Ramen Road - Real Ramen from all over Asia

★★ 龙抄手 (LongChaoShou) - Chengdu

2007-01-17T19:55:00.000-08:00

LongChaoShou is a famous Sichuan local cuisine restaurant in Chengdu, they focus on a variety of popular dishes such as the 龙抄手 (long chao shou) spicy wontons, 钟水饺 (zhong sui jiao) boiled dumplings, and noodle dishes as well. During my first trip I tried their 担担面 (dan dan mian) dan-dan noodles.

The Sauce - is a mixture of chili oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, peppers and a large variety of exotic Sichuan spices. Dan-dan noodles are suppose to be spicy and filled with the aroma from the different spices, but here the sauce is a little too salty.

The Noodles - are thin straight noodles cooked soft. Hardly any texture to these noodles, maybe this is the standard for Sichuan noodles but I didn't enjoy these soft noodles much.

The Toppings - are some dried fried pork and a few leaves of spinach. The pork adds a lot of flavor to the noodles when you mix it well with everything but doesn't add any texture to the dish.

Overall - the sauce and noodles were dissapointing. The famous dan-dan noodle combination of aroma and spiciness just didn't quite hit the mark, while the noodles were too soggy for my preference. LongChauShou does have a lot of other authentic dishes for you to try out and is worth coming for their wontons and dumplings.

LongChauShou's has many chain stores all over Chengdu, though the store I visited is their original store which is located on Southern entrance to the ChunXi road shopping district.

★★★ 俺の空 (Ore no Sora) - Tokyo

2007-01-16T18:46:00.000-08:00

Ore no Sora ("My Sky" in Japanese) is a ramen shop near Takadanobaba station that used to be the darling of the Tokyo ramen scene. A few years back you needed to wait 40 minutes plus just to get inside, today it seems the fad has died down quite a bit. I was able to get a seat around 6pm my last trip there and I tried their 豚玉そば (Buta tama soba) pork and egg noodles.

The Soup - is a rich, thick tonkotsu soup blended with a Japanese seafood soup. The strong flavored pork bone soup is well balanced with the strong aroma of the seafood, but it maybe a bit too heavy to eat as a soup for some people.

The Noodles - are thin straight noodles cooked very firm. These dense noodles are chewy and a great match with the flavorful soup.

The Toppings - the kakuni slow simmered pork is very tender it practically melts in your mouth. The flavored boiled egg is cooked just right with the yolk slightly runny.

Overall - a very delicious tonkotsu/seafood blend soup ramen. While well reviewed and popular ramen place for many people the soup is still a little to heavy for my preference. For ramen in the same category I recommend Miharu in Ebisu/Ikebukuro and Hayashi in Shibuya.

Ore no Sora is very easy to get access. Take the JR Yamanote line and get off at Takadanobaba. Take the south exit (called the 戸山口 Toyamaguchi exit). From the station walk 1 minute south and it will be on your right hand side.

http://ramen.gnavi.co.jp/shop/jp/g844200n.htm

★★★ 肥後のれん (Higonoren) - Tokyo

2007-01-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

Higonoren is a Kumamoto style ramen shop that has been around Shinjuku for 25 years. This is my first time at this store and I tried their basic menu item the ひごらーめん (Higo ramen).

The Soup - is a tonkotsu (pork bone)/chicken soup simmered for more than 20 hours. The soup is creamy white in color, its taste is a rich tonkotsu broth with just a little of the tonkotsu smell. An oil infused with the aroma of fried garlic is added to the soup that adds depth to the ramen.

The Noodles - are medium thin straight noodles cooked firm.

The Toppings - are tender cha-shu pork, kikurage mushrooms, nori dried seaweed and spring onions. The cha-shu was delicious and the kikurage had a nice texture to it that matched well with the ramen.

Overall - a very good, authentic Kumamoto style ramen; In a time when most ramen shops try new things to attract younger customers, it's nice to try a ramen that just sticks with an old formula. While I enjoyed the old school taste of Higonoren, I know they will have a hard time competing with new comers like Nantsuttei or large chain stores like Ajisen. This might be the best Kumamoto style ramen in Shinjuku station.

Higonoren is on the South East side of Shinjuku station, just a 3 minute walk from the South station entrance.
http://ramen.gnavi.co.jp/shop/jp/g545100n.htm

★★★ 旭鳳 (Kyokuhou) - Tokyo

2007-01-11T20:47:00.000-08:00

If you are going out of your way to eat at a ramen place like Kyokuhou then you must be a huge fan of ramen. Located deep in the heart of Kabukicho Kyokuhou is surrounded by love hotels and shady bars. I heard that this place has an authentic Asahikawa style ramen so I made the trek out here to try their 正油ラーメン (shoyu ramen).

The Soup - is a blend of tonkotsu (pork bone) soup, seafood (dried pompano fish) soup, and a vegetable broth. A rich flavored soup where the aroma of of the fish dominates over the others slightly. True to its Asahikawa origins where it can get really cold in the winter, the soup was served very hot.

The Noodles - are very good, a medium thin curly noodle that is cooked firm. These noodles are dense and chewy, felt like eating a slight variety of Hakata style ramen. Still, a good match with the rich soup.

The Toppings - were average. Cha-shu pork that could be a bit more tender and flavorful. Menma bamboo were a bit soft. Lots of spring onions.

Overall - out of the many Asahikawa ramen that I have tried this is my favorite. If I was in Shinjuku on a cold winter day I would take the walk here just to get warmed up with Kyokuhou's rich, hot soup. The store is kind of hidden away from all the traffic so it was slightly empty when I last visited there, sure hope it doesn't go out of business anytime soon.

Map and directions on how to get to Kyokuhou:
http://www.01ch.com/ramen/kyokuhou.html
新宿区百人町1-14-3

★★★ じゃんがららあめん (Jyangara Ramen) - Tokyo

2007-01-11T18:16:00.000-08:00

Jyangara Ramen is yet another Hakata style ramen chain that has joined the competition in Tokyo. Located in Harajuku, Jyangara is just a stones throw away from the train station. During my visit I tried the 九州じゃんがららあめん (Kyushu Jyangara Ramen).

The Soup - is a tonkotsu (pork bone) broth that seems a bit thinner than most of the other Hakata ramen places. The ramen shop itself was filled with the signature tonkotsu smell but the soup was surprisingly void of the smell.

The Noodles - are thin, straight noodles cooked very firm. Standard Hakata style noodles, these dense noodles absorb some of the soup without becoming soggy and are a great match with the rich soup.

The Toppings - include a thick slice of cha-shu pork, cuts of kakuni slow cooked pork, kikurage slice mushrooms, menma bamboo, and mentaiko (cod roe pickled in sake and red chili powder). The cha-shu and kakuni pork are both very tender and tasty (maybe a bit too much fat).

Overall - a pretty good Hakata style ramen. I tried the Kyushu Jyangara ramen which is lighter, if you like a richer, thicker soup then you should try their ぼんしゃんらあめん (bonshan ramen). Jyangara ramen is located west of the JR Harajuku station right next to the stairs for the pedestrian sky bridge, you need to walkup a flight of stairs to get to the store.

Harajuku store: http://www.kyusyujangara.co.jp/shopsearch.php?kjid=2
Akihabara store: http://www.kyusyujangara.co.jp/shopsearch.php?kjid=1

★★★ 怪味面 (GuaiWeiMian) - Chengdu

2007-01-11T13:14:00.001-08:00

GuaiWeiMian is one of the most popular noodle shops in Chengdu, named after their signature dish which I like to translate as "funky flavored noodles". I came here with my friends and co-workers during lunch time on a busy weekday. We ordered 5 different noodle dishes but I'll introduce their 怪味面 (GuaiWeiMian), funky noodles here first.

The Soup - is a strange mix of many flavors and aromas. A blend of pork based clear broth with a strong seafood/shellfish soup, cooked with many exotic Sichuan spices and chili oils. The soup's flavor is quite strong and probably meant to be eated with the noodles rather than eaten separately. Not very spicy with just a trace of the numbing spiciness from the Sichuan peppers.

The Noodles - are medium this straight noodles cooked on the soft side. I prefer them a little firmer but I doubt any of these places will cook to your request.

The Toppings - pieces of soft cooked pork, mushrooms, shell fish and peanuts. Probably from the stew and doesn't provide much extra flavoring or texture.

Overall - okay, I'll admit it, I haven't figured out this noodle yet. I know I like it, but have no clue why I like it. I can't quite put my finger on the strange mix of flavors, which is why I come back and try it again and again. I know visually it won't win anybody over but it has a taste that grows on you.

GuaiWeiMian is located near Sichuan University's main entrance. Here is its address:
No. 90-2 Xinnan road Chengdu
新南路90-2号

★★★★ 老王記 (LaoWangJi) - Taipei

2007-01-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

LaoWangJi has been serving beef noodle soup since the 1960's, long considered the standard for Taiwanese beef noodle soup it has withstood the challenges from a lot of new comers and remains popular until today. It has been a while since I ate here and during my last trip I ordered my long time favorite 紅焼牛肉麺 (braised beef noodle soup).

The Soup - is a dark colored soup made by stewing beef and Chinese herbs and spices for nearly half a day. Unlike some of the newer places that add a lot of exotic ingredients to the soup such as different vegetables, fruits or spices, LaoWangJi's just uses a reserved amount of Chinese herbs which allows you to savor the flavor of the beef more.

The Noodles - are thin, flat medium width noodles cooked medium firm. These noodles are springy and chewy, a very good match with the simple flavorful soup.

The Toppings - are big slices of beef. While not as tender as some other places it is still flavorful and delicious. There is also a bowl of pickled green vegetables on every table for you to add as much as you want to the beef noodle soup. These pickled greens have a sour flavor that adds more depth to the soup and goes great with the noodles too.

Overall - I highly recommend this place. This is the store that started my love for ramen noodles. I must warn you that this place is old and not the fanciest place to eat, about the same level as an open foodstand. But if you want to try some authentic, old school beef noodle soup then this is the place to get it.

LaoWanJi is located at TaoYuan street behind the capitol building near the Ximen subway station. The store actually doesn't have any signs, so use the store photo above as reference.

Address: 台北市桃源街15號(近衡陽路口,捷運西門站)
Address: 15 TaoYuan Street, Taipei.

★★ 牛王庙 (Niu-Wang Temple) - Chengdu

2007-01-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

Niu-Wang Temple is a noodle chain store in Chengdu that has a noodle dish called 怪味面 pronounced "guai-wei-men". Guai-wei-men's literal translation is "strange flavored noodles" or funky noodles as I like to call them. Here I try the funky noodles for the first time ever.

The Soup - tastes funky. True to its name this noodle's soup is quite strange. First of all it has a smell that reminds me of the tonkotsu ramen in Japan, but the funkiness doesn't stop there. The soup also has some fishy smell from dried squid/fish/shell fish and a lot of mysterious Sichuan spices. The soup is not very spicy though it has a trace of Sichuan peppers that numb you just slightly.

The Noodles - are medium thickness straight noodles cooked on the softer side. The noodles themselves aren't that delicious in flavor or texture and slightly dissapointing. Though I later find out that this is the preferred type of noodles for this area.

The Toppings - are slices of pork, shiitake mushrooms, bits and pieces of squid and shell fish, and some peanuts. Most of these toppings have been cooking in the soup for a very long time and are hardly discernable. They are all soft and soggy and you hardly notice them when eating the noodles.

Overall - A strange noodle that isn't for everybody. If you tried the heavy Hakata style ramen of Japan and liked it, or if you tried the stinky fermented tofu or thousand year egg and liked it, then these funky noodles might be for you. I actually liked it quite a bit but have since found others places in Chengdu that serve better funky noodles which I hope to write about in the future.

The store that I went to was right behind the Sheraton Hotel in Chengdu, but I've seen the chain stores all around Chengdu. Just look for the red sign with Chinese writings on it as in the photo.

