JET600 (Osaka-shi, Higashinari-ku)

ラーメン人生 JET600
らーめんじんせい じぇっとろっぴゃく
Ramen Jinsei Jetto Roppiaku

Torigara tsukemen: 16 / 20

Shoyu ramen: 16 / 20

JET 600 is a spin-off of nothing less than one of the two most highly ranked Osaka ramen restaurant on ramendb, JET (which is running neck-and-neck with Yashichi). It looks like their menu slightly differ though, as there is no shio ramen here, but a shoyu ramen and a chicken-based tsukemen. My friend ordered the former, and I ordered the latter – let’s start with reviewing mine.

Broth: A good-if-not-exceptional chicken broth, less thick than what I thought at first – a thicker brother could have transferred more taste to the noodles.

Noodles: Flatly-shaped noodles, very beautifully presented in a bowl. They have a very interesting slimey and elastic texture, and looks like partly whole-grain (half-grain?). Really great noodles, I must say - and once dipped in the broth, they become perfectly slippery.

Meat: Two large slices of pleasant meat, salty and juicy. Good, but way too much - and some parts were too fat.

Toppings: A few thin slabs of crunchy, very mild menma.

Soup wari: The soup wari was more earthy than the broth, and excellent.

This was a very good tsukemen, but I think that as far as tsukemen is concerned, tonkotsu usually fits better than torigara (chiken bones) – it was a bit too light in taste for me, like at Kogaryu Seimen in Hyogo (there is one exception to this rule, though, namely the divine Fuunji...) Anyway, the alchemy between the noodles and the broth was fantastic for sure (last time I had this was at Zyurumen Ikeda in Tokyo), so if you want to eat some chicken-based tsukemen, do not hesitate, run there. Oh and don’t worry, it looks like the bowl of noodles is huge, but there is a zaru under the noodles, so there are not as much of them as what you might think at first.

The shoyu broth of my friend had a distinctive and excellent taste of niboshi (but is apparently also made from saba and samma), enhanced by the use of mitsuba, which gave some herbal notes; but the noodles were a bit soft for my taste. The meat seemed harder than the one I had, and somehow slightly sweeter. The menma were identical.

Overall, a very good place, but it would certainly not enter my Osaka's top 5 list. Is their mother shop better? As I would discover later, it isn't (review is coming).

More info on ramendb.

Rekka (Osaka-fu, Toyonaka-shi)

烈火
れっか
Rekka

Torigara gyukotsu gyoukai ramen: 14 / 20

Shonai is a relatively nice area on the way north to Toyonaka, with a pleasant market and a popular atmosphere. I had been to Rekka restaurant in this area a few months ago - but had not been convinced by their very contrasted kombu tsukemen. It had interesting features though, and I really wanted to try their other specialty, so it was now time for a second chance. This time, I ordred the torigara gyukotsu gyoukai ramen (which means chicken bones + beef bones + fish - yep, quite a mix!), ‘nami’ (regular) size.

Broth: The first sips of this intense shoyu were definitely too fat – they definitely have a problem with fatness in this shop... But it was mostly the upper layer, and the more I ate, the more this powerful, pungent and quite good broth revealed itself.

Noodles: A bit thicker than the usual shoyu noodles, frizzante and katame – as I asked them.

Meat: It was very crumbly, as last time, but I found it too fat this time – I had to surgically remove the fat to eat only the lean part.

Egg: Half of an overcooked egg.

Toppings: Some thin and crunchy menma, with a mild classical taste enhanced by sesame. Some negi which are a bit too powerful.

Like last time, this is a contrasted bowl - I think it could be great with some more work, although it's already quite decent. They also serve a variety of other dishes: chuka soba with torigara and gyukotsu only, or a ramen with only gyokai, a a spicy miso-gyokai ramen (the "rekka ramen"), and a yamagata karai miso. If you try any of those, leave a comment, I would be curious to know how they are but most certainly won't come back. Oh and for the amateurs: there is a jiro ramen restaurant next door. And as a note, they seem to be affiliated with Strike Ken, as their bowls are signed with the name of this restaurant.

More info on ramendb.

Buson (Nagano-ken, Nagano-shi)

麺屋蕪村
めんやぶそん
Menya Buson

Tsukesoba: 13 / 20
(つけそば)

Buson soba: 15 / 20
(蕪村そば)

Agosoba: 14 / 20
(あごそば)

Nagano prefecture is a pleasant place to go in winter: skiing, seeing monkey bathing in onsen, watching the snow falling... Does enjoying good ramen to the list? To have an idea about that, we went to Buson, the second most highly ranked ramen place in the prefecture on ramendb, and conveniently located near the station. We ordered the tsukesoba, the buson soba, and the agosoba. Let's start with the former.

Broth: A torigara-katsuo broth, a bit fat and simple, that did not stick enough to the noodles.

Noodles: A bit too soft. Is it because I asked them atsumori?

Meat: A few thick dices of meat with some good melting fat.

Toppings: A few mild, thick menma, most of them very firm and fibrous - too much! Lots of white negi. You can also add some mix of spices of yuzukoshio, garlic and momiji oroshi.

Soup wari: You get some chicken broth for the soup wari which changes the not so remarkable broth into an excellent, kind-of-creamy soup. This saved the bowl.

