I guess, what is required for a Kyoto ramen.

Meat: I tasted the meat in my friend's bowl, and I was very happy I didn't ordered any in mine: the slices were thin and tasteless.

Toppings: The menma were soft and mild, but relatively pleasant. Lots of negi, which for once seemed especially tasteful.

Overall, a relatively pleasant bowl, but nothing exceptional. There is definitely a feel of 'Showa era' authenticity in this bowl though: a simple, intense shoyu ramen in a canteen where regulars come and go. It is worth going there for the experience - actuallly, it seems that this was the first ramen shop in Kyoto that opened after World War 2. But I strongly recommend ordering the meatless version.

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Ramen Adventures, Friends in Ramen, The Piggly Wiggly travels

Miyoshi (Kyōto-shi, Nakagyō-ku)

博多長浜らーめん みよし
はかたながはまらーめん みよし
Hakata Nagahama Ramen Miyoshi

Ramen: 14 / 20
(ラーメン)

Right in the centre of distinctive and elegant Kyoto, this ramen joint has a resolutely unique feel, purely Hakata yatai atsmophere. Half open onto the street, you will often see people queuing in front of this small restaurant with narrow seats, that serves only one kind of tonkotsu ramen, with various garnishes. I ordered the regular version.

Broth: Ah, the delicious smell of Hakata tonkotsu! Not too thick, smooth, it seemed to me slightly more sweetish than the classical Hakata ramen though (but I'm no expert in Hakata ramen, so it's difficult to tell), with some notes that reminded me a bit of a corn soup.

Noodles: Surprisingly for a Hakata ramen place, the default noodles cooking style was not katame - so if you like them so, make sure to explicitly order them that way.

Meat: Some thin, average chashu bits with too fatty part, which do not bring anything to the dish. The best part of them was the brown outer side.

Toppings: The menma were both spicy and sweet, very good. And like at any respectable Hakata ramen place, you can help yourself with ginger and flakes - but they were old and too soft.

A very local place with a great atmosphere - a bit too local I thought, when I saw the cook taking the money and then cooking without washing her hands… Several components (meat, flakes, noodles) were very average, but the delicious broth and the unique atmosphere push it to a 14. Plus, it’s cheap and open till 6 am.

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Ramenate, Ramen Adventures, Umamiart

Sandaime Miyatamenji (Osaka-shi, Chūō-ku)

三代目 宮田麺児
さんだいめ みやためんじ
Sandaime Miyatamenji

T2G tsukemen: 15 / 20
(T2G)

I hadn’t noticed before this low-key tsukemen restaurant near Shinsaibashi, but this was a mistake. The place occupates two floors of a building, with the kitchen and a counter on the first floor, and the main dining room on the second floor. Pleasant lounge music, lots of couples – looks like the perfect ramen-date place. I ordered the first tsukemen on the menu.

Broth: A very thick veggie broth (the base seems to be tonkotsu gyokai), that sticks exceptionally well to the noodles – last time I saw such a thick smoothness was probably at Fuunji in Tokyo! (with a very different broth) I didn’t have time to ask for the soup wari, so I just drunk my soup like that - it felt like a thick countryside soup.

Noodles: Relatively soft, but very good though.

Egg: Half of a quite hard, but good egg.

Toppings: A few crunchy, mild and sweetish menma. A couple of tomato slice.

Overall, it was a very convincing mix, a bit like Watanabe Seimen in Kyoto and Toyonaka. I’ll have to try their other specialties, the KK100 and the TM3 (seriously, what do they smoke to find inspiration in naming their ramen, the same stuff as they do in IKR51?)

More info on ramendb.

The shop's website.

For a review of the first Myata Menji (now gone): Friends in Ramen

Ramenman (Osaka-shi, Chūō-ku)

ラーメン専門店 ラーメンマン
らーめんせんもんてん らーめんまん
Ramen Senmonten Ramenman

Ramenman: 12 / 20
(ラーメンマン)

Finding a ramen after 9 pm can become significantly more difficult. Several looked tempting on my ramendb app, but they were all closed at that time. I finally found a not-too-lowly ranked ramen; let’s try it. I ordered the signature dish of the shop, the ramenman.

Broth: A tasty, spicy broth with a Korean twist.

Noodles: Too soft.

Meat: Nothing exceptional but melting enough.

If you need a ramen after 9 pm in this area, you may consider this place. But I would not recommend it otherwise, although the shop with its toothless owner definitely has some atmosphere (if some day I want to shoot a movie about a very local ramen joint, I will go there).

More info on ramendb.