★★★★ くじら軒 (Kujira-ken) - Tokyo

2007-01-10T07:17:00.000-08:00

Kujira ken is a famous ramen chain from Yokohama that specializes in old school 支那そば (shina-soba) or Chinese style noodles. I visited their store in Shinjuku station which is located on the 7th floor of the LUMINE EST department store. During my visit I tried their basic 支那そば with flavored boiled egg.

The Soup - was a very light yet complex and interesting soup that is a blend of three different broths. First it starts out with a dried bonito/sardine soup, which is then blended with a pork bone/chicken soup and finalized with a vegetable/fruit broth. The seafood flavor slightly dominates over the others but you can still notice the trace sweet flavors from the vegetable and fruits. This is a soup that I will want to try again and again to figure out.

The noodles - were very thin, straight noodles cooked very firm. A very good match with the complex soup.

The Toppings - played a more supportive role. There were a slice of cha-shu pork, naruto fish cake, nori dried seaweed and some boiled green vegetables. The cha-shu pork was lightly seasoned, very tender and delicious. The boiled egg was flavored and slightly sweet.

Overall - I highly recommend this place to everyone. It is nice to have one of the best shina-soba chains in Shinjuku since a lot of ramen stores in the area are the heavier, oily variety. The soup is light and flavorful, a nice alternative to those who aren't a fan of the other oily ramen of Japan.

The store in Shinjuku is in the LUMINE EST department store located to the East side of Shinjuku station. The Kujira-ken store is right next to the elevators on the 7th floor.

http://ramen.gnavi.co.jp/shop/jp/g802107n.htm
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~tacky/rdb/rdb-821-kujiraken-shinzyuku.htm

★★ 博多天神 (Hakata-Tenjin) - Tokyo

2007-01-08T22:39:00.000-08:00

Hakata-Tenjin is another Hakata style ramen chain that sprouted all over Tokyo from 2003. I went to their store in Shinjuku’s Kabuki district. I ordered a ネギラーメン (Ramen with extra spring onions).

The Soup – is a lighter Hakata style tonkotsu pork bone soup, there is very little of the typical tonkotsu smell. The soup seems to be lacking the punch that most tonkotsu ramen has.

The Noodles – are also the standard thin straight ramen cooked very firm.

The Toppings – were just okay. Cha-shu pork, sliced kikurage mushrooms, fully cooked boiled egg and spring onions. Like most Hakata style ramen stores there were also a lot of extra toppings for you to add to the ramen such as ground fresh garlic and takana pickled vegetables.

Overall – Hakata-Tenjin was acceptable but nothing really stood out for this ramen. The store décor was actually quite crass (it has a statue of a pig and tanuki out front) and I was expecting a less refined ramen more along the lines of Goten or Nandan-Kanden. There are many better choices for Hakata style ramen all over Tokyo.

http://teikoku.kamomeline.jp/gourmet/587.htm

★★ 喜楽 (Kirauku) - Tokyo

2006-10-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

Kiraku is an old style ramen house in Shibuya, located about 7 minutes walking distance west of the Shibuya train station. The store was filled with older business men, suprising since Shibuya is always filled with young people. I ordered the 中華麺 (chuka-men), or Chinese noodles.

The Soup - is a soy sauce based chicken and pork based clear soup, flavored with fried green onions. Somewhat similar to the soup used in traditional Taiwanese noodles like Dan-zai noodles.

The Noodles - are really good. These thick hand made noodles are springy, chewy and delicious.

The Toppings - are lots of boiled bean sprouts, cha-shu pork and a boiled egg. The cha-shu and hard boiled egg were just average.

Overall - I wasn't that impressed with Kiraku ramen, though their noodles were very good. Kiraku has been around for more than 50 years and has always gotten good reviews from the local ramen fans. This place tasted a lot like the noodles I had in Taiwan, not what I am looking for in ramen in Japan.

http://www.geocities.jp/urach92/kiraku.htm
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~tacky/rdb/rdb-638-kiraku.htm

★★ Takohachi - Seattle

2006-10-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

Takohachi is a hole in the wall in Seattle's International District, its interior is like a diner from the 40's that has never been remodeled. Not exactly the place I expect to get some authentic Japanese ramen, but what I found pleasantly surprised me. I tried their Miso ramen.

The Soup - was rich, quite delicious, and was actually an authentic miso soup! While the flavor wasn't especially sophisticated, it had depth to it that clearly wasn't instance soup flavoring (what most other places in Seattle taste like).

The Noodles - were regular thickness curly noodles cooked on the soft side. Most likely factory made and not fresh, something that is unavoidable with ramen in the Seattle area. At least they weren't over cooked or soggy.

The Toppings - were pretty decent, all the regular toppings are there. Cha-shu pork wasn't especially tender but tasted okay, the spring onions, wakame seaweed, corn and boiled egg were all average.

Overall - not a bad bowl of ramen. Takohachi reminds me of the regular ramen shop back in Tokyo, just the average ramen down the street where you wouldn't go out of your way to visit, but you'd drop in every once in a while when you are hungry and too lazy to cook for that night. For one thing, this place at least tasted like authentic ramen! which is saying a lot compared to the many other seattle area Japanese ramen.

Takohachi: 610 S Jackson, Seattle 682-1828

★★★ 家常面 (Home Style Noodles) - Chengdu

2006-10-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

During my trips Asia I like to try the very "local" ramen places just to see what the average folks eat. In China this can become a hard task since I really have no clue what an "average" restaurant is like. In Chendgu alone, I've had ramen that's prices range from $0.40 cents to $12.00 a bowl; I was walking around the neighborhood near the Sheraton in Chengdu during when I found this noodle place called "Home Style Noodles", just the place I was looking for. I ordered their first item on the menu, a 0.60 cent 素椒炸酱面 (sujiao zhajiang mian) or spicy zha-jian noodles.

The Sauce - was an innocent looking brown sauce, but after the first few bites the spiciness quickly overwhelmed me. There was only a little red chili oil in the sauce but it was more potent than anything that I've had in Chengdu so far. The mouth numbing 花椒粉 Sichuan peppers also started to kick in early. 1/4 through the noodles it got so spicy that I figured I couldn't finish this bowl of noodles, but as my mouth started numbing up the spiciness become less and less noticeable, it was only then that I could finally taste the flavor of the sauce. The simple pork sauce became quite addictive after the numbingly spicy experience, I actually finished the whole bowl. As I walked away from the store my mouth was so numb it felt like I just visited a dentist.

The Noodles - were simple medium thin straight noodles cooked soft. If these noodles were cooked any firmer or chewier I would've given up after the third bite because of the spiciness.

The Toppings - were some cooked ground pork. No seasoning.

Overall - a great bowl of noodles. Finally something as spicy as I imagined in Sichuan! I wonder if all the other restaurants I visited so far are more catered to tourist and hence have the spiciness toned down. The store decor is very minimalistic so it's ont for everyone, but give this place a try if you want to give authentic spicy Sichuan noodles a try. Eat at your own risk.

This place is across the street from the front entrance of Sheraton Hotel in Chengdu.

★ 锅魁王成都担担面 (Guokui king's Dan-dan Noodles) - Chengdu

2006-09-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Guokui King is a restaurant right across the street from the Chengdu Sheraton where I was staying at. 锅魁 or "Guokui" is a traditional food stand snack food of Chengdu, a layered baked pastry with meat or green onions wrapped in it. There are also sweet Guokui with sesame and sugar or sweetened red bean paste. While the freshly made guokui on display looked tempting, I only ordered the other food item that is part of this restaurant's name, the 担担面 or Dan-dan noodles.

I visited Guokui King around lunch time on a weekday and the store was really busy, filled with high school students from the school nearby and local office workers. Just trying to make my order was a challenge since the crowd of people did not form a line, just shouting their orders at the cashier. I had to use my questionable Chinese to get my order in, luckily Dan-dan Mian is not that hard to pronounce.

The Sauce - is a typical Sichuan style dan-dan noodle sauce, with spicy red chili oil, Chinese peppers for the numbing sensation, and some other spices like Chinese five spice. Besides the spiciness this sauce was quite boring, not offering many other flavors.

The Noodles - were straight noodles, cooked soft, almost soggy.

The Toppings - are some deep fried minced pork, not much seasoning to them either.

Overall - Guokui King should probably keep its focus on just the pastries. Restaurants in Chengdu all gets reviewed and ranked by the city. On the wall of this restaurant was a certificate from Chengdu city stating that the Dan-dan noodle of Guokui King gets a "passing grade"... A passing grade like "D" maybe? I couldn't agree more.

Located across the street from the front entrace of Sheraton Chengdu. The directions in Chinese are: 成都喜来登酒店斜对面.

★ 麻辣麺荘 (Ma-ra Mensou) - Tokyo

2006-09-27T00:27:00.000-07:00

Ma-ra Mensou is a ramen place located in the lower floor of the Lumines department store in Shinjuku. The name Ma-ra Mensou translates to "numbingly spicy noodle house" and is suppose to describe the sensation of eating Sichuan style ramen noodles. Since I was headed to Sichuan's capitol, Chengdu after my brief trip to Tokyo, I thought I'd give this place a try to see how authentic it was. I ordered their 担々麺 (tan-tan ramen).

The soup - is a sesame flavored soup that doesn't have much depth at all. The sourness from vinegar actually dominates over any other flavor. The broth is very thin, just a sour, sesame flavored soup.

The Noodles - are thin straight noodles cooked regular firmness. While the noodles are decent, it doesn't really make up for the mediocre soup.

The Toppings - a five spice flavored cooked egg and a piece of broccoli. Nothing special.

Overall - a poor quality ramen that is an imitation of an imitation. The Japanese tan-tan ramen is far from the real Dan-dan noodles from Sichuan, Ma-ra Mensou is merely imitating the Japanese interpretation and does a poor job at it. Japanese tan-tan ramen focuses on the depth of the flavor of the soup, while Sichuan dan-dan noodles overwhems you with a wide amount of spices. Ma-ra Mensou does neither and is void of any character.

http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a713200/

★★ 钟水饺 (Zhong ShuiJiao) - Chengdu

2006-09-25T23:16:00.000-07:00

Zhong ShuiJiao is the name of this noodles and dumplings chain restaurant in Chengdu China (ShuiJiao translates to water dumplings). I was walking along the popular shopping district of Chunxi street when I saw this restaurant crowded with local merchants during lunch time. They had five ramen dishes on their menu, this being my first time in Chengdu, I was anxious to try the famous Sichuan ramen: 担担面 (dan-dan noodles).

The Sauce - is a red chili oil sauce that was surprisingly not that spicy. There wasn't much flavor to the sauce, it just seems to be there to provide the spiciness. There were some 花椒粉 (Sichuan pepper) that supplied a bit of that numbing sensation famous in many Sichuan dishes, but it was just barely noticeable here.

The Noodles - were slightly thin, straight noodles cooked quite soft. The noodles were a little dissapointing as they didn't provide much texture to the dish.

The Toppings - were ground pork and some green onions. The ground pork was seasoned with 五香粉 (Chinese five spice) and was very delicious. The whole art of eating this dish was trying to evenly distribute the pork sauce with each bite of noodles.

Overall - I was slightly dissapointed with my first bowl of dan-dan noodles in Chengdu. The noodles were too soft, plus I was hoping for something spicier, though the pork sauce was good. Zhong ShuiJiao is really famous for its Zhong ShuiJiao dumplings and I should've tried that instead.

The Zhong ShuiJiao store that I visited was located on ChunXi street North section, in an alley near the McDonalds. Though there are a half dozen of these stores all over Chengdu.

★★ 神座 (Kamukura) - Tokyo

2006-09-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

Kamukura claims to be Osaka's most popular ramen. Having established itself in Dotonburi, Osaka's most popular shopping district, Kamukura has expanded to a dozen stores in the Kansai area before starting two stores in Tokyo. I visited their store in Shinjuku's Kabuki district. Kamukura's store front looks more like a fashion boutique than a ramen store, but as I'll find out later, their decor wasn't the only thing out of the ordinary. I tried their most popular menu item 小チャーシュー煮卵ねぎラーメン (cha-shu pork, boiled egg ramen).

