Jikasei (Osaka-fu, Suita-shi)

自家製にぼしらあめん 秀一 (穂波店)
じかせいにぼしらあめん しゅういち
Jikasei niboshi ramen shuuichi 

Seabura ramen: 15 / 20

Wow, this restaurant is far from the station! Fifteen minutes on foot at least, west from Suita station, through a very nondescript area. But finally, here I am, in front of a shop famous for its ‘seabura ramen’ with niboshi and sammma. No hesitation to have, that's what I order.

Broth: An intense, fishy shoyu broth with some hints of niboshi – very good, but unfortunately a bit too fat (hence the name of ‘seabura’ - this refers to pork back fat). Not too salted – that was appreciable.

Noodles: A quite large portion of very decent noodles – I wouldn't have minded if they were a bit more tasty though.

Meat: Two beautiful small slices of braised chashu, with a delicious (but a bit overabundant) melting fat.

Toppings: Good peppery menma – some small, and some large and soft. Some negi and wakame flavored with goma oil – as often, the negi fits well with the pungency of the niboshi taste.

My neighbor had ordered the ‘zenbu nose’ version and I regret I didn’t, as it gets you two other kinds of noodles: some dark sesame noodles, and some made with jako fish (if I understood correctly), which really woke my curiosity. However, the zenbu nose comes with extra chashu, and the two fatty slices you already get in the regular bowl are more than enough IMO. The cook is quite friendly so you might manage to negotiate a ‘zenbu nose’ without the extra chashu (how would you say that, 'hanbu nose'?) In any case, this guy was really dedicated to his work and proud of it – it was a pleasure to talk with him. If you are a fan of ramen oddities made by real ramen craftsman, brave the distance and come here.

More info on ramendb.

Mentetsu (Osaka-fu, Toyonaka-shi)

豊中 麺哲
とよなか めんてつ
Toyonaka Mentetsu

Shoyu ramen: 13 / 20

This ramen place close to Toyonaka station is quite popular, and was one of the last in the area I hadn’t tried yet. There is a long counter surrounding a relatively large kitchen space, in which you can see the cooks jumping from one giant pot to another, and preparing the bowls with four hands. I ordered the shoyu ramen – the restaurant’s osusume – but they also serve a shio broth.

Broth: An intense shoyu broth with some Western notes that reminded me of French ‘pot-au-feu’.

Noodles: They had the right elasticity, but a slightly less smooth feel in mouth than usually, because of their square section.

Meat: A (too) large slice of a very average chashu, with a small part of fat.

Toppings: Some short, sweetish menma with a strong taste. Some long negi, and a sheet of nori.

This was a really classical shoyu ramen – which kind of reminded me Strike Ken’s straight bowl in a slightly less perfect version. That’s not really my favorite kind of ramen, but if you fancy this kind of bowl and you are in the area, you may give it a try.

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Friends in Ramen (Umeda shop), Sukimatime

Kadoya (Osaka-shi, Nishi-ku)

カドヤ食堂(本店)
かどやしょくどう
Kadoya Shokudou

Niboshi ramen : 14 / 20

Nishinagahori is not exactly the kind of place where you would dream to spend your week-end. But I was there on a mission, namely finally try this Kadoya restaurant, a real fame in Osaka's ramen world. It offers an interesting variety of dishes: chuka soba, shio ramen (both with or without wanton), a tsukesoba, and a niboshi ramen. Of course, I chose the latest!

Broth: Hmm, the strong niboshi flavor, I will never get tired of it. Roasted, pungent, slightly bitter, this broth has everything an authentic niboshi broth should have. However, there were quite a few small morcels of fat floating in the broth, which really became overpowering towards the end.

Noodles: A lof of starchy and (too) soft noodles: disappointing.

Meat: A slice of chashu with an alternance of lean meat and firm fat (too firm, and too much of it). Better to order your bowl without this, IMHO.

Toppings: Some green negi, and a small sheet of nori – both fit quite well with the niboshi flavor, but the nori became too quickly soaked.

So, should you go to Kadoya? This was good overall, but in my opinion, this restaurant is clearly overrated. I was lucky enough to have only five people ahead of me when I arrived there on a Sunday at 14:00, but as I went out at 14:30, there were about twelve people queueing! Ibuki's bowl the day before (a shop without any queue whatsoever, BTW) was much more balanced – although Kadoya's broth had slightly stronger niboshi notes which may be more to my taste. Maybe their other dishes are better, but it looks like Ben also thought that their shoyu broth was a bit overestimated. You can go there, but it’s not unmissable. And as a note, Anomichi and Taku in the area are quite well praised also.