Ishin (Tōkyō-to, Shinagawa-ku)

麺や維新
めんやいしん

Niboshi ramen: 16 / 20
Niboshi tsukemen: 13 / 20

This ramen shop located 300 m from Meguro station has a definitely pleasant vibe, with its white bright atmosphere and jazz background music. My friend ordered the niboshi ramen, and I chose the niboshi tsukemen. Let’s start with the former:

Broth: A wonderful niboshi broth enhanced by some yuzu notes – a beautiful harmony!

Noodles: A little bit curly and slightly too soft for my taste.

Meat: Very lean and tender, but very mild in taste.

Toppings: Some soft menma with a light classical taste, some purple onions, white negi and herbs.

I love niboshi, I love yuzu, so I was bound to love this broth. Although the remainder of the ingredients were not so exceptional, this elegant broth could compete with the best niboshi around.

Unfortunately, my tsukemen was less remarkable:

Broth: Light in taste and sticks little to the noodles, not bad but a little bit disapointing when compared to the ramen. The soup wari was too diluted and totally uninteresting.

Noodles: Very thin noodles for a tsukemen, they kind of looked like whole grain but still had some elasticity. Interesting change but not so convincing – also, they were quite sticky and it was a bit difficult to separate them from each other.

Meat: Two slices of pink ham (I guess?), which gave some colorful twist to this elegant bowl, but hardly tasted anything.

Toppings: A very long menma branch, tender behind the crunchiness, but light in taste. Some parsil, and some mitsuba.

An interesting and elegant bowl, but not as convincing as expected. I would definitely recommend to stick to their niboshi ramen – and they also have more classical shoyu (see Ramen Tokyo's review) and shio ramen that might be worth trying.

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Ramen Tokyo

TOKYO UNDERGROUND RAMEN Ganja (Tokyo-to, Toshima-ku)

TOKYO UNDER GROUND RAMEN 頑者
とうきょうあんだーぐらうんどらーめん がんじゃ
TOKYO UNDERGROUD RAMEN Ganja

Kotteri tsukemen: 15 / 20
(濃厚 つけめん）

Arriving early with the night bus in Tokyo at Ikebukuro, I wanted to use the time I had there to maximize the number of ramen I could sample. Therefore, I was happy to discover that a relatively highly praised ramen shop was opened from 10 am. I tried their kotteri (thick) tsukemen (it is their default option, but they also offer a ‘light’ tsukemen that seems to be shoyu-based), with ontama (alternatively, you can go for a more classical ajitama).

Broth: Kotteri it said, kotteri it was: that may have been one of my thickest tonkotsu gyoukai broth ever (the divine Fuunji is out of competition, as it is chicken-based). It sticks exceptionally well to the noodles, but lacks a little bit of taste - fortunately, there is a little bit of powder on top of the bowl to add some punch. As usual, the soup-wari pushed the taste towards more fishiness.

Noodles: Flat and thick noodles, with a good, classical taste of eggy tsukemen-noodles.

Meat: A few meat-‘allumettes’ in the broth (sorry for importing some more French words into food vocabulary, but I don't know the equivalent in English, I don't think that 'meat-match' would sound so great...), nothing exceptional here.

Egg: The ontama was very runny, I was not sure how to combine it with the dish. First I tried to dip the noodles in the ontama before re-dipping them in the soup - it made an even thicker coating, not unpleasant.  Then I mixed it with the soup, but it didn't really bring anything. I would rather recommend to stick with the classical ajitama (in case it is good, I have no idea about that), or to order your dish without egg.

Toppings: A few fin and alumettes-shaped menma, very salty and crunchy, with a mild aroma.

So overall, a good tsukemen, and one that - I presume - some thick-broth-fan may fall in love with, but for me it did not reach exceptionally high levels. They also have a tantanmen-mazesoba that I’d like to try some day. Not that the settings were quite pleasant, with one side of the counter facing a large mirror, and the other side facing a wall of big stones.

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Go Ramen!

Ikaruga (Tōkyō-to, Chiyoda-ku)

九段 斑鳩
くだん いかるが

Abura soba: 17 / 20

***UPDATE: The shop has moved.***

I had been already a couple of times at Ikaruga to try their very unique, creamy - and delicious! - tonkotsu ramen, but my memories of their abura soba dated from my last meal in Tokyo before leaving the country four years earlier. With quite a few more ramen under my belt, I was curious to try it again. You can order it in varying degrees of garlic content – out of compassion for my friends around, I chose the lowest one.

Noodles: An interesting mix of thin and thicker noodles, I’ve never seen such a combination anywhere else. The katame, thicker noodles are kind of coated under the softer, thinner one, a really nice find!

Meat: A few bits of meat, nothing special.

Egg: You get served an ontama with parmesan to mix in your noodles, for the carbonara experience.

Topping: A few bits of salad and negi, as well as some very pleasant crunchy croutons. As usual, you can add as much vinegar as you want.