The Soup - is a surprisngly light, slightly sweet pork and vegetable broth. Since the latest trend in Japanese ramen seems to be heavier with more oil, a soup that relies more on vegetables for the flavoring really stands out. However, the soup does taste quite thin, almost feels watered down compared to other ramen. They have a lot of toppings available on the counter that you can add as much as you want, after adding the soy sauce flavored nira (leek) the soup tasted more complete. I also tried some garlic, but it didn't match well with the soup at all.

The Noodles - are slightly thin curly noodles cooked a little on the soft side. These noodles are springy and light, not the type of noodles that I like but seem to match the light soup just right.

The Toppings - are lightly seasoned cha-shu pork, lot's of boiled napa cabbage, and a flavored boiled egg. With all the napa cabbage I felt like I was eating a Japanese hot-pot dish, like shabu-shabu or something. Napa cabbage and ramen just don't seem to mix that well. The cha-shu pork was tender and had decent flavor.

Overall - a light and healthy ramen that doesn't really provide the "ramen" experience but you feel a lot less guilty afterward eating it. This ramen seems to be about the soup and the mixure of toppings that you can add such as leeks, garlic, flavored bean sprouts to add variety to the flavor of the soup. Try it if you are in Shinjuku and Shibuya and want a change of pace from the normal ramen, otherwise I'd recommend you try another place that offers a more standard ramen experience.

http://www.kamukura.co.jp/
Shinjuku store - http://www.kamukura.co.jp/store/shinjyuku.html
Shibuya store - http://www.kamukura.co.jp/store/shibuya.html

Tan-tan ramen 担々麺

2006-09-23T03:43:00.000-07:00

Tan-tan ramen noodles were originally from China's Sichuan prefecture area where it is considered a 干面 (dry noodle with no soup). I put this Tan-tan ramen under the Japan group because the Japanese variety has departed quite significantly from the Chinese version.

Japanese Tan-tan noodles were imported to Japan in the 1980's, where it first became popular in Chinese restaurants in Tokyo. To make the ramen appeal more to Japanese the spiciness was significantly reduced, converted to a soup based ramen and overall portion size increased.

Tan-tan ramen soup is usually a pork bone/chicken based both blended with a creamy sesame sauce, it has the sourness of vinager and the spiciness from red chili peppers. The noodles are usually medium thickness straight or curly noodles. Toppings range from the standard Japanese cha-shu to the authentic Chinese ground pork, vegetables such as spinach and bean sprouts.

★★★★ 亜寿加 (Asuka) - Tokyo

★★★ 光麺 (Koumen) - Tokyo

★ 麻辣麺荘 (Ma-ra Mensou) - Tokyo

★★★ 光麺 (Koumen) - Tokyo

2006-09-23T02:48:00.000-07:00

This is my second entry for Koumen on this blog. This time I tried their 焦がし担々麺 (burnt tan-tan noodles).

The Soup - is a pork based soup that is blended with roasted sesame paste to make it really rich and creamy. The soup is topped with a dark colored oil called ラー油 (ra-yu), which gives the ramen its burnt flavor. This ra-yu reminds me a lot of the burnt ramen I had at Nantsuttei or Go-gyou, though Koumen's burnt flavor is much more toned down. The soup isn't very spicy, probably only a 1-2 stars out of five.

The Noodles - are medium thickness, curly noodles cooked firm. A great match with the soup.

The Toppings - are some Chinese spinach, slices of spring onions, and roasted cha-shu pork. To match the soup they roast the cha-shu at very high heat, adding a thin burnt coating to it. The pieces of charcoal like substance that you see in the photo is actually the pork.

Overall - a delicious combination of different flavors and aromas. The tan-tan ramen is well balanced with its saltiness, spiciness and hint of sourness, while the sesame soup is a perfect match with the burnt flavored oil. However, if you want a bowl of really good tan-tan noodles in Japan then I recommend Asuka in Shibuya, their sesame flavors just seems fresher and stronger.

I also reviewed Koumen's other ramen dish 熟成光麺 (Jyukusei Koumen) in an earlier entry. There are ten Koumen stores located in Tokyo, you can find a store in near the train station of Roppongi, Harajuku, or Akihabara. There are three stores available around Shinjuku station alone.

http://www.kohmen.com/index2.html

★★★ 沧浪亭 (CangLangTing) - Shanghai

2006-09-22T00:25:00.000-07:00

CangLangTing is another ramen chain store in Shanghai that I visited during my last trip, right after entering this place I noticed it was a few ranks above the other places like ShiZhiLing or BeiWanXin. CangLangTing was cleaner, the interior slightly fancier, but most noticeably was the quality of service. The waitress can still be a little impatient when asking for you order, but overall things felt more professional. The kitchen was busier, waitresses in the store were moving around faster, you ask for a napkin they'll give you a napkin rather than a very long stare.

CangLangTing has a seasonal menu, four different types of ramen corresponding to the type of meat or seafood that is available during that season. I visited during Summer time so I gave their 三虾面 (sanxia mian) or three shrimp noodles a try.

The Soup - was very nice. A rich pork broth that had a hint of shrimp flavor to it, seasoned with soy sauce. This soup is as good as some of the best ramen that I've tried in Japan, the wonderful flavors of the pork and shrimp dominates, the seasoning is just right and not too salty. The flavor and style of this ramen soup is similar to Suzuran in Japan.

The Noodles - are thin, straight noodles cooked quite firm. Again the standard Shanghai noodles with its chewy texture, these noodles went great with the soup. Just the combination of the soup and noodles would make me recommend this place.

The Toppings - were baby shrimp stir fried with dried shrimp in a thick Chinese rice wine sauce that was served on a separate plate. This dish was absolutely delicious. The aroma of the dried shrimp and rice wine went so well together, I wished I had a bowl of rice to go with it. However, it didn't seem to match a bowl of ramen as good though.

Overall - if you are in Shanghai and you want to try some of the local ramen then CangLangTing is the first place you should go. The place is pricy though, $4 US dollars for a bowl of noodles! no wonder why the locals are complaining about the price on the message boards. (Usually, a bowl of ramen is about .60 cents to a dollar US.) I hope to try out the rest of their seaonal ramen which includes: Spring - mackerel pike ramen, Fall - shrimp crab ramen, and Winter - lamb ramen.

Here is the address for CangLangTing in Shanghai:
沧浪亭卢湾区上海淮海中路689号 63594370

★ 北万新 (BeiWanXin) - Shanghai

2006-09-21T23:47:00.000-07:00

BeiWanXin is a ramen chain store that has about half a dozen stores in Shanghai. While the quality of the food or service of BeiWanXin is no where near the higher end of what Shanghai has to offer, I wanted to find out more authentic Shanghai ramen, to try out what the locals have. So I visited one of their restaurants at noon on a weekday, ordering their 焖肉面 (menrou-mian) or slow cooked pork noodles.

The Soup - was this watered down pork broth that was seasoned with soy sauce and some sugar. This soup was not as sweet as the other ramen I've had in Shanghai so far, it was slightly saltier but the taste was still very thin and not especially delicious.

The Noodles - are thin, straight white ramen noodles cooked rather firm. Chewy and has a good texture, the Shanghai noodles usually don't dissapoint.

The Toppings - nothing fancy here, a big slice of slow simmered pork. The met is tender and the seasoning is simple, slightly salty with a hint of some Chinese herbs. This seems to be the origin of the cha-shu pork that we see in Japanese ramen, even though the name cha-shu is actually from Cantonese.

Overall - I doubt any foreigners will actually dine at a place like this. The food was half way decent, but the store decor and service will definitely turn you away. After entering the store and looking at the menu for about 30 seconds, the waitress stares at me as asks: "So?... what the heck are you going to order!?" But for roughly $.60 cents per bowl this is a reasonable price for locals. They also have other local favorites like steamed buns, etc.

Here's the address if you decide to go. just show the address to the Taxi drivers.
北万新静安区陕西北路667号（武定路口） 62153874

★★★★ はやし (Hayashi) - Tokyo

2006-09-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hayashi is in Shibuya, located about 5 minutes walking distance south west from the station. Hayashi is only open 11am-5pm from Monday to Saturday, not very convenient to visit here unless you work in the Shibuya area. I made the trip to Hayashi four times before finally catching it when it was actually open. The store is very small, a bar counter type ramen store that seats only 11 people. Hayashi is very popular and when I visited there were many people waiting outside in the rain, I waited about 20 minutes until I got seated. They have only three items on their menu: ramen, ramen with egg, or ramen with extra pork. I ordered the 味玉らーめん (ramen with flavored boiled egg).

The soup - is a blend of rich chicken/pork bone soup and sardine/bonito soup. The deep flavor of the chicken soup is matched perfectly with the strong aroma of the fish soup. There is also a slight trace of 柚子 yuzu, a Japanese citrus that adds just the the slight sour and refreshing taste to the soup. The soup is not oily at all, rare for these rich seafood type ramen.

The Noodles - are medium thickness, straight noodles cooked very firm. These heavy weight noodles have a strong presence, necessary to match up with the perfectly blended soup.

The Toppings - are cha-shu pork, menma bamboo, nori dried seaweed and the flavored boiled egg. The cha-shu is very tender, yet the seasoning is simple, the flavor slightly dissapointing. The menma bamboo is soft and sweet. The boiled egg is delicious, but avoid it if you don't like the yolk half cooked.

Overall - This place ranks up there with Aoba as the best rich seafood double blended ramen that I have had. I give it higher marks for achieving such flavor in the soup without using much oil. If you are going to be in Shibuya on a Saturday then have lunch at Hayashi, it is located south of the Markcity West shopping mall.

http://www.mendo.jp/shisyoku/hayashi/
Link to map

★ 蔵太鼓 (Kura-daiko) - Tokyo

2006-09-20T23:36:00.000-07:00

Kura-daiko is a Kitakata style ramen store located in Shinjuku near the train station's southern exit. I came here during lunch time on a weekday and there was a short line formed on the outside the store. I ordered their basic らーめん (ramen).

The Soup - is a chicken and pork based, soy sauce flavored clear soup. The seasoning is quite heavy, couldn't taste much of the flavor.

The Noodles - are slightly thicker curly noodles. Very surpsrising since Kitakata ramen is famous for its flat, curly noodles. While the ramen noodles here are cooked firm, the overall texture of the ramen is only slightly springier than any other usual ramen.

The Toppings - are cha-shu pork, menma bamboo and slices of spring onions. The cha-shu are thinly sliced, simply seasoned and tender. The bamboo is on the soft side and sweet.

Overall - I don't recommend you visit this place, unless you are in the area during lunch and have to chose between this place and the McDonalds next door. Kura-Daiko share the same flaws of a lot of other chain stores where they hide the thin flavor of the ramen with too much salt. The noodles, which are supposed to be be the specialty of Kitakata ramen, are nothing special either.

http://www.kuradaiko.co.jp/

★★★★ 亜寿加 (Asuka) - Tokyo

2006-09-19T03:33:00.000-07:00

Asuka is a ramen store in Shibuya that is famous for its tan-tan ramen, unusual since tan-tan ramen is more often a side option on the menu, for those who occasionaly want to try something different from the common shoyu or miso ramen. I visited Asuka at around noon during a busy weekday, there was a short line formed on the outside of the store. Once inside, there was another long line that went around the crowded modest sized room. After about 15 minutes I finally sat down and ordered a 四川辛味坦々めん (Szechuan style spicy tan-tan ramen).

The Soup - is a sesame sauce flavored soup that is rich in texture, yet sour and spicy. Usually tan-tan ramen soup in Japan is thick, with an almost like sauce like texture. Asuka's tan-tan soup is thinner, similar to the texture of miso soup. The sesame sauce is what makes Asuka's tan-tan ramen special, the freshly ground roasted sesame has a much stronger aroma than any other Japanese tan-tan ramen I've tried.

The Noodles - are thin, straight ramen noodles cooked firm. These noodles are dense and require a bit more chews when eating. A great match with the rich flavored soup.