The Buson ramen was less fat than the tsukemen broth and had a more punchy and complex taste - although the soup wari of the tsukemen may have been better. The meat was thick and similar to the one in the tsukemen, and the noodles firmer.

The agosoba uses flying fish for dashi - an interesting twist, although it's difficult to taste the difference. The broth was a bit lighter, kind of intermediate between the buson ramen and a shio broth. I preferred the buson ramen though.

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Ramen Adventures.

Matoi (Tōkyō-to, Minato-ku)

新橋 纏
しんばし まとい
Shinbashi Matoi

Nōkō Niwatori tsukemen : 18 / 20 
(濃厚鶏つけ麺)

So it was decided, I wanted to try some shio tsukemen. Going back to Mendokoro Ginzasa, where I had an excellent shio ramen last time, sounded like a good idea... but damn, this place is hard to find! And when we finally arrived there at 19:50 with my friend, they had run out of soup... For a shop that closes at 22:00, that’s early – it’s definitely more advisable to go there for lunch. Anyway, here we are on our way back to Shimbashi, for my original plan – going to Matoi. Last time I had the niboshi ramen and was not fully convinced, but the great reviews convinced me to give it another chance for their shio tsukemen. Except… that their shio tsukemen was over when we arrived. That's not my lucky day, was I thinking, as I ordered their torigara tsukemen. I was wrong.

Broth: Wow, that’s smooth. And tasty. Hmm, rings a bell… I know, Fuunji! Of course: both use a chicken-bones broth, which bring this delicious sweetness. I may not be a fan of Kyoto-style chicken ramen, but for Tokyo-style chicken tsukemen, count me in at any time. As usual, the soup wari brought some gyokai (fishy) twist; it was even sprinkled with a few yuzu bits, but their taste was hardly discernible – except when you would bit on one of those.

Noodles: Thick and eggy, perfect tsukemen-noodles.

Meat: Ah, now we’re talking! Last time, I had a big slice of very average and over-fatty chashu in the niboshi ramen. Here, you get the usual cubes of chashu, and my god, that may have been the best chashu cubes I've ever eaten - melting in the mouth, and simply excellent. You also get some bits of quite regular chicken.

Toppings: Some thin, soft menma with a sweetish, classical taste.

Last time I was at Matoi, I was surprised to find a relatively unexceptional dish. Now, this one definitely made up for the former one. But make sure NOT to order any extra chashu, as it looks from the picture that it is the same average one as the one I got in the niboshi ramen last time. Anyway, this dish definitely ranks among the best tsukemen of the capital city.

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Other review: Ii Tokoro Ne

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

Fuunji (Tokyo, Shibuya-ku)

風雲児
ふううんじ

Special tsukemen: 19 / 20
Special ramen: 17  / 20

On a rainy evening at 20:30 in south Shinjuku, it was a perfect occasion to attempt the usually impossible task of eating at Fu-unji without dying of boredom on the pavement: Fu-unji is famous for its endless queue, but arriving shortly before the door-closing time (21:00), we had to wait only 15 minutes. I ordered the special tsukemen, and my friend the special ramen. Let's start with the highlight, the former.

Broth: A remarkably smooth broth, thanks to the use of torigara (chicken bones) instead of tonkotsu, mixed with fish. I'm usually not a big fan of chicken-based soup, but this bowl did definitely reconcile me with it. The taste was not too strong, even a bit sweet - a sweetness that infused all the ingredients, and remained or even increased with the soup-wari. Eating this bowl felt like plunging in a giant cotton candy.

Noodles: Eggy noodles with the right texture.

Meat: Quite a few long slices of chashu, salty and good, that harmonize well with the rest.

Egg: Gooey, very well cooked ajitama, a bit on the hard side, with some sweet taste that infused the white part.

Toppings: A little bit of bonito powder for some umami explosion. The menma were large, very mild and sweet.

And what about the ramen?

The fish taste is less marked here, it was somehow similar to a soft and smooth corn soup. The meat was more diversified, with some thick, very fat slices, and some thinner ones. Overall, it was also very good, although not as wonderful as the tsukemen.

Eating at Hototogisu for lunch and Fuunji for dinner is a truly magical experience, maybe my best ramen-day ever - both bowls transported me in some kind of aetheral world, soft and clear at Hototogisu, thick and sweet at Fuunji.

A last note: impossible not to think about Michi's broth when eating at Fuunji - although the latest may feel even more like cotton wool. Michi may have an even more remarkable broth (although I would need to try them both on the same day to be sure), but all the rest is more remarkable in Fuunji (the egg, the menma, the coherence of the whole thing, and even the meat). Put Michi’s broth in Fuunji, enhance a slightly little bit the quality of the chashu, and you’ll get a 20/20 tonkotsu gyokai. But Fuunji is clearly in Tokyo's top 10 ramen places, hands down - especially when you add to that the very pleasant atmosphere in the restaurant (if you manage to forget about the long queue of hungry people waiting behind you!), and the very attentive staff.

More info on ramendb.

The official website.

Other links: Ramen Adventures, Time out, Ramen Shaman, Jin Loves to Eat, I'm made of sugar, Go Ramen!

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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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