This is a very essentialized abura soba, one of the most carbonara-like I ever tasted – but a very convincing one, as well as quite original with the dual-noodles system. If you like abura soba, you have to try this. As a note, this is also a very pleasant place, with a very restaurant-like atmosphere, ideal for a date (except for the garlic content of the abura soba!).

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews:
- of Ikaruga's abura soba: Ramen Tokyo, Ii tokoro ne
- of Ikaruga's other dishes: Ramenate, Ramen Adventures, NY Times, Dairycream, No ramen no life, AFAR, Enjoy ramen, Ramen Otaku, Gastronomy

Strike Ken (Osaka-shi, Kita-ku)

ストライク軒
すとらいくけん
Sutoraiku Ken

Hiyashi ramen: 17 / 20
(ストレート)

This ramen restaurant is quite famous for its special clam-based ramen, but also features a more classical, shoyu-based ramen. This is the one I ordered - but in its summer, cold version.

Broth: A thick, wonderful fishy broth cooled with ice cubes.

Noodles: Thin, well cooked.

Meat: A cold, lean and firm slice of chashu with a mild taste.

Toppings: Some soft menma, ginger, nori, microgreens, white negi and viscuous seaweed. You also get a side-dish of grated daikon (radish).

The broth was a delight and the profusion of toppings gave a wonderful variety of flavors - I strongly recommend this dish! Add to this a very cool atmosphere, with the high ceiling, manga library, signed shikishi, and you get all ingredients for a great place. I'll have to come back to try their clam-based ramen.

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Friends in ramen

Men's room Kamitora (Osaka, Kita-ku)

麺’s room 神虎 (南森町店)
めんずるーむ かみとら

Black tiger ramen: 16 / 20
(黒虎らーめん)

I didn’t know this chain but it looked appealing to me when I passed by - especially since this one shop did not have any review on ramendb yet, and so I could try it free of any influence. Decorated with a few Showa-time style posters, with cool background music, it definitely has a pleasant atmosphere. I ordered the (tonkotsu) ramen, black version (with burned garlic sauce), with little fat (abura).

Broth: A very pleasant tonkotsu broth, very thin (assari), exactly the kind of tonkotsu I like - in the Ippudo/Ishimanji family... The roasted garlic brought a delicious twist. A bit too salty, but excellent.

Noodles: Barikata, as I orderered them.

Chashu: A thick, long slice of excellent chashu with melting fat, really the kind of chashu I love.

Toppings: Some long and quite pleasant kikurage, with a kind of noodle-ish feel that give a plastic-like - but pleasant - twist when mixed with the real noodles. You can also add some spicy veggies on the side.

This was a great assari tonkotsu and it’s difficult for me to find anything wrong in it, but like Ishimanji, not everyone may like this kind of ramen as much as I do. As far as I'm concerned, I will come back for sure.

More info on ramendb.

The chain's website.

Other review: Friends in ramen

Tokiya (Osaka, Yodogawa-ku)

Pork tsukemen: 16 / 20
豚つけ

Tokiya is a respected ramen joint next to Minamikata, with a pleasant restaurant-like atmosphere. I arrived there at 14:20 on a Saturday and there were still two people queuing in front of me, so I guess it is better to avoid the rush hours. They specialize in two kinds of tsukemen: pork and chicken. I ordered the pork one, with the ajitama.

Broth: A very thick and rich tonkotsu gyokai broth, which coats wonderfully the noodles.

Noodles: Delicate, but lack a bit of a chew - very similar texture to the one you can find at Kitanozaka Oku.

Meat: Some dice of relatively unremarkable meat in the broth - they don’t bring anything to the whole dish IMHO.

Egg: A quite hard boiled ajitama. To my taste, it was overcooked, but despite this it was quite interesting to dip in the broth (something that you cannot usually do with a too soft ajitama).

Toppings: A few thin, sweet menma with a curious taste - difficult to characterize, but definitely different from the usual menma.

Bonus: You can ask for free at the end a small bowl of rice in dashi, with some ume sauce, to finish your soup (but you can also ask for a soup-wari if you prefer, which wholly transforms the thick broth).

This is a contrasted bowl, with an exceptional broth (to which it owes its high rating here), slightly disappointing noodles and relatively unremarkable meat and egg. The rice at the end was an interesting experience.

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Other review: Friends in ramen

Atago (Tokyo, Minato-ku)

京鰹節つけ麺 愛宕 ATAGO

きょうかつおぶしつけめん あたご

Shoyu ramen, yuzu taste: 14 / 20

In the evening, I continued my exploration of Shimbashi ramen scene with my German friend. Atago is an atmospheric restaurant with a very black interior. I ordered the Yuzu shoyu ramen, and my friend the Yuzu tonkotsu gyokai ramen.

 

Broth: I’m not a big fan of shoyu broth, but with that light yuzu taste, it was quite enjoyable.