The Toppings - lightly seasoned cha-shu is cooked to bring out the natural flavors of the pork, it is tender and holds up on its own against the rich flavors of the soup. There is also a lot of slices spring onions and some boiled vegetables.

Overall - the best tan-tan ramen I have had in Japan. The difference all lies in the freshly grounded sesame sauce, most other places have this pre-made sesame sauce that is rich but lacks the aroma of Asuka's. The soup also balances the salty, sour and spicy flavors just right. The noodles match the soup well, while the toppings are all there with a purpose.

If you are ever in Tokyo in the colder seasons of fall or winter, drop by Shibuya and give Asuka's Tan-tan ramen a try. Asuka is located to the south of Shibuya station just across the pedestrian bridge, under a guitar store.

http://www.mendo.jp/shisyoku/asuka/

★★★ 宏記麺館 (HongJi Noodle House) - Chengdu

2006-09-18T02:44:00.000-07:00

HongJi Noodle House is the first ramen noodle that I tried in Chengdu, the capitol of Shechuan province famous for numbingly spicy food. I did some research on the internet and tracked down this noodle house in the busy shopping district of Chengdu's ChunXi Street. I came here for Dan-dan noodles but was surprised to find out they didn't have the item on their menu. Instead I asked about this 甜水面 (tian sui mian) or "sweet water noodles" on their menu, I asked the store if this was a dessert item, they said "no". I asked what's in it, they replied "just order it and you'll find out". So I gave it a try.

The Sauce - There is no soup, just a thick oily chili sauce that is mixed with 五香粉 five flavored spice, 花椒粉 Sichuan pepper, and quite a bit of sugar. The chili sauce has a lot of flavor to it, probably made from stewed pork. The noodles become dark brown after mixing all the ingredients together with all the bits and pieces of the powder clearly visible on the noodles.

The Noodles - are thick straight, almost udon like noodles cooked on the firm side. The noodles are very chewy, forcing your mouth to deal with all the hot spices swallowing it.

The Toppings - are just the spices, no toppings.

Overall - what an experience! The chili powder's heat counters the cooling sensation of Sichuan pepper. At first the sweetness of the noodles are quite strong, but as your mouth numbs, the flavor of the meat chili suace takes over. This dish is down right addictive. I think the key for this "Sweet water noodles" lie in the firmness of the noodles. I like how HongJi Noodle House uses thick firm noodles forcing you to deal with the barrage of spices. I've found that roughly half the ramen shops in Chengdu that have this dish, give it a try and enjoy this numbingly delicious ramen.

Located in Chengdu's ChunuXi shopping district, on ChunXi road North section, at the end of the alley near the McDonalds.

★★★ 櫻坂 (Sakura-zaka) - Tokyo

2006-09-18T02:16:00.000-07:00

Sakura-zaka is located in Shibuya on the Southern side of the train station, hidden away from the busier part of Shibuya it took some effort to find this place. The store is very well decorated, a bar counter style restaurant with studio lights and fancy lacquered wood counters. I ordered the 中華ソバ (Chinese noodles).

The Soup - is a blend of rich tonkotsu based soup and dried bonita/sardines soup. The soup has a very good balance of both the flavors of the tonkotsu and fish, but the layer of oil and pork fat makes the soup a little too heavy.

The Noodles - are medium thickness, straight noodles cooked quite firm. More firm and less on the springy side, the noodles are similar to the Hakata style noodles just thicker. Quite a good match with the soup.

The Toppings - are cha-shu pork, a half slice of half cooked flavored egg, and a lot of sliced spring onions. The cha-shu is heavily seasoned but a good match with the heavy soup, the sliced spring onions are a nice counter to the oily soup as well.

Overall - another wonderful rich seafood ramen that goes a little too far on the oily side. The balance of the tonkotsu and fish flavors are very well done, if you do come here then try to request less oil on the soup if possible. If there were only 2/3 less oil on this ramen I would've given it four stars.

http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a576900/
http://www.mendo.jp/shisyoku/sakurazaka/

★★★★ 好記担仔麺 (Hao-Ji Dan-Zai Noodles) - Taipei

2006-09-18T00:38:00.000-07:00

Hao-Ji Dan-Zai Noodles is a well decorated restaurant that serves Taiwanese cuisine and authentic food stand dishes. Decorated in the style of Taiwan in the 30's and 40's, the store is filled with antique furniture, photos and posters from that period, it captures the atmosphere of the open food stands in an environment that is busy, interesting yet clean and comfortable. I ordered a variety of seafood with my friends but the main attraction for me was the 担仔麺 (dan-zai noodles).

The Soup - was by far the best dan-zai noodle soup that I have ever had. The soup is made from slowly simmered pork bone, dried bonita fish and fried shrimp. The soup is clear with very little oil in it, the seasoning simple yet the flavor is very strong.

The Noodles - are medium thickness, slightly curly yellow ramen noodles cooked on the soft side.

The Toppings - are a slice of lightly seasoned cha-shu pork, a flavorful boiled shrimp, and 肉燥 (rou-zao) special pork sauce. Each of them delicious.

Overall - if you want authentic Taiwanese food, come to Hao-Ji Dan-Zai Noodles. The food, service, and decor are the best that I've seen in Taipei. Come here and start out with the Dan-Zai noodles, the servings are small so you can always order some seafood with beer or a variety of dishes with rice. They have food samples displayed right at the front of the store and menu's with pictures as well.

Hao-Ji is very popular and reservations are recommended, though you can always come here late at night. They are open until 2:30 am.

No 77 JiLing Road Taipei 台北市吉林路77-5號～83號
Japanese Site - http://www.tabitabi-taipei.com/html/data/10090.html
Chinese Site - http://huichih.idv.tw/work/ddn/p2.htm

★★★ 伊豆高原イーグル (Izu-Plateau Eagle) - Tokyo

2006-09-10T04:16:00.000-07:00

Izu-Plateau Eagle sure is a strange name for a ramen place. It is a tiny ramen store in Shibuya that is a short walk from the southern train station exit. I really didn't expect much when visiting this place but was quite impressed with their noodles here. I tried their チャーシューメン (Cha-shu ramen).

The Soup - is a delicious chicken soup that is simple yet deep, which I imagine has been slowly cooked with a variety of vegetables to give it a nice sweet flavor. The soup is a great match with the slight soy sauce seasoning and green onions.

The Noodles - are thin curly noodles cooked firm. These noodles taste just like the Hong Knog stlye noodles, the first time I encountered this style of noodles in Japan. Unlike HK style noodles, these noodles are springy, smooth and much more of a joy to eat.

The Toppings - are many slices of cha-shu pork, boiled egg, a slice of dried seaweed and a LOT of green onions. The cha-shu pork is very lightly seasoned, sweet and delicious. The green onions sweet and actually a great match with the soup.

Overall - a ramen that is a little bit more Chinese style than Japanese, but simple and delicious none the least. A nice break from the heavy Tonkotsu ramen or fancy double blend soup ramen. This place reminds me of the old school ramen where they took cheap, simple ingredients and made them into something special. If you are in Shibuya, I'd still recommend Suzuran, which is close by and very similar in style to Izu-Plateau Eagle.

http://www.shibuyaku-town.com/do/001/003/

★★★★ 福哥担仔麺 (Brother Fu's Dan Zai Noodle) - Taipei

2006-09-10T03:29:00.000-07:00

Brother Fu's Dan Zai Noodle is a restaurant in Taipei that serves some of the best authentic Taiwanese cuisine. Brother Fu's restaurant has no menu, instead all the freshest seafood that he stocks for that day are displayed in the front of the store, you pick what looks good, tell him how you like it prepared, and Brother Fu will cook it fresh to order. Of course 担仔麺 (Dan-Zai noodles) are always available, which is really what I came here for.

The Soup - is a simple pork bone soup that is slowly simmered, giving it a clear golden color rather than the creamy pork bone soup you see in Japanese Hakata ramen. The seasoning is simply with salt, though the flavor of the pork sauce does overtake the soup.

The Noodles - are the standard yellow medium straight Taiwanese noodles cooked on the soft side.

The Toppings - are the a slice of cha-shu pork, a freshly cooked shrimp, some coriander and the very good 肉燥 (rou-zao) pork sauce . Brother Fu's pork sauce is especially rich because they only use the meat from the back of the pig around the neck area, which he claims to be the most tender and sweetest in flavor part of the pork. This just happens to be the same part of the pork that is used in pork fat cha-cha style ramen Japan. Brother Fu's (rou-zao) pork sauce was very delicious and the meat was so tender it practically melts in your mouth. The Dan-Zai noodle here is one of the best I have ever had.

Overall - I highly recommend Brother Fu's restaurant for both their Dan-Zai noodles and its Taiwanese cuisine. The food was great, the service was friendly, plus they are open until 4 in the morning! perfect for the jet lagged travelers like me. If you do visit I also recommend their 魯肉飯 (pork sauce rice), sashimi, and chilled bamboo shoots. Also the 鳥魚子 (wu-yu zi) some kind of dried fish egg that goes great with beer.

No 37 Alley 132 NanKing East Road section 1, Taipei; 台北市南京東路１段132巷37號
Japanese Site - http://www.taipeinavi.com/food/restaurant.php?id=284

★★★★ すずらん (Suzuran) - Tokyo

2006-09-07T00:09:00.000-07:00

Suzuran is an awesome ramen place in Shibuya that has quickly become one of my favorites in Japan. Located on the East side (the less busy side) of Shibuya station, it is just a short 5 minute walk from the train station. The store is a clean and brightly lit bar style ramen shop that barely seats a dozen people. I went there on a hot summer evening and the place was crowded with a short line waiting inside the shop. I ordered the first item on their menu, the 中華そば (chuka soba) or Chinese noodles.

The Soup - is absolutely delicious. A simple yet deep chicken soup that has the right balance of different flavors and aroma. What a nice change pf pace from the heavy tonkotsu soups or complex double blended soups.

The Noodles - are thin straight noodles that are cooked really firm. A solid ramen which texture and flavor match the soup perfectly.

The Toppings - are simple yet good as well. The cha-shu pork is thin and tender, not much seasoning to it, just the natural sweetness of the pork. The were a few cuts of Chinese spinach, menma bamboo, and diced spring onions as well.

Overall - the Chuka soba ramen was great, but what made me fall in love with this place is the large variety of other ramen available here. They have over 20 different ramen dishes all of which looked temtping, but what caught my attention was the 味噌中華そば (miso chuka soba) which uses very thick, flat noodles instead, and 麻油鶏麺 (sesame oil chicken noodles) which is a Chinese food stand favorite of mine.

Suzuran not only has great ramen, but the nice atmosphere and interesting wide selection makes me want to come back again. If you are in the Shibuya area (if you visit Tokyo, you are bound to visit Shibuya once), then drop by this place and give it a try. Just hope the lines aren't too long.

http://www.01ch.com/ramen/suzuran.html

Dan-Zai Noodles - 擔仔麵

2006-09-04T01:39:00.000-07:00

Dan-Zai noodles (or danzi noodles) was started around the time of the late Ching dynasty, in the city of Tainan in the southern part of Taiwan. Dan-Zai noodles were a food stand item, sold by fishermen in Tainan who had to stay on land during the typhoon season. Meant to be a late afternoon or late night snack, dan-zai noodles were served in small portions. Even today even though dan-zai noodles are often served in Taiwanese restaurants and are still served in small portions, meant to compliment other dishes rather than a stand alone meal by itself.

Dan-zai noodles usually consist of yelow ramen noodles cooked rather soft (typical among Taiwanese ramen), served in a light soup and topped off with 肉燥 (rou-zao) a special ground pork sauce made by simmering ground pork with shiitake mushrooms, fried shallots, onions, and seasoned with rice wine, black pepper and Chinese five spice.