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Friends in Ramen, Battera

Ibuki (Osaka-shi, Kita-ku)

中華そば いぶき
ちゅうかそば いぶき
Chuuka Soba Ibuki

Kuro Iriko soba: 16 / 20

I continued my Ra-Sai with the closest ramen to my place, Ibuki. They serve different bowls, including a tsukesoba, but their specialty in an ‘iriko ramen’. I had no idea what iriko was, but went with the recommendation, as I often do.

Broth: An intense shoyu broth, with the perfect amount of fat, not too salty, some herbal taste, as well as a pungency that rang a bell… niboshi, of course! ‘Iriko’ is just the name given to niboshi in Western Japan - and it is here used in the soup (rather than in the tare, as it seems to be the case usually). The taste was not overwhelming, though. A very well balanced broth.

Noodles: Squared-section noodles with a good balance between softness vs. elasticity.

Meat: A couple of small slice of a very bipolar chashu: a very lean part surrounded by a fatty edge. I generally prefer when the fat infuses the lean, and this fat could have been more melting. I don’t think that this meat was really interesting and worth putting in the bowl.

Egg: Half of a very well cooked egg, with a tasty white part and gooey yolk.

Toppings: Some wakame as well as subtly sesame-flavored menma, both quite crunchy.

This was a very harmonious bowl, all ingredients were carefully crafted and balanced, except the meat: with a better meat – or no meat at all – it could have deserved a 17 / 20. If you go to this area, make sure to visit some of the cool cafes of nearby Nakazakicho (like Café Minto, from where I am writing right now), or one of the pleasant restaurants of Temma.

More info on ramendb.

Motor Boo (Osaka-shi, Kita-ku)

MOTOR BOO
もーたーぶー
Motor Boo

Tsukemen (with raw egg): 18 / 20

(Note: I'm slightly changing the layout of the blog in order to increase the size of pictures; that may change a bit again during the next few days while I'm fine tuning this. Let me know in case of problems etc.)

After 7.5Hz+ and Monjiro, I decided to continue the exploration of the ramen-rich Kitashinchi area. Difficult not to notice the odd name of "MOTOR BOO" standing out amidst all Japanese-named places (by the way, a small piece of advice: if you want to get extra attention for your place, just write it in capital letters; cheap but efficient). I was about to discover that its name is quite fitting: it is probably one of the most unusual tsukemen place ever.

Following the signs, I arrived on the second floor in a fancy small bar. I was surely wrong – but no, the waiter asked me if I was looking for tsukemen! If you’ve ever wanted to enjoy a Yamazaki whisky with your bowl, that’s the place.

Simple to choose your food: they only offer tsukemen, that you can order with a raw egg on the side – as I did. The friendly, dressed-up waiter started to prepare my bowl.

Broth: A delicious sweet and sour gyokai tonkotsu, that transferred the perfect amount of taste to the noodles. You can dip your noodles in the egg after dipping them in the broth – don’t let them too long, or the egg will dilute the taste of broth, but with a quick dip this was a simple, perfect combination!

Noodles: Perfectly firm – they could have a little bit more taste, but nothing really to complain about. I barely dared slurping in such a fancy atmosphere!

Meat: A fair amount of meat, with both tasty lean and melting fat, and the perfect crumbliness. A model.

Toppings: A few very large and thin slabs of menma on top of the noodles, relatively sweet, neither soft nor firm, but very good. You also get a few squares of white negi in the broth that bring some sharp crunchiness, a few brins of rucola, and some black pepper to sprinkle on the broth. A lot of small twists that made this bowl a real culinary roller coaster!

Soup wari: A very round and harmonious soup wari – and totally huge! I could barely drink half of it, but it was a perfect ending to this bowl.

What an unexpected surprise! This place reminded me Sugari in many respects – an excellent tsukemen in an unusual atmosphere – although both bowls are pretty different. This bar is clearly Osaka's ultimate ramen dating place, and – taking into consideration not only the quality of the bowl, but also its atmosphere – ranks among the most exceptional ramen place in Japan. The question is not whether you should go there, but when – and, most importantly, with whom.

More info on ramendb.

Other review: Friends in Ramen

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.

Monjiro (Osaka-shi, Kita-ku)

つけ麺 紋次郎 (大阪駅前第二ビル店)
つけめん もんじろう
Tsukemen Monjirou

Tsukemen: 13 / 20

I continued my exploration of the undergrounds between Nishi Umeda and Kitashinchi. After 7.5Hz+ two weeks ago, another restaurant seemed worthwhile of attention: Monjiro. Lost in the underground maze, it is a bit difficult to localize even with a smartphone (look at the printed maps!), but finally, here I am. I ordered the special, their gyokai tonkotsu tsukemen - has been a while I haven't had any.

Broth: A quite fat gyokai tonkotsu broth, pleasant for sure, but that did not give so much taste to the noodles. You get some fish powder on top of a small bit of nori sheet: I recommend to mix it right away to the soup as it is otherwise a bit mild. You also have on the side some yuzu powder and shoyu/vinegar mix that you can use to spike a little bit your bowl. It makes it better indeed, but does not turn it into something exceptional either.

Noodles: Thick, firm and curly – in a kind of hard-to-slurp way. The taste was a bit bland, though.

Meat: A few bits of a very unremarkable chashu. I would have preferred my bowl without that.

Toppings: Different kinds of menma: some thin and crunchy, and some large and soft – but all mild in taste.

Soup wari: You get a yakiishi (hot stone) to heat your broth, as in TETSU. The soup wari wasn’t bad, but nothing to write home either – for once, it wasn’t on the gyokai side. Adding the yuzu powder made it kind of better, again.

I would recommend this bowl only to the gyokai tonkotsu addicts. Otherwise, places like Suzume, Teru, Mita Seimenjo or Roku San Roku are better in my memory – and wait for my reviews of the excellent Küche and Motor Boo! (and BTW, the latter is not far from Monjiro)

More info on ramendb.

Other (more enthusiastic) review: Friends in Ramen

Taku (Osaka-shi, Naniwa-ku)

麺や拓(エビス店)
めんやたく
Menya Taku (Ebisu ten)

Niboshi ramen: 15 / 20

I had to keep my rhythm of one ramen of the Osaka Ra-Sai per week, and I was going to the atmospheric area of Shinsekai with a friend on this sunny Sunday, so this was a good occasion to visit Taku at Ebisucho beforehand. Taku specializes in heavy broths, but for the sake of my health, I chose a lighter one - especially since they had a niboshi I was of course curious to try.

Broth: The soy taste was light, but the niboshi notes were definitely present. Very pleasant!

Noodles: Well cooked, in a katame way.

Meat: An average chashu, with firm fat - too much of it, actually.

Toppings: Some thin, crunchy menma with a classical taste.

A no-thrill but really good niboshi broth. If you’re not that much into niboshi, you can skip this one though - but remember that they have many different dishes, including a special, intriguing “ore no shio”.

More info on ramendb.

Other reviews: Friends in ramen 1 and Friends in ramen 2 (both for the chicken-gyokai ramen), Friends in ramen 3 (for the tsukemen) (yep, Ben loves Taku!)

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.

Hoi (Osaka-fu, Toyonaka-shi)

麺屋 ほぃ
めんや ほぃ
Menya Hoi

Shoyu tori paitan: 17 / 20
(鶏白湯しょうゆらーめん)

Shio tori paitan: 16 / 20
(鶏塩白湯らーめん)

On this Tuesday evening, I met Ben to continue our Ra-Sai. This led us this time to Toyonaka at Hotarugaike station, an area I know well for having lived nearby during one year, and famous in the ramen world for the miso-ramen star Mitsukabozu. I had never noticed Hoi before though, and the ramen festival was the perfect occasion to fix this mistake. Hoi specialize in a tori paitan that they prepare in a shoyu version (that Ben ordered), and a shio one (that I took). Let’s compare.

Broth: My broth was very good, but Ben’s one was just excellent, as it had some additional fishy (niboshi and katsuo) essence in the tare – I did not recognize the niboshi, but it gave a delicious smokey twist.

Noodles: Thin and not too hard, this enhanced the general Kyoto-ramen feel of the bowl (although they were not as soft as Kyoto noodles).

Meat: OK, here those bowls go way over the top, with three meaty toppings. First, a delicious slice of peppery, smoked duck (with a thick layer of fat, in a French "magret" style). Second, a meatball with very pleasant gingery notes. Third, a nearly raw slice of chicken breast. I must say that I was less convinced by the last one (and it’s not because it was half raw - I loved chicken tataki at Junk Story, for example), although it was an interesting experience.

Toppings: My bowl had some smoked saba with aosa nori - was it a dream or did it somehow taste like parmesan? You also get some mizuna leaves for a fresh twist, and some pleasant notes of crunchy white onion. Finally, there are some very small hanakatsuobushi on the noodles, barely seeable.

In conclusion, an excellent ramen - but I recommend ordering the shoyu version.

More info on ramendb.