Daimyo (Osaka-fu, Minoh-shi)

大名ラーメン(本店)
だいみょうらーめん
Daimyou Ramen (Honten)

Yuzu ramen: 14 / 20

Here I am again, going to eat a ramen along the road 171 north of Osaka University's Suita campus. This time, we went to Daimyo, another tonkotsu shop. Minoh specializes in yuzu product – even their mascot is a yuzu character! – and fittingly, this shop offers a special yuzu ramen. I never had such a thing, so obviously, I had to try it.

Broth: Yuzu it tastes indeed! One cannot really feel any other taste in the soup, even the pork flavor is kind of masked – although the soup had obviously the typical tonkotsu creamy structure. A kind of silky yuzu juice. It is described as "sappari" – which means "refreshing in a light way" – but it was overall similar in texture to many assari tonkotsu ramen you would eat out there. Also, it is supposed to be made with olive oil, but I could not taste any hint of it.

Noodles: Katame, as I ordered.

Meat: Three small slices of a good chashu, very melting, really the kind I like, although it could have a slightly more pronounced taste.

Toppings: Some refreshing bean sprouts, and some green negi (which, IMHO, did not fit that well with the broth).

Overall, a no-thrill but good ramen, very original for its yuzu taste. I must say I prefer small bits of yuzu zest in a ramen – it makes the soup higher in contrasts, expectations and delightful surprises, never knowing when taking a sip whether you will bite on one of those bits or not. Anyway, this restaurant might be your best choice in the area with Ippudo, significantly better than average neighboring shops like Kappa, Kieiken or Genkotsu.

More info on ramendb.

Kappa (Osaka-fu, Minoh-shi)

河童ラーメン本舗箕面店
かっぱらーめんほんぽ
Kappa Ramen Honba

Black tonkotsu ramen: 11 / 20
(黒河童)

After Kieiken, another ramen shop located on the road 171 which passes north of Osaka University's Suita campus. This one draws its name from kappa, a Japanese mythological creature. Is their ramen a myth too? Unfortunately, no. I had their black ramen, with 'losu' meat (you can chose between 'losu' and 'bara').

Both: Assari tonkotsu-shoyu with some black, garlic liquid. That’s usually a winning combination for me (that’s the kind of broth that made me fall in love with ramen four years earlier at Ippudo!), but here, the black sauce was too fat. Not unpleasant, but nothing exceptional, really. Also, as many tonkotsu-shoyu broth, this was too salty.

Noodles: Barikata, as I ordered.

Meat: The losu was really nothing special. The bara my colleagues were eating did not look much better.

Toppings: The menma were a bit hard, with a very subdued version of the classical taste of menma. Not very enjoyable.

I would recommend to stick with the classical version of the ramen, that you can order in light taste, or koi (concentrated) – I had a better impression of this ramen last time I went there. If you are in the area, Ippudo or even Kieiken would be a better choice.

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Friends in ramen (Minami shop)

Hanamichi (Osaka-fu, Minō-shi)

麺匠はなみち箕面店
めんしょうはなみち
Menshou Hanamichi

Wakame miso ramen: 12 / 20 

This ramen chain features three families of ramen (shoyu-tonkotsu, miso-tonkotsu, and spicy miso-tonkotsu), and a tsukemen. I ordered the miso-tonkotsu with wakame, with a very generous dose of garlic (ninniku tappuri).

Broth: Neither the tonkotsu nor the miso taste were very strong – it was pleasant in a kind of unremarkable way, and too salty. Fortunately, the garlic spiked the whole thing.

Noodles: OK.

Meat: A few small slices of a melting, very decent chashu.

Egg: Half of an overcooked egg.

Toppings: It may have been the first time I explicitly ordered my ramen with wakame. Well, I’m not convinced, I don’t think that the marine taste fitted very well with the miso-tonkotsu (and it is a gyoukai-tonkotsu fan who says that!).

Overall, nothing remarkable here: if you like ramen, you will probably like that, but as you would like many other places in Japan.

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Friends in ramen (another location)

Kieiken (Osaka-fu, Minoh-shi)

希永軒
きえいけん
Kieiken

Goma miso ramen: 12 / 20

This ramen restaurant is located near Osaka university’s Suita campus, on a road where ramen joints grow like mushrooms. They feature a tonkotsu ramen (both kotteri and assari version), and goma miso ramen and tsukemen. I ordered the goma miso ramen, slightly spicy (you can chose how spicy you want it to be).

Broth: A good spicy, slightly sweet miso and sesame taste.

Noodles: A bit too soft to my taste.

Meat: A few thin slices of an OK chashu, with the right amount of fat.

Toppings: Some soy sprouts. You can also press a garlic clove in your soup, or add some oriental garlic leaves.

It was a quite OK ramen. Nothing exceptional, but pleasant.

More information on ramendb.