Noodles: Whole grain noodles, quite thin, which could be a bit firmer.

Meat: A couple of small slices of tender, slightly fat chashu.

Egg: Well cooked ajitama with gooey yolk; not perfect (some small parts were hard), but very honorable. Apparently, this is a special 'goma tamago' (see the "other reviews" below), but I did not see any difference with a regular one.

Toppings: Thick menma, negi, and nori.

So this was a pleasant-if-not-so-remarkable ramen. The yuzu tonkotsu gyokai my friend ordered had thicker noodles (also whole grain), and the yuzu taste was kind of masked by the strong broth flavors.

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Other reviews: Ramen Adventures, Ramen Tokyo.

Ramen Cliff (Osaka, Miyakojima-ku)

らぁ麺 Cliff
らぁめんくりふ

Misodoro Mazesoba: 18 / 20
(味噌どろまぜそば)

This elegant ramen restaurant north of Osaka castle features ramen, tsukemen and mazemen (regular, or with miso). I had altready tried here the two former some time ago - they were good, but did not give me any lasting impression. And my only experience of mazemen so far had been the delicious Junk Garage in Saitama, so I wanted to see how this one compared - and here I am, ordering the misodoro mazesoba. Like abura soba (what the exact difference between both, by the way? I'm not sure), you have to mix the ingredients vigorously. The result was a bit similar to Carbonara pasta, with a Japanese twist.

 (sorry for the blurred picture)

Broth: Mazemen is soup-less ramen but you receive with your mazemen a small cup of delicate, enjoyable light broth, kind of shio-ramen-like.

Noodles: Linguine-like pasta. They are home made, and they are delicious (and no, the first one does not always imply the second).

Meat: Small cubes of excellent bacon-like meat, and stripes of more regular chashu.

Egg: Like at Junk Garage, a raw egg is here to be mixed with your pasta, providing a delicious viscosity to the whole thing.

Toppings: Lots of toppings: some strong-flavored menma, some thin green vegetables, some nuts, and garlic (you can ask without though). Most important, the “misodoro” part of the name referred to a brown miso sauce that gave this bowl all its power. You can also add some laiu and vinegar, to your liking. Finally, you also get a bowl of rice (never really understood why one would need rice while having already twice the recommended daily portion of carbohydrates, but whatever).

I may be biased in favor of mazemen, but this is so far surely one of the three best ramen-noodles dish I’ve eaten in Osaka. Everything was great. I may have a slight preference for Saitama’s Junk Garage, but on this side of Honshu, this is a winner.

More information on ramendb.

Other review: Friends in ramen, Ramen manager

Nagi (Tokyo, Shinjuku-ku)

ラーメン凪 煮干王 (新宿ゴールデン街店)
らーめんなぎ にぼしおう
Ramen Nagi Niboshou (Shinjuku Golden Gai ten)

Special niboshi ramen: 18 / 20

Back to Tokyo for a few days! I took the night bus and arrived in Shinjuku at 6:15 in the morning. Obviously, that was a perfect time for a ramen-breakfast - the perfect occasion to finally try Nagi's, a mythical 24-hours open joint, in the fantastic area of Golden Gai. This restaurant is famous for being always full, and indeed when I arrived there, there was a small queue (yes, on a Friday at 6:40 in the morning). A steep stair leads you to a machine offering four choices: ramen, tsukemen, special ramen and special tsukemen (you can choose either 200g or 300g noodles, for the same price). I chose the special ramen and sat in the tiny-and-so-atmospheric restaurant, among tired clubbers (on a Friday morning, really?) and other sleazy night owls.

Broth: Nagi is famous for its intense niboshi-broth, and intense it is! If you don’t like niboshi, don’t even think of entering here. The fishiness will stick in your mouth for quite a time after you left the shop. A delicious fishiness, I must say - with maybe some roastiness? Definitely unique.

Noodles: Thick, curly, very pleasant noodles. Surprisingly, there were also a few flat noodles on the bottom on the soup, more on the soft side; not as deflightful as the curly ones, but they provided an interesting contrast and final note.

Meat: A couple of slices of hard-to-chew but savory pork. Definitely woke me up.

Egg: Slightly on the hard side, but high-quality.

Toppings: Some salty-and-slightly-sweet, classical menma. A few sheets of nori, which fit extremely well with the fishiness of the soup. A few green vegetables, just so that you can say you've taken care of your health.

The combination is beautiful. This ramen has punch - a bit dozy from the night in the bus, it kicked me back to reality. This it is the kind of broth you can easily feel in love with, like deep black shoyu, or, to take a more classical example, tonkotsu. The atmospheric, casual and friendly mood - and the unique Golden Gai area - adds of course to the charm. Do not miss this place.

More information on ramendb.

Other reviews: Ramen adventures, Time out, Umamimart