San San Nana (Kanagawa-ken, Kawasaki-shi)

三三㐂

Ichibanshibori tsukemen: 15 / 20
一番搾りつけ麺

A few months after my first visit, here I am back in this Kawasaki shop, the most praised around the station. Last time I had tried the Nibanshibori (煮番搾り) tsukemen; this time I tried the first option, the ichibanshibori tsukemen.

Broth: A chicken broth thinner than your regular tonkotsu gyokai broth, which sticks to the noodles mainly because of its fattiness.

Noodles: Whole grain noodles, a little bit fragile and with no real chew, but instead a more granular and crumbly structure. Interesting for a change, but I think I prefer the more classical elastic consistency.

Meat: Three pieces of chashu with some fat (alas, not melting), it was decent.

Egg: A surprisingly elastic egg (difficult to seize with the chopstick!), quite well cooked, a little bit on the hard side.

Toppings: I may be wrong but there seemed to be two kind of menma, some with a strong taste, and some milder and sweeter.

Although nothing in itself was exceptional, the combination of crumbly noodles, negi and oily broth made for a coherent dish and an interesting change. The other tsukemen (nibanshibori) was thicker and better in my memory, though. But I would say that both are a slightly better choice than Akazonae, in the same area.

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Other review: Ramen Adventures

Akazonae (Shinagawa-ken, Kawasaki-shi)

赤備
あかぞなえ

Tontori tsukemen: 14 / 20

A couple of minutes away from Kawasaki station, this restaurant features ‘tontori’ tsukemen and ramen, made with pork and chicken, as well as a more classical tsukemen. After several gyokai tonkotsu tsukemen in the last few days, I thought it would be interesting to try a different-but-related specialty and I went with their tontori tsukemen.

Broth: There is chicken in there, no doubt about it! It definitely wins over the pork. A bit too fat for me, though (although it is the fat that makes it stick to the noodles).

Noodles: Slightly curly, al dente, with a classical egg taste, very good as usual - although maybe a little bit on the starchy side.

Meat: A thin, firm and overall relatively unremarkable slice of chashu.

Toppings: Some menma with a strong taste of preserved food. A slice of kamaboko. A sheet of nori.

This bowl was an interesting change from tonkotsu gyokai tsukemen, but it really lacks the deepness, complexity and smoothness of the latter. If you love chicken, you may want to try it though. Overall, it was good, but nothing exceptional.

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Katsuji (Yokohama-shi, Naka-ku)

麺や 勝治
めんや かつじ

Reimen: 17 / 20

This ramen restaurant close to Yokohama’s Kannai station did not get so many reviews, but quite good ones. Being in the area, and not in the mood for a jiro, I decided to give it a try. They specialize in shio tsukemen, but also featured by then a spicy reimen that seemed like a good idea on this hot day.

Broth: A very pleasant broth, niboshi-flavoured, as it seemed. I ordered the lowest grade of spicyness, but this was already quite spicy I must say. Go above at your own risk!

Noodles: Thin, yellow al dente noodles, very good.

Meat: Two thin slices of cold chashu. They were in themselves quite unremarkable, although not unpleasant, but their fattiness fitted very well with the broth.

Egg: Two slices of a very well cooked egg - slightly on the hard side, but that was perfect so that it would not fall in the soup. They are quite fragile though, so it's better to eat each of them in one delicious mouthful.

Toppings: Some green pepper (a korean spice as it seems), white negi, microgreens, and a slice of nori. Some long and irregular menma with a mild, pleasant classical taste. You can also get a bowl of rice for free at lunchtime.

This was excellent, and the spicyness really brought a new dimension to the now-classical niboshi reimen. If you are in the area, it is really worth checking.

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Tamagatta (Kanagawa-ken, Yokohama-shi)

九州大分らぁめん たまがった西口店
きゅうしゅうおおいたらぁめん たまがった

Tonkotsu ramen (with side-order of miso paste): 16 / 20

We tried with my friend to go to the famous Yoshimuraya (home of iekei style!) on a sunday evening. Well, that’s not a good idea: at 8 pm, around 30 people were still queuing. Not being in the mood to wait one hour or more, even for an excellent ramen, we switched to another option, a reasonably highly rated tonkotsu ramen in the area.

Broth: A quite creamy and pleasant tonkotsu. You can buy for 20 yens a side-order of karai (spicy) thick miso paste. It actually blended very well with the broth and gave an interesting twist.

Noodles: Barikata, katame, whatever else, up to you. Nothing to say more.

Meat: Two thin slices of salty chashu. I tend to prefer thick chashu, but this was not unpleasant.

Topping: Two sheets of nori, some negi.

A good tonkotsu overall, the miso paste definitely brought something to this otherwise quite classical tonkotsu. Too bad that they only serve garlic paste rather than fresh garlic. I also do not recommend their ‘special sauce’ which did not bring much more flavor than salt.

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