★★★★ 好記担仔麺 (Hao-Ji Dan-Zai Noodles) - Taipei

★★★★ 福哥担仔麺 (Brother Fu's Dan Zai Noodle) - Taipei

★★台南大胖擔仔麵 (Tainan Fats Dan-Zai Noodles) - Taipei

★★★ 梅子餐廰 (Mei-Zhi Restaurant) - Taipei

★★台南大胖擔仔麵 (Tainan Fats Dan-Zai Noodles) - Taipei

2006-09-04T00:57:00.000-07:00

Tainan Fats Dan-Zai Noodles is a hole in the wall type of restaurant that still holds on to its food stand roots. The restaurant is small and half of the place it taken up by an old fashion food stand. I arrived at Tainan Fats around midnight on a Thursday night and the place was still pretty crowded. I tried their 擔仔麵 (Dan-Zai Noodles).

The Soup - seems unimportant, lightly seasoned the soup's flavor is quickly over taken by the noodles and the pork sauce toppings.

The Noodles - are thick, slightly curly, yellow ramen noodles cooked on the softer side. It seems that Taiwanese noodles in general are on the softer side and these noodles stay true to that standard.

The Toppings - are the special 肉燥 (rou-zao) pork sauce and 香菜 (Chinese coriander). Their rou zao pork sauce is especially fragrant where they pack in a lot more herbs and pepper that really increases your appettite.

Overall - while I love the dan-zai noodle here, this place is really a hole in the wall. The store's presentation just doesn't seem that inviting for people from out of town looking for a nice place to eat and relax. While I felt right at home at Tainan Fats, I can't really recommend the place to visitors. There are simply too many other Taiwanese noodle places that are delicious and offer a much better overall experience.

No3 Alley 133 LinSen North Road, Taipei 台北市林森北路133巷3號
http://www.fun2.com.tw/dapon/

★★ よってこや (Yottekoya) - Tokyo

2006-09-04T00:13:00.000-07:00

Yottekoya is a large ramen chain store in Japan that specializes in Kyoto style ramen. Kyoto ramen is very similar to Hakata style ramen where both uses a heavy tonkotsu soup. This was my first time trying a Kyoto style ramen and I ordered their 京都醤油とんこつ半熟卵入りらーめん (Kyoto style tonkotsu soy sauce ramen with half cooked boiled egg).

The Soup - is a blend of Tokyo style 清湯スープ (chicken or pork based clear soup) and Kyushu style 白湯スープ (tonkotsu creamy white soup). The soup seems like a lighter weight version of the Hakata style ramen where it doesn't pack as strong as strong a punch, the flavor seems more toned down and it had less of the tonkotsu smell as well.

The Noodles - are medium curly noodles cooked on the softer side. The noodles didn't seem like a good match with the tonkotsu blend soup. Maybe I am too biased toward the Hakata style thin straight hard noodles.

The Toppings - I got to mention the cha-shu pork, roasted one more time right before being served, the outside is slightly burnt and so very tender. I would come back just for the cha-shu. Over all it had a few slices of cha-shu pork, menma bamboo, bean sprouts, srping onions, kikurage mushrooms and the boiled egg. Everything was flavored on the sweeter side with the cha-shu being the best.

Overall - besides the cha-shu pork which were outstanding, the soup and ramen was down right ordinary. I recommend you try the large variety of Hakats style ramen available in Tokyo before trying this place. I don't want to judge too early but as a ramen type on its own it seems that Kyoto style ramen shares a lot of similarities to Asahikawa ramen, where they are slight variations to the Hakata style Tonkotsu ramen.

Yottekoya has over 60 stores in Japan, 3 in Shanghai and 1 in Hawaii.

http://www.yottekoya.com/

★★ 坂内喜多方ラーメン (Ban-nai Kitakata ramen) - Tokyo

2006-08-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

Ban-nai is a major ramen chain store that focuses on Kitakata ramen. Kitakata ramen is famous for its thick and wide noodles, it is also one of the three major ramen of Japan, the other two being the Sapporo miso ramen and Hakata tonkotsu ramen. Having tried so many Sapporo and Hakata ramen already I thought it was about time I tried some Kitakata ramen. At Ban-nai I tried their regular 喜多方ラーメン (Kitakata ramen).

The Soup - is a flavorful chicken and pork based soup that is simply seasoned with salt and some soy sauce. The soup is clear with just a few drops of oil. A light soup that was a nice departure from the heavy and oil ramen that has been so common in ramen in the Tokyo area.

The Noodles - are thicker, flat and wide noodles. These ramen noodles are also curly and cooked slightly firm, the texture is slippery, springy and very chewy as well. I've always heard that Kitakata ramen's main attraction are the noodles, these noodles don't dissapoint, though I would've prefered the noodles cooked even more firm.

The Toppings - are five thin slices of cha-shu pork, some menma bamboo and sliced spring onions. All lightly seasoned. The cha-shu pork was thin but very tender and flavorful, not much special seasoning in the cha-shu, just the simple natural flavor of the pork.

Overall - I'd recommend you give Ban-nai a try if you are in the Tokyo area. A simple ramen flavor wise with noodles that are a joy to eat. To be honest I haven't tried that many Kitakata style ramen yet, though the noodles here are noticeably different from the thin noodles in most places in Tokyo. Hopefully I will some day travel to Kitakata and report on the authentic ramen from that area.

http://www.mensyoku.co.jp/

★★★ 梅子餐廰 (Mei-Zhi Restaurant) - Taipei

2006-08-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

Mei-Zhi Restaurant is located in the older part of Taipei of LingSen North Road, established in the 1960's, it is famous for its traditional Taiwanese cuisine. The store is popular among the entertainment industry in Taiwan with lots of celebrity photos decorating the walls, I even saw a few Japanese celebrities as well. Unfortunately I didn't get to try their variety of Taiwanese dishes, but I did try their 台南担仔麺 (Tainan Dan-Zai Noodles).

The Soup - is an unseasoned soup, actually it tastes so thin that I wonder if it is even a soup. The soy sauce and flavoring of the 肉燥 (ground pork sauce) blends with the soup to give it a brownish color.

The Noodles - are thicker straight noodles that are cooked on the soft side.

The Toppings - are distinctly Taiwanese. 肉燥 (rou-zao) is ground pork stir fried with chopped shiitake mushrooms, fried shallots, onions, and seasoned with rice wine, black pepper and Chinese five spice. The ground pork sauce is a great match with 香菜 (Chinese coriander) which is used in a lot of Taiwanese cuisine. The sauce is on the salty side but meant to be mixed in with the soup and noodles.

Overall - a really authentic and delicious Taiwanese ramen, the noodles are simply a great match with the ground pork sauce and coriander. Come here for the ramen as well as the large variety of Taiwanese cuisine and seafood it offers. Mei-zhi is open until 1am from Monday to Saturday and is perfect for a late night snack. The portions for dan-zai are small and perfect keeping enough room for trying out many different Taiwanese dishes. Although this is a really nice restaurant it is located in an older, dirtier part of Taiwan, try taking a taxi directly there rather than the subway and walking.

No 1 Alley 107 LinSen North Road Taipei, 台北市林森北路107巷1號
Japanese site - http://www.tabitabi-taipei.com/html/data/10022.html
Chinese site - http://www.umeko.com.tw/p2-3.htm

★★ 中田兄弟 (Nakata Brothers) -Tokyo

2006-08-20T21:49:00.000-07:00

Nakata Brothers is a ramen shop just a minutes walk away from Meidai-mae train station on the Keio line. Having grown tired of the heavy tonkotsu ramen, I heard about this store from a ramen friend of mine and decided to make the short trip from Shinjuku to try out this Japanese style ramen. I ordered their 味玉ラーメン (ramen with flavored boiled egg).

The Soup - was a light chicken broth blended with a dried bonito based soup. The soup's flavor is distinctly Japanese without going overboard on the fish flavor. However if you enjoy the typical Japanese style ramen then the flavor for Nakata Brothers ramen might feel a little thin.

The Noodles - are medium thickness curly noodles cooked to regular firmness. A rather springy ramen that didn't seem to match the soup that well.

The Toppings - were cha-shu pork, menma bamboo, nori dried seaweed, and flavored boiled egg. The cha-shu pork was cut so thin though tasty. menma was a little sweet. Boiled egg was great though uncooked in the middle.

Overall - a pretty good ramen that just seems to be a couple steps short from being great. The soup lacks the punch on the aroma side compared to other Japanese style ramen, while the noodles are just average. If Meidai-mae is on your daily travel commute then come try this place out. Otherwise don't go out of your way to come to Meidai-mae.

http://www.mendo.jp/shisyoku/nakata/index.html

★★ らあめん花月 (Kagetsu) - Narita Airport

2006-08-16T23:44:00.000-07:00

Kagetsu is a large ramen chain store with over 100 stores all over Japan. Recently they opened a shop in Narita International Airport. Located on the 5F of terminal one, if you are flying out of Narita to North America then you could give Kagetsu a try. I ordered their most popular dish the ニンニクげんこつラーメン (garlic pork bone ramen).

The Soup - is a very rich pork bone soup, mixed a broth from shiitake mushrooms and other vegetables. The soup is flavorful with little of the strong pork bone smell. A simple, less sophisticated version of tonkotsu (pork bone) soup, but still delicious none the less. The soup is quite oily, which is quite normal when compared to other tonkotsu soups.

The Noodles - are thin straight noodles cooked firm.

The Toppings - as standard as they get. Cha-shu pork, menma bamboo, nori dried seaweed, diced spring onions and an boiled egg. Nothing outstanding, but not bad for a large chain store, and really quite good for airport food!

Overall - I would recommend this place to people who haven't tried a lot of Hakata style tonkotsu ramen. Hakata ramen can have the strong smell in the soup or ultra firm, hard noodles that can turn some people away. Kagetsu's ramen is a pretty reserved version, maybe they had to in order to appeal to a wider audience. Kagetsu has over 100 chain stores in Japan so they must be doing something right.

Give them a try before your next flight! Just keep in mind that you might be sitting in a plane for over 10 hours after eating the bowl of ramen...

http://www.kagetsu.co.jp/gyoutai/tora/index.html
http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/whats_new/060511_1.html

★ 夏面馆 (Xia Noodle House) - Shanghai

2006-08-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

Xia Noodle House is a restaurant chain that specializes in SuJou style ramen. This is one of the fancier noodle shop in Shanghai where the store is clean, brightly lit and well decorated. When you enter the store it feels like walking into the streets of SuJou 100 years ago, complete with old style furniture and classical Chinese paintings. The service is very nice as well where the waitress patiently explained to us each item on the menu. After careful consideration I ordered one of their famous ramen dishes 虾爆鳝面 (shrimp and river eel noodles).

The Soup - is a rich, cloudy chicken soup, lightly seasoned with salt and not much else. I must admit that the soup here is much more flavorful than most other ramen soup that I've tried in Shanghai, but compared to some other places such as 沧浪亭 (CangLangTing) or 老半斋酒楼 (LaoBanZai), the soup seemed flat and one dimensional.

The Noodles - are thin, straight noodles cooked firm. The noodles are like Hakata style noodles, firm and chewy but tend to turn soggy pretty quickly as well. The noodles were delicious, much better than the soup.

The Toppings - were frightening looking strands of cooked eel that were floating on the soup in a way that made them look like they're still alive. There were also stir fried shrimp in the soup. The eel are lightly seasoned, slightly sweet, with the flavor of the fish being a little too strong. The shrimp were baby shrimp that didn't match the ramen either in its texture or flavor.

Overall - a dissapointment for me. After reading so many positive reviews on Chinese websites I had very high hopes for this place. While the noodles were good and the toppings okay, the soup simply came out flat for me. Not worth the $24RMB (about $2.50 US), which seems like a bargain but is about 3-4 times the prices of an average bowl of ramen in Shanghai. Xia Noodle House does have a lot of other Chinese dishes that are quite good though.

Later on during my trip I tried a few more ramen shops in Shanghai that were really good, as I mentioned 沧浪亭 (CangLangTing) is one of those places. I hope to write about this place in the next week or so.

徐汇区肇嘉浜路798号 (798 ZhaoJiaBang Road)
静安区南京西路1266号 (1266 Nanjing West Road)

★ 狮子林面馆 (ShiZiLin Noodle House) - Shanghai

2006-08-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

ShiZiLin Noodle House is conveniently located across the street from the Shanghai Grand Hyatt which I was staying at during my last visit. It is a authentic SuJou style noodle chain store with various locations available in the city. ShiZiLin literally mean "Lion Forest", it is one of the four major gardens in the city of SuJou located further inland from the city of Shanghai. During my first visit I ordered the first item on their menu, the 辣肉面 (spicy meat noodles).

The Soup - is a very thin, very lightly flavored soy sauce flavored soup. Surprising since the soup's dark brown color made it look saltier than it actually is. I'm so used to the ramen from Japan, Taiwan and SE Asia where the soup is packed with complex flavors, compared to that this soup almost tasted like water. The oil on the soup is most likely from the spicy meat and not the soup.

The Noodles - are thin straight nooldes cooked firm. This is one area that Shanghai noodles never seems to fail, the noodles are firm and chewy, while they don't pack a lot of flavors if you eat them with the spicy meat it's just right.

The Toppings - are spicy meat, that's it. Spicy meat are small pieces of pork, marinated in a sweet soy sauce and cooked with red chile oil. Not a whole lot of spices are used and it tastes very simple. More than being spicy, the meat tastes very sweet, which I found out is a signature of Shanghai cuisine.

Overall - a very simple noodle soup that is a good representation of what Shanghai ramen is like. Lightly flavored soup with toppings that are on the sweet side. For $9RMB (about $2.25) this ramen is slightly on the expensive side, but the portions are quite large. Located in PuDong area, across the street from JingMao Tower where the Grand Hyatt Shanghai hotel is located.

★★★ 欣葉 (XinYe) - Taipei

2006-08-12T03:42:00.000-07:00

XinYe is a higher end restaurant in Taipei that serves some of the best authentic Taiwanese food including many dishes commonly served at food stands. XinYe is the place to go if the common Taiwanese night market is a little too chaotic for you. Try all the best dishes Taiwanese food stands have to offer in an air conditioned, clean and bright environment, with prices at twice the what you would otherwise pay for. Kind of worth it after spending a long day in hot and humid Taipei. I will introduce some of the popular Taiwanese dishes here, but my main goal was to try the ramen only served in Taiwan, the 漂香切仔麺 or "CheZai mian" in Mandarin, "ChiGa Mi" in Taiwanese, or "チェアミィ麺" in Japan.

The Soup - is a clear, light broth made of chicken and pork bone. There's not a lot of oil in the soup and the seasoning is very simple, some salt, some deep fried shallots, but the soup packs a lot of flavor and is very delicious. Unlike the Japanese style tonkotsu (pork bone) soup, they don't break the pork bones when cooking the ChiGa Mi soup, it is also cooked at a much lower temperature.

The Noodles - are straight, slight curly egg noodles, cooked on the soft side. I usually complain about noodles being cooked too soft, but I make an exception here. The noodles are a good match for the soup which is quite gentle and reserved.

The Toppings - are a few slices of pork, also lightly seasoned with soy sauce and some herbs.

Overall - A small and simple Taiwanese ramen that you have to try when visiting XinYe. The ChiGa Mi served here is a little more sophisticated than what you get outside in real food stands, but the basic flavor undoubtedly authentic. ChiGa mi is usually 1/3 the size of a normal bowl of ramen, the small serving size allows people to try the noodles without filling up and still have room for the other dishes.

Japanese site - http://www.taipeinavi.com/food/restaurant.php?id=123
Chinese site - http://www.shinyeh.com.tw/taiwan.htm

★★★ 程班長牛肉麺 (ChengBanZhang) - Taipei

2006-08-11T04:33:00.000-07:00

ChengBanZhang (which literally means "class president Cheng") is a noodle food stand in the RaoHe night market in Taipei, Taiwan. Even though it is just an open air food stand ChengBanZhang has already appeared on TV and magazines being introduced as one of the must tries in this night market. I tried the first item on their menu 三合一牛肉麺 (The three in one beef noodles soup).

The Soup - is a thick and rich braised beef broth that despite its appearance is not too salty. There are the usual Chinese spices here but much less than the other local beef noodle soups. Also absent is the hot and spiciness that I've become so used to with Taiwanese beef noodle soup. Basically a soup that is heavy on the beef flavor and easy on the exotic Chinese spices.

The Noodles - are thick, hand made noodles, almost the size of udon noodles. They are cooked slightly on the soft side, but that's okay since the noodles are so thick that they are still very chewy.

The Toppings - finally we get to why its called "three in one beef noodle soup". The toppings are big slices of tender beef, big chunks of beef tendon, and 牛雑 (beef miscellaneous) or beef tripe. Three different textures, three slightly different flavors, all very delicious. I'm suprised that more places don't serve the three in one noodle soup. Oh, and there's bean sprouts and 酸菜 (Chinese pickled collard greens) as well.

Overall - a bold, less sophisticated beef noodle soup that I thoroughly enjoyed. If you can get over the locale and the environment and only focus on the food then I'd say give ChengBanZhang a try. If you can't deal with sitting in a crowded, busy night market, eating on tables with paint peeling off and dining out of cheap styrophone bowls then go eat at a real restaurant. For me it all feel just like home. Plus you can't beat the price, all this for TW$110, about $3.50 US dollars, and people here complain that's it's priced too high.

Just tell the taxi driver to take you to RaoHe night market, or write this down: 饒河街夜市

http://www.raohe.com.tw/e2-2.htm

★★★ 永康牛肉麺 (YongKang Beef Noodle Soup) - Taipei

2006-08-10T23:33:00.000-07:00

YongKang Beef Noodle Soup is an old time beef ramen shop in Taipei, also located on the famous YongKang road right next to another famous beef noodles restaurant LaoZhang. YongKang started out as a food stand in the near by park, but even as a decent sized restaurant today it still has the same signature beef noodles that made it so popular some 50 years ago. On my trip I ordered the 紅焼牛肉麺 (red roasted beef noodle soup).

The Soup - is a beef broth made from simmering both the meat and bone for a good half od the day with many standard Chinese herbs and spices. YongKang differs from other beef noodles because they use 豆瓣醤 (douban sauce) to add flavor and spiciness to the soup. Douban sauce (トウバンジャン in Japanese) is a Chinese red miso paste made from fermented fava beans mixed with chopped red chili peppers. There is also a few drops of chile oil on the soup but it isn't too spicy.

The Noodles - are thin straight noodles, cooked slightly on the soft side but still chewy and delicious.

The Toppings - are large, thick slices of tender cooked beef and a few slices of green onions. There is also a big bowl of 酸菜 (suan cai) Chinese pickled greens on every table for you to pile as much as you want onto your noodles. The pickled greens are sour and salty and go really well with the soup.

Overall - a very delicious beef noodle soup that I recommend to everybody. The soup is rich with flavor and aroma of the different spices without being to salty or heavy. I also think the balance of Chinese spices here is more accpetable for people from overseas. Though YongKang didn't score in the top three of the Beef Noodle Soup competition in Taiwan, it is still one of the best ramen experiences in Taiwan and worth checking out if you are in town.

17 Alley31 JinSan South Road sec 2, Taipei
台北市金山南路二段31巷17號
In Chinese - http://tw.lifestyle.yahoo.com/6dab3070/050201/170/1yjrc.html
In Japanese - http://www.tabitabi-taipei.com/html/data/10215.html

Kitakata Ramen - 喜多方ラーメン

2006-08-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

The city of Kitakata is located in the North Eastern part of the main Honshu island in Fukushima prefecture. Kitakata ramen, along with Hokkaido ramen and Hakata ramen, are considered to be the threee major types of Japanese ramen.

The key difference for Kitakata ramen is its noodles. The noodles are made with a higher amount of water content when neading the dough, making the noodles springier and doesn't turn soggy as quickly when served in soup. The noodles are thin, wide curly noodles that are chewy and have a much stronger presence that most other ramen noodles.

The soup are usually simple, soy sauce flavored soup made from chicken, pork or occasionally seafood. The toppings are usually thin sliced cha-shu pork, menma bamboo and sliced spring onions.

★★ 坂内喜多方ラーメン (Ban-nai Kitakata ramen) - Tokyo

★ 蔵太鼓 (Kura-daiko) - Tokyo

★ 蜂屋 (Hachiya) - Shin Yokohama

2006-08-09T04:30:00.000-07:00

Hachiya is the second place I visited during my last trip to the Ramen Museum in Shin Yokohama. Hachiya is quite out of the ordinary, being a rare ramen that combines 焦がし (burnt flavor) with Asahikawa style ramen in one bowl. I gave this 蜂屋ラーメン (Hachiya ramen) a try.

The Soup - is a tonkotsu based soup blended with a seafood soup. It is also covered in the dark brown oil which gets its color from carefully burnt oil that also gives the soup a strong bitter smokey smell. The burnt oil is much stronger than any other burnt flavored ramen that I've tried, covering most of the subtle flavor of the blended soup.

The Noodles - are medium thin slightly curly noodles cooked to medium firmness. They needed ramen noodles with a strong presence to compete with this soup. If they had thicker noodles it might have matched up better.

The Toppings - are cha-shu pork, menma bamboo and sliced spring onions. The store recommends adding freshly ground raw garlic to the ramen, I tried it but it still didn't help subdue the strong bitter burnt taste.

Overall - it is safe to say that no other ramen shop will taste like Hachiya's ramen. The taste of the bitter burnt oil was a little too much, almost made me wonder if the chef made a mistake. But I always believed that ramen is about finding the one bowl of noodles that you personally like and not conforming to what is popular. I do hear that Hachiya has some die hard fans, just don't count me as one of them.

There are many other burnt flavored ramen places that I would strongly recommend: Nantsuttei, Go-gyou in Tokyo are both excellent while Chichi in Sapporo Hokkaido is pretty good too.

http://www.raumen.co.jp/home/index.html

★★★★ 老張牛肉麺店 (LaoZhang Beef Noodle Soup) - Taipei

2006-08-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

LaoZhang Beef Noodle Soup is an old time favorite noodle shop in Taipei, it's located near YongKang street which is famous for its collection of ramen restaurants. LaoZhang recently won 2nd place at the Taipei beef noodle festival and has attracted numerous celebreties to dine here including recently Jackie Chan. During my visit I ordered the 辣味肉筋麵 (spicy beef and tendon noodles).

The Soup - is a dark brown soup flavored with numerous Chinese spices. Besides the flavor of the beef broth there is a stronger presence of seasonings such as star anise, cloves, cassia cinnamon and ginger root. There is a generous amount of red chile oil on top of the soup but it isn't too spicy, just enough to waken your taste buds. I was hoping that there would be more beef flavor in the soup, though the complex mix of flavors and aromas from all the spices was very addicting as I completely finished the ramen.

The Noodles - are medium thin straight noodles cooked to regular firmness.

The Toppings - are pieces of cooked beef, beef tendon, and slices of green onion. The beef is tender but the tendon practically melts in your mouth. To my surprise there were no free 酸菜 (pickled mustard greens) on the table, which usually come standard with beef noodle soup.

Overall - LaoZhang is a very delicious Taiwanese style ramen that I highly recommend. For those who have never had a Taiwanese style beef noodle soup before here's a warning, this ramen is overloaded with spices and might be a bit overwhelming to those with little exposure to Chinese food. As an alternative there is another beef noodle place next door called YongKang beef noodle soup which is also delicious but uses less exotic spices.

19 Alley31 JinSan South Road sec 2, Taipei
台北市金山南路二段31巷19號
http://tw.lifestyle.yahoo.com/6dab3070/051215/143/2n8vr.html

★★★ こむらさき (Ko-Murasaki) - Shin Yokohama

2006-08-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

Ko-Murasaki is a popular local Kumamoto ramen store that has been around for more than 50 years. In the early 90's Ko-Murasaki made its debut in the Kantou area by opening shop in the ramen museum in Shin Yokohama. I tried the first item on their menu 王様ラーメン (King ramen).

The Soup - is a tonkotsu based broth cooked with various vegetables and blended with a chicken based soup. The soup is void of the tonkotsu smell and has little oil, yet manages to maintain the rich flavor of tonkotsu. Compared to its Kyushu Hakata style ramen cousin, this soup seems much healthier. The soup is topped with a lot of freshly ground black pepper which didn't seem to compliment the soup that well.

The Noodles - are thin ramen noodles, slightly thicker than Hakata style ramen, cooked medium firm. Slightly springier than normal Kumamoto ramen, the flavor and texture seems to match the soup real well.

The Toppings - include tender, flavorful cha-shu pork, crunchy kikurage mushrooms and menma bamboo shoots, plus bean sprouts and diced spring onions; A unique topping that Ko-Murasaki has is the garlic chips, where thinly sliced garlic is carefuly raosted to bring out the aroma that gives this ramen its character. Where raw garlic might be too strong for this tonkotsu ramen, these garlic chips compliments it just right.

Overall - a Kumamoto style ramen with a few added twists on the aroma side. The garlic chips does give it a nice garlic aroma to it but Ko-Murasaki still doesn't compare to Natsuttei or Higomonzu as far as pure flavor of the soup and ramen.

I waited in line for Ko-Murasaki because it had the longest line, after waiting 40 minutes I wans't too dissapointed. But then I noticed that stores that had no lines an hour ago suddenly were lined up for 30 minute waits or more. It seems that the lines being formed were happening at random. So basically, check out all the ramen stores before you visit here and decide what region's ramen you want to try out.

http://www.raumen.co.jp/home/index.html
http://www.komurasaki.com/

ラーメン博物館 (Ramen Museum) - Shin Yokohama

2006-08-04T05:57:00.000-07:00

Shin Yokohama's Ramen Museum is a "ramen theme park" where you can learn the history of ramen, experience life in Tokyo as it was back in 1958 (the year that instant ramen was invented), and try out many local ramen from all over Japan.

Old Tokyo frozen in time
When you enter the museum there is an entrance that resembles an old subway entrance that leads to the basement of the museum. As you walk down the stairs you are transported back in time to Tokyo's shita-machi downtown in the late 1950's. Here the city is frozen in time right as the sun is about to set in the evening, just as the ramen shops and street merchants are at their busiest.

Here, among the retro style store fronts and food stands, you will find the actual ramen shops where they serve the latest trendy dishes from all over Japan. There are usually long lines for most of the stores, requiring anywhere from 10-40 minute waits.

Childhood memories revisited
Within this replica of 1950's Tokyo are old alley ways filled with artifacts from that period. Hidden within the old buildings and props are actual shops that sell snacks and toys from that period.

駄菓子や (Dagashi-ya) are shops that sell cheap candies and toys that were popular back in the 50's and 60's. Some of the candies that were popular at these stores were ふ菓子 (fugashi) which is deep fried o-fu dipped in syrup. 麦チョコ (mugi-choco) little pieces of wheat dipped in chocolate. 酢いか (su-ika) dried vinager squid. The toys we used to buy in these stores included paper balloons, styrophone airplanes to super balls.

Old School Lunch
Back in the US flavored milk pretty much came in 2 varieties: chocolate and strawberry. Back in the 70's when I went to Japan I was shocked when I found that in their schools they had neither. Instead they had coffee flavored, fruit flavored and apple flavored milk. Fruit flavored milk is almost like someone blended juicy fruit gum with milk, while the apple flavored milk was sweet and sour and down right nasty. Guess what? you can try them all at the ramen museum where they have the classic school lunches available that only reflect half of inflation prices.

Oh, and there's ramen too!
So I did manage to try out two ramen shops during my last trip to the ramen museum. One was Ko-Murasaki, a Kumamoto style ramen shop.

The other shop that I tried was a Asahikawa style ramen called Hachiya.

★★★ 七重の味の店　めじろ (Meijiro) - Tokyo

2006-08-04T05:12:00.000-07:00

Mejiro, the full name of this restuarant is "七重の味の店めじろ" which can be translated to (Mejiro, the store with seven layers of flavor). They serve a large variety of Japanese shoyu style ramen here, from 煮干しら～めん (dried sardine ramen) to 鰺塩ら～めん (mackerel ramen). On my first trip here (which was more than 2 months ago) I tried their standard ら～めん (ramen).

The Soup - packs a strong punch of Japanese seafood aroma and flavors. The soup is also blended with just the right amount of chicken/pork based broth to give the flavor more depth. Then there is the flavored oil on top of the soup giving it another layer of aroma.

The Noodles - are medium thin, slightly curly noodles that are cooked quite firm. The oil and the soup wraps around the ramen quite nicely, the flavor of the noodles is also a very nice match with the soup.

The Toppings - include a big slice of cha-shu pork, menma bamboo, chopped spring onions, fried green onions, and a slice of nori seaweed. The cha-shu here is very tender and slightly sweet flavored. The variety of onions add yet more complex aromas to the ramen. I think I can easily count more than seven layers of flavors in this ramen.

Overall - the flavor of the dried seafood dominates this ramen. If you like this type of ramen then you will like Mejiro since this is a very well balanced ramen that combines the flavors and aromas of may different delicious ingredients. When it comes to this type of ramen I prefer Setagaya over Mejiro. With Mejiro and Musashi being close seconds.

Mejiro is located near Yoyogi station on the Yamanote line. Mejiro is only open in the evenings from 6pm-10pm, they are not open on weekends or holidays either.

http://www.mejiro24.com/

★ 赤坂ラーメン (Akasaka-ramen) - Tokyo

2006-08-03T23:52:00.000-07:00

Akasaka ramen started out as a food stand in the early 80's before becoming a restaurant in Roppongi in '93. I remember seeing Akasaka's owner appearing in the TV show "TV Champion" trying to sell ramen from a food stand in the US, I think that show was aired at least 10 years ago. I visited their newer store in Roppongi which is located right next to the number 5 exit from the Roppongi subway station. During this trip I ordered the 赤坂小町ラーメン (Akasaka komachi ramen).

The Soup - is a thick salt flavored tonkotsu soup, they claim that the soup uses a special soy sauce from Shoudo shima island but I didn't notice any special shoyu aroma or flavor. Overall the soup was a little on the salty side but still delicious.

The Noodles - were slightly on the thicker side, curly noodles cooked firm. You can request the noodles firmness when you order.

The Toppings - the cha-shu that was tender, flavorful and very good. The menma and fully cooked boiled egg was nothing special. The bitter kaiware daikon sprouts were a terrible match with the ramen.

Overall - An average tonkotsu ramen that didn't have much personality that sets itself apart from the wide variety of tonkotsu ramen in the Tokyo area. However the Akasaka komachi is not as oily or smelly as the standard tonkotsu and for those who have shunned tonkotsu ramen might find this place a nice alternative. Akasaka has many other types of ramen from miso to the very spicy type, all tonkotsu based.

Akasaka ramen's main store is in Akasaka (duh), with chain stores in Shibuya and Komasawa as well. Akasaka also has more stores located overseas than in Japan. Maybe someday I will try out their store in Taiwan, or China and see how it compares to the flavor in Japan.

http://www.akasakaramen.com/

★ 旭川さいじょう (Saijo) - Tokyo

2006-07-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

Saijo is another ramen shop among the collection of seven in Shinatasu, a small ramen theme park located right next to Shinagawa station. This is the fifth shop among the seven that I am reviewing and for the first time I am underwhelmed. Maybe I ordered the wrong ramen here? Saijo is famous for winning the the contest for best shio (salt) Asahikawa ramen, I didn't do all the research before visiting this place and on this day I ordered the 味噌ラーメン (miso ramen) instead.

The Soup - was underwhelming. I could taste a slight taste of seafood in the soup but it didn't have the impact of some Japanese style with their strong flavors of sardines or mackerel. The store claims that the soup uses fresh mineral water shipped in from 大雪山 (daisekizan) a mountain in Hokkaido, but to me the special water didn't make it taste special.

The Noodles - are thick curly noodles cooked slightly on the soft side. Like the soup, the noodles were uneventful as well.

The Toppings - were nothing special. Notice a pattern here?

Overall - I can't recommend this place even though I didn't try their most famous dish, I really can't imagine how great their shio ramen could be though. All the flavors of the soup, noodles and toppings were very light, almost insufficient.

If you do decide to visit this ramen theme park Shinatatsu, I reccomend you visit Setagaya, Nantsuttei, Higomonzu, or Zouroku, in that order.

http://www.shinatatsu.com/raumen/kaku_saijo.html

★★ Club Jin Mao - Shanghai

2006-07-14T23:27:00.000-07:00

About 4 hours ago I was eating here in the old streets of Shanghai, now I am in the fifth tallest building in the world 金茂大厦 (Jinmao Tower) at one of the fanciest Shanghai restaurants in the city. I ofcourse ordered the same dish 红烧牛肉面 (Beef noodle soup), just to compare it with the experience I had earlier in the day.

The Soup - was a very surprising thick broth that is filled with the flavor of beef and the fragrance of various Chinese herbs. The regular spices such as anise stars and gui pi are toned down, instead Chinese herbal medicine such as dang gui are used giving it a flavor that I have never had before in beef noodle soup.

The Noodles - are medium thin straight noodles cooked medium firm. The noodles were chewy and absorbed the flavor of the soup very well.

The Toppings - were big chunks of beef and bok choy cabbage. The beef weren't that tender and a little dissapointing, though I believe that is how they are suppose to be... and unlike my experience earlier in the day, I had no doubt that what I was eating here was beef.

Overall - the soup really made this beef noodle soup quite interesting. The smell of the Chinese herb dang gui was so strong that it didn't feel like beef noodle soup, instead it felt like something my grandmother would cook for me if I was sick. By the way, the price of this ramen was $10, compare that to the $.40 I spent earlier in the day... I guess the view was worth the higher price.

★ Beef ?? Noodle Soup - Shanghai

2006-07-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

I was in Shanghai and I decided to try out a regular Chinese noodle place, a place where common folks visited. I was in an older part of Shanghai where the decade old two story buildings haven't been replaced by shiny new buildings... yet. As I was eating they were tearing down buildings just a few blocks away, no doubt clearing way for another skyscraper. I picked a very busy noodle place on the side of the street and tried the first item on their menu: 红烧牛肉面 (Beef noodle soup).

The Soup - was a very thin beef broth flavored with soy sauce and curry powder. There was also a trace of other Chinese herbs such as anise stars and gui-pi. The soup tasted a bit watered down and all the different flavors kinda just co-existed without any harmony.

The Noodles - were thin straight noodles cooked medium firm. The noodles tasted pretty good and I was surprised that they were nice and firm.

The Toppings - were a big round slab of hard tofu, smaller chunks of tofu, and beef ?? The small pieces of beef were heavily flavored with soy sauce, its texture was a little on the hard chewy side. As I was eating this I asked myself... is this beef? I have heard rumors from my Chinese friends of some shadier places serving mystery meat, I hesitate to imagine what the mystery might be. Anyways, the tofu was bland but at least they tasted like tofu.

Overall - not one of the best ramen that I've had but the experience was a memorable one. The whole ramen cost only $.40 so I won't complain too much. 4 hours later I went to one of the new skyscrapers in Shanghai 金茂大厦 (Jinmao Tower) and ate at a Chinese restaurant there. I ordered the same dish beef noodle soup and compared it to the ramen here.

★★★★ 一風堂 (Ippuudou) - Tokyo

2006-07-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

Ippuudou is a Hakata style ramen chain that has stores all over Japan. I've been to three of their stores so far and all were spacious, nicely decorated, and had great service, something you don't find with most Hakata style ramen places in Tokyo. I recently visited a store in Roppongi where I ordered the 赤丸新味 (akamaru shin-aji) or the "New flavor Akamaru".

The Soup - a rich, smooth tonkotsu soup that is delicious and very easy to eat. Their soup is a blend of tonkotsu (pork bone) broth and regular pork based soup, both are cooked separately with different methods and at different heat levels, then blended right before being served. There is a thin layer of brown oil on the soup that is made from blending different types of oil and infusing it with the flavor of different vegetables and spices.

The Noodles - are the very thin and straight ramen noodles that is a great match to the soup. When ordering the ramen you need to specify how firm you want the noodles cooked. There are 5 levels of firmness: はりがね (harigane) is what I always order, it's the hardest and means "steel beam", ばりかた (barikata) is very hard, かため (katame) is firm, ふつう (futsuu) is regular, and やわらかめ (yawarakame) is soft. Try the "katame" firm noodles if you are new to Hakata style ramen.

The Toppings - are simple, a few slice of cha-shu pork, some kikurage mushrooms and a lot of spring onions. The cha-shu is tender and flavorful. There is also a drop of spicy red sauce that you can blend with the soup or cha-shu as you eat, adding an occasional twist to the flavor.

Overall - one of the best tonkotsu ramen I've had. Highly recommend it especially to those new to ramen in general. The flavor of this ramen is actually quite different than regular Hakata style tonkotsu, it turns out that Ippuudou actually has another ramen on their menu called 白丸元味 (shiromaru moto-aji) that is closer to the original flavor of Hakata style though I have yet to try it. Ippuudou can be found near key train stations in the Tokyo area: Ebisu, Takadanobaba, Roppongi, etc.

http://www.ippudo.com/shops/index.html#kantou
http://www.ippudo.com/index.html

★★★ 康竜 (Kouryu) - Tokyo

2006-07-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

Kouryu is a Hakata style tonkotsu ramen place that sets itself apart from others by offereing a high degree of customizability for your ramen. When you purchase your order from the ramen ticket machine you are given a piece of paper with a preference chart that asks for you how firm you want the noodles, how rich and oily the soup, and how much hot spice or spring onions. You also have eight different toppings of which you can chose four for your ramen. On my last trip here I ordered this 自分仕立てラーメン (customizable ramen).

The Soup - is a rich tonkotsu soup that has just a little bit of the tonkotsu smell. The amount of oil that is on the soup is customizable, I selected to have a bit more oil on mine.

The Noodles - are very thin straight noodles. The firmness is customizable and I chose to have mine cooked really firm. Hakata style noodles are famous for being very firm though I would recommend slightly firm for people that are new to Hakata style ramen.

The Toppings - are all customizable, I selected and recommend you go for the 1. pickled cabbage 4. special menma bamboo 5. half cooked boiled egg, and 6. dried seaweed. These are the standard toppings for Hakata style ramen and are a great match with the soup. The 3. kikurage is more for Kumamoto style ramen, 7. kakuni simmered pork is good but you already get the cha-shu pork anyways. The 8. fried garlic isn't that good and there are fresh ground garlic already at the counter for free.

Overall - an above average Hakata style ramen experience. The ramen itself is quite delicious though the customizability part seems like a lot of extra work. I am a little suspicious of places that offer too much cusomizability, as if they can't decide on what is the best flavor that they are after and want the cusomers to help them decide. The customizability was at first a novelty and I liked it quite a bit, but as I've been exposed to more Hakata ramen places I now go to Ippuudou, Nanden-Kanden, and Goten exactly because they each offer unique flavors and experiences. The Kouryu in Shinjuku was also very crampled and uncomfortable.

http://www.kouryu.org/tenpo.html

★★★★ なんつッ亭 (Nantsuttei) - Tokyo

2006-07-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

Nantsuttei is one of the hottest ramen places in Tokyo at this moment. Nantsuttei's ramen has not only been hugely popular with long lines where you have to wait at least 30 minutes or more, the man behind this store has become quite a personality in the ramen scene, often appearing on TV and even selling character merchandises of himself. Nantsuttei recently won a ramen competition on Japanese TV, I unfortunately had to visit them the day after that TV show and had to wait near an hour until I got my order of らーめん+温泉玉子 (ramen + hot spring egg).

The Soup - is a lightly flavored tonkotsu (pork bone) soup that is topped with a special burnt flavored black oil that the store calls マー油 (ma-yu). When you first get the ramen you see this black soup, which forms a nice contrast once you run your spoon through the ma-yu and expose the white tonkotsu soup underneath. The tonkotsu soup itself is cooked with a variety of vegetables giving it a milder flavor, while the ma-yu is created through a seven step process of frying garlic in different methods to get the burnt flavor just right.

The Noodles - are not your straightforward Tonkotsu style noodles. Nantsuttei's ramen noodles are slightly thicker, uses a slightly higher water content making it springier than most Hakata style ramen. Needless to say, Nantsuttei spent a lot of time getting this ramen just right and it matches the soup nicely.

The Toppings - are all top notch. The cha-shu pork is slightly tender but the flavor is wonderful and matches the ramen well. The bean sprouts provides a nice contrast to the oily soup, while the green onions flavor compliments the garlic flavor of the soup. The hot spring egg is a little runny, both the egg yolk and the egg white and took some getting used to.

Overall - I highly recommend Nantsuttei to everyone. Nantsuttei has a strong personality that sets itself apart from all the other ramen out there. The flavor of this ramen is simply delicious and should appeal to beginners and veterans of the Japanese ramen.

Nantsuttei is not easy to get to though. The closest store in the Tokyo area is Shinagawa which is about 20 minutes from Shinjuku, if you include the waiting time that is more than likely you might be looking at spending an hour or two including the round trip travel time.

http://www.nantsu.com/

★★★★ 青葉 (Aoba) - Tokyo

2006-07-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

Aoba opened recently in 1996 near Nakano station. A relatively new player in the Tokyo ramen scene, it quickly rose in popularity and gained a lot of attention from the competition. Aoba's goal was simple, to create a delicious new ramen that appealed to the masses. Today their approach to making ramen has inspired many other rival stores and is considered as the main force behind the rich seafood style ramen. On this day I ordered the 特製中華そば (special Chinese soba).

The Soup - is a perfect blend of fish stock (dried sardines, mackerel, & bonito) and a rich white broth (tonkotsu, chicken and vegetables). There are a lot of ramen stores that try the double blend soup, I feel that Aoba achieves a balance between the two that is just right.

The Noodles - are medium thickness, curly noodles that are usually cooked to medium firmness and very springy. I have been here more than a few times and sometimes the noodles came out on the softer side.

The Toppings - are the standard cha-shu pork, menma bamboo shoots, nori dried seaweed, flavored boiled egg and a slice of naruto fish cake. Nothing fancy here, all of the toppings are simply delicious and match the ramen nicely. The boiled egg was especially delicious.

Overall - one of the best ramen in Tokyo, I highly recommend you give Aoba a try. Aoba has since opened many stores around Tokyo including Ikebukuro and Shinjuku, though neither is particulary close to the train station.

http://aobai.jp/
http://www.mendo.jp/shisyoku/aoba/

★★ 渡なべ (Watanabe) - Tokyo

2006-07-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Watanabe is the first of many great ramen stores produced by Watanabe Juan, who is responsible for other famous ramen such as Miharu in Ebisu, Puka-puka in Nakamejiro, and Zouroku in Shinagawa, just to name a few. This being the only store that bares his name I naturally had high hopes for it. Watanabe is located near Takadanobaba station. On this day I ordered the standard らーめん (ramen).

The Soup - is a strong dried fish based soup that is blended with a rich tonkotsu broth. The fish based part of the soup itself is a complex blend of dried bonito, mackerel and butterfish, making the seafood aroma of the soup overwhelming. Mixed with the thick tonkotsu broth this soup felt more like soup concentrate that needs to be watered down a bit.

The Noodles - are medium thick noodles that are cooked quite firm. These noodles can hold their own against the soup's strong presence.

The Toppings - are cha-shu pork, menma bamboo shoots and sliced spring onions. The cha-shu pork is lightly flavored, but tastes just right in the thick flavored soup. The bamboo shoots were thick and a bit on the softer side. The spring onions were a prefect match with the soup.

Overall - I was a little dissapointed, probably because I was expecting so much from Watanabe. Everything was wonderful except the soup that came across a little too thick and strong for my preference. Watanabe was also located quite far from the station, requiring a 10-15 minute walk from Takadanobaba. Out of all of his ramen stores I liked Miharu the most so far, which I feel has the right balance of seafood vs the rich tonkotsu.

http://ramen.gnavi.co.jp/shop/jp/g838500n.htm

熊本ラーメン Kumamoto Ramen

2006-07-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

The city of Kumamoto is located in the center of the southern island of Kyushu Japan. Ramen from this region is dominated by the famous Hakata style ramen that is from the northern city of Fukuoka, but the ramen from Kumamoto has a few distinct features that sets itself apart.

Kumamoto style ramen soup is a tonkotsu based, white colored broth, but where it differs from Hakata style ramen is its milder flavor. Kumamoto style ramen is also often flavored with fried garlic oil that is noticeable with the brown oil. The noodles are often thicker than the Hakata style, and includes unique toppings such as kikurage mushrooms, and lightly cooked or raw cabbage.

Hakata and Kumamoto style ramen are definitely very similar. Hakata style ramen has really taken over the ramen scene in Tokyo since the early 90's and remains very popular today. I like to think of Kumamoto style ramen as the reserved younger sibling that has slowly built a strong reputation for itself.

★★★★ なんつッ亭 (Nantsuttei) - Tokyo

★★★ ひごもんず (Higomonzu) - Tokyo

★★★ こむらさき (Ko-Murasaki) - Shin Yokohama

★★★ 肥後のれん (Higonoren) - Tokyo

★★★ 桂花 (Keika) - Tokyo

★ 味千ラーメン (Ajisen) - Tokyo

★★ ラーメン二郎 (Ramen Jiro) - Tokyo

2006-07-03T04:28:00.000-07:00

Ramen Jiro is a long time favorite ramen place in Tokyo, you can tell by the constant long lines of people outside the store even during off peak hours. Why this place is so popular has always fascinated me. The store is cramped even for Japanese standards, the interior is dirty and actually quite unsanitary, the stores are not air conditioned which on a hot summer day made this trip to Jiro closer to being torture than a ramen experience. I tried the standard ラーメン (ramen).

The Soup - is a rich tonkotsu (pork bone) based soup flavored with soysauce, it looks really greasy but is flavorful and goes down quite easily. The broth is made from pork bone and a large variety of vegatables.There is a bit of the pork bone smell, but the store is so filled with the smell that you'd be numb by it by the time the ramen arrives.

The Noodles - are special and really good. This extremely thick curly ramen noodles that is a few mm away from being called udon. These are the chewiest, most flavorful ramen that I have had, and they go great with the soup.

The Toppings - are almost unpresentable. I really can't imagine any restaurant serving something like this. Piles of chopped up cha-shu pork and boiled bean sprouts, they don't really look appetizing and actually get in the way of eating the noodles. Some garlic is also standard for Jiro ramen. They also put a bit of pork fat on it so I am putting this ramen in the pork fat cha-cha category.

Overall - hope you find a Jiro chain store with AC because I almost passed out from the heat of the ramen and the store. I ended up only finishing 2/3 of the ramen and quickly jetted out of there since I hear that the owner gets mad if you don't finish it. The ramen is actually quite good, but the overall experience of waiting 30 minutes, the dirty store and crowded seats makes me not recommend this place. However, if you want to experience a little part of Japanese culture and a major player in the ramen scene in Tokyo then give Jiro a try. Just don't bring a date.

http://come.to/jiro
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~tacky/rdb/rdb-982-jirou-takadanobaba.htm

Here is an NPR radio piece on Jiro Ramen done in 2004:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1604880

★★ たけちゃん (Take-chan) - Tokyo

2006-07-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

Take-chan niboshi ramen (たけちゃんにぼしラーメン) is a long time ramen shop near Yoyogi station in Tokyo. Take-chan started out as a regular food stand near the train station, but has long since established a store front in the same area. On my first trip here I ordered their popular dish: スペシャルらーめん (Special ramen).

The soup - is a very strong dry dried seafood based Japanese style soup that is carefully blended with chicken or pork broth to give it a richer flavor. The soup is then topped off with a few drops of fried shrimp oil