群青
ぐんじょう
Gunjou
Zansetsu ramen: 17 / 20
(残雪)
When we met, Ben from Friends in Ramen had reminded me about Gunjo near Tenjimbashisuji rokuchome (a.k.a. Tenroku) - his favorite tsukemen in Osaka. I had not planned to go there before a couple of weeks, having had much too many bowls on my counter lately. But a French friend of mine who likes ramen came in the area to have a beer with me, so I could not disappoint him: I decided to go for the best of the best and we went to Gunjo. At 7:15 pm on a Friday evening, there were eight people ahead of us. Not so long for such a famous shop, and 20 minutes later, we were in. I was not in the mood of something too thick though, and living now in the area, I knew I could come back anytime, so I had the shoyu ramen - which I wanted to compare with the two shoyu I had the day before at Ramen Expo. My friend ordered the tonkotsu gyokai tsukemen - his first ever! Let’s review the shoyu ramen.
Broth: A sweetish shoyu broth, very much on the gyokai side (with a niboshi flavor), and simply delicious. Actually, the taste of shoyu was a bit masked by the sweet and fishy notes, which is fine for me. The broth became a bit too fat at the end though, I would not recommend finishing it.
Noodles: Yellow, relatively straight noodles, firm enough, very much like the ones I had the day before in Katoya's bowl at the Ramen Expo.
Meat: Three cubes of very decent meat that somehow looked like kakuni (alas not as delightful - I love kakuni!).
Toppings: A few rectangular menma, crunchy and soft at the same time (as is often the case when the menma is not homogeneous), with a rather mild taste. Some white negi - not unpleasant with the broth - as well as some greens.
That bowl was a delight, mainly because of its very original broth - the mix of fishines and sweetness was brilliant. Surprisingly, my friend didn’t like his tsukemen - he thought it was too sweet - so I guess he's a lost cause for tsukemen. I tried it a bit and found it delicious (did I taste some hints of tomato in the wari soup?), so I’m looking forward to come back and have a full bowl.
More info on ramendb.
Other review: Friends in Ramen (for the tsukemen)
ぐんじょう
Gunjou
Zansetsu ramen: 17 / 20
(残雪)
When we met, Ben from Friends in Ramen had reminded me about Gunjo near Tenjimbashisuji rokuchome (a.k.a. Tenroku) - his favorite tsukemen in Osaka. I had not planned to go there before a couple of weeks, having had much too many bowls on my counter lately. But a French friend of mine who likes ramen came in the area to have a beer with me, so I could not disappoint him: I decided to go for the best of the best and we went to Gunjo. At 7:15 pm on a Friday evening, there were eight people ahead of us. Not so long for such a famous shop, and 20 minutes later, we were in. I was not in the mood of something too thick though, and living now in the area, I knew I could come back anytime, so I had the shoyu ramen - which I wanted to compare with the two shoyu I had the day before at Ramen Expo. My friend ordered the tonkotsu gyokai tsukemen - his first ever! Let’s review the shoyu ramen.
Broth: A sweetish shoyu broth, very much on the gyokai side (with a niboshi flavor), and simply delicious. Actually, the taste of shoyu was a bit masked by the sweet and fishy notes, which is fine for me. The broth became a bit too fat at the end though, I would not recommend finishing it.
Noodles: Yellow, relatively straight noodles, firm enough, very much like the ones I had the day before in Katoya's bowl at the Ramen Expo.
Meat: Three cubes of very decent meat that somehow looked like kakuni (alas not as delightful - I love kakuni!).
Toppings: A few rectangular menma, crunchy and soft at the same time (as is often the case when the menma is not homogeneous), with a rather mild taste. Some white negi - not unpleasant with the broth - as well as some greens.
That bowl was a delight, mainly because of its very original broth - the mix of fishines and sweetness was brilliant. Surprisingly, my friend didn’t like his tsukemen - he thought it was too sweet - so I guess he's a lost cause for tsukemen. I tried it a bit and found it delicious (did I taste some hints of tomato in the wari soup?), so I’m looking forward to come back and have a full bowl.
More info on ramendb.
Other review: Friends in Ramen (for the tsukemen)
