Nibojiro (Kyoto-shi, Sakyo-ku / Sengoku ramen event)

京都西院にぼ次朗
きょうとさいいんにぼじろう
Kyoto Saiin Nibojirou

Nibo-shio-tonkotsu ramen: 14 / 20

And one more ramen event – the ramen Sengoku! I had mixed feelings about former events such as the Ramen Expo, but I could hardly pass on this one – and which ramen-companion could be better than Ben to go there?

My choice for my first bowl went to Nibojiro, which I selected because it was a ‘nibo-shio-tonkotsu’ – an uncommon mix (even niboshi-tonkotsu is not so common, although it has been popularized by Tamagoro). I like ramen oddities, I love niboshi, so I had to try this!

Broth: The first sip was quite intense in niboshi, but surprisingly, my tongue became rapidly desensitized and the pungent notes vanished, leaving a not-unpleasant-but-not-so-remarkable tonkotsu taste.

Noodles: Contrarily to many noodles I ate at the Ramen Expo, they were quite well-cooked. Congrats, as this is appears to be a difficult feat in such a context!

Meat: A thin, lean chashu with a relatively uncommon taste, yet difficult to characterize.

Toppings: Some miso paste, ground beef and onion. So maybe after all one should call it a miso-shio-niboshi-tonkotsu-tantan-inspired ramen? In my knowledge, only Mengenso managed to push the mix of styles so far!

Overall, a good bowl, but not as exceptional as I expected it to be. I needed to continue with something more exceptional on that day…

More info on ramendb (for the regular shop, with a different menu)

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

Gokkei (Kyōto-shi, Sakyō-ku)

Menya Gokkei
麺屋 極鶏
めんや ごっけい

Niwatoridaku: 15 / 20 
(鶏だく)

This place has opened only a few years ago but it is already a myth. On three occasions already I thought of going there, and three times I stumbled on a one hour-long line. How would it be at 11:30 (the opening time) on a rainy weekday? You guessed it: a one hour-long line. I won’t come back to Ichijoji before a while, so I thought that whatever the time it takes, I’ll be waiting. One hour letter, I seat in front of my tori-ramen, with ajitama.

Broth: Imagine a three liters-recipient full of chicken bones that you would let boil until absolutely no water remains. That’s about how this broth feels. Actually, it should be called a 'sauce' rather than a 'broth'. If you were looking for the graal of kotteri-ness, don’t search anymore, here it is - although, I must say, the honour may be shared with Muttepo. I’m not a big fan of ultra-kotteri rame, but I must say that this one kind of reconciliated me with the style. At some point, I had the impression I was nearly munching crunchy bones.

Noodles: Quite soft, as they should be in a Kyoto-style ramen. Unfortunately, I’m not very fan of soft nodles. They were also a bit difficult to untangle from each other.

Meat: Some average chashu that falls into parts.

Egg: Well-cooked, gooey on the hard side; however, it did not fit with the whole thing and I don’t recommend ordering it (and the soup alone is heavy enough!).

Toppings: Some slabs of menma, with a very unified (rather than fibrous) texture, crunchy and mild.

Eight minutes after I started my dish, I’m hurrying out of the shop to let other hungry ramen-addicts enter. I would say there was at least 1h15 minutes queue at this point.

I’m going to make enemies here by giving it ‘only’ a 15 / 20 (which is actually a pretty good grade). I can easily imagine that kotteri-fan could give it a 20 / 20. Fine for me, but I’m not into soft noodles and thick broth. Despite this, the experience was quite pleasant. I wish I would have ordered it in the black version though (with some roasted garlic liquid), I may have liked it even better (you can also order a red – spicy version, or a fish-version, which, I imagine, must be totally different?) Also, the restaurant has a quite pleasant atmosphere, with its short counter, one regular table, and one floor-table. And overall, this was a much better experience in my memory than the nearby Tentenyu, which also specializes in Kyoto-style ramen.

More info on ramendb.

Other links: Reina Loves eating

Gundan (Kyōto-shi, Sakyō-ku)

ラーメン軍団
らーめんぐんだん
Ramen Gundan

J-mazesoba ninniku: 15 / 20
(J-まぜそば にんにく)

This ramen restaurant may not be the most famous of Ichijoji, but got pretty good reviews, and I was curious to try it. However, they specialize in a very kotteri (thick) ramen and tsukemen, which did not sound like a great idea less than four hours after my tonkotsu-shoyu ramen at Bishiya. So I went with the J-mazesoba, thinking that it may well be lighter; oh but by the way, what could the ‘J’ mean?... It is only when I saw the pile of bean sprouts on top of my gigantic bowl coming towards me that I got it: ‘J’ stood for ‘jiro’. I wanted to have something not too heavy, and I ended up with a jiro ramen, probably the heaviest dish in the universe... well, whatever, I’m not going to let that go to waste.

Sauce: No broth obviously, but a pleasant, very garlicy sauce, that coated nicely the noodles under a garlic fat layer. The more I ate, the fatter the broth was, until it was definitely too fat and I gave up.

Noodles: Thick, firm and curly, good noodles.

Meat: A very large, thick part of pork, crumbly (not unlike some tuna in a can), with a quite light, but pleasant taste.

Toppings: As usual in jiro ramen, there was a large pile of toppings: crunchy cabbage sprinkled with chilli powder, bean sprouts, and lots of garlic mixed in the sauce.

The mix of bean sprout, thick delectable noodles and garlic has definitely a lot of appeal to me, and I've never been disappointed by a jiro ramen - admittedly, I haven't tried much either, maybe 5 or 6 in total. This one was comparable in quality with the few ones I've tried before, but the sauce was definitely too fat after a while, hence the ‘only’ 15 rating. Oh yeah, and that was definitely too much meat.

Note also that if you are a fan of jiro ramen, there is another one in the same street, Yume wo katare, just before the corner with Higashioji dori, which is kind of a local fame (it was actually there that I ate my very first jiro ramen, four years ago).

More info on ramendb.

Bishiya (Kyōto-shi, Sakyō-ku)

びし屋
びしや
Bishiya

Tonkotsu-shoyu ramen: 16 / 20
(豚骨醤油らーめん)

Coming to Ichijoji in Kyoto for lunch on a saturday during the momiji season (and possibly during any season) is not really a good idea. Crowds of hungry ramen lovers swarm in front of all the ramen restaurants - at least, the good ones (the queue in front of Takayasu was daunting!). I wanted to try a relatively recent restaurant which opened a couple of years ago, but there was still a one hour waiting time at 14:15 (and, as I would discover later, the same waiting time later at 17:15 - impressive!). Not very patient in nature, I chose to try a ramen shop that did not get so many reviews, but only good ones, Bishiya. As the name indicates, it specializes in Yohohama-style iekei ramen (all iekei shop finish by the 屋 kanji, which reads "-ya"). As it happened, I had tried iekei ramen only once - at nothing less than the founding restaurant of the style, Yoshimuraya, in Yokohama. Since the queue in front of Bishiya was somewhat shorter than in front of the other local celebrities, I decided to give it a try. This was a good idea.

Broth: A thick tonkotshu-shoyu broth, delectable although quite salty (nothing unexpectable when you add shoyu in a tonkotsu broth…). The juice perfectly coated the noodles in a fatty layer. You can add some pepper, which I would recommend - it fits well with the broth.

Noodles: Slightly thicker than the regular tonkotsu noodles, good quality.

Meat: A slice of thin chahsu that falls apart a bit - not too bad, but could be better.

Toppings: Some spinach - not so tasty, but I guess it’s nice to have some vegetable (although that’s more of an excuse). Some kikurage, negi and a slice of nori.

Difficult to compare it with Yoshimuriya, as I tried it already some time ago, but it lived up to the expectations. One could say that it is not surprising, since Yoshimura has put his recipe in open access, but I've heard several ramen experts complaining about the general low quality of iekei ramen across the country. I cannot imagine anyone complaining about this one, though.

More info on ramendb.

Takayasu (Kyoto, Sakyō-ku)

高安
たかやす

Suji ramen: 17 / 20

This elegant (and very popular, expect to queue) restaurant is located in the Ichijoji area, Kyoto’s ramen holy land - a bit far up north, but worth the trip for any true ramen-lover. I had tried four years ago their regular chuka-soba, but it didn’t gave me any lasting impression (I’m not so much into Kyoto-style kotteri ramen). So four years later, I tried their suji ramen.

Broth: A very good tonkotsu / torigara (pork / chicken bones) broth in which the tonkotsu predominates, sprinkled with sesame seeds. The end result was not too kotteri. Too fat and salty to finish it, though.

Noodles: Very Kyoto-style: not so thin, and not so firm. They were OK though, despite my devotion to barikata (or at least katame) noodles.

Meat: Many tasty suji (tendons) pieces in the broth.

Toppings: Some tender and fibrous good menma. Some round negi. You can also help yourself of some tasty spicy leaf vegetables on the table.

I guess I would have appreciated this ramen even more if I hadn’t eaten a tsukemen at Sugari 3 hours earlier, both because Sugari is one of the most fantastic ramen restaurants in Japan, and because I was quite full after it. But I don’t go to Kyoto every day, so I had to make the most of my trip there! Anyway, this was a very good ramen. The place is also quite atmospheric, with its hip neo-70s interior design and its counter running along the walls. Very much recommended. I should come back to try again their regular chuka soba and check whether it has the same broth, in which case I can conclude that my taste has evolved in four years.

More information on ramendb.

Other review: Ramen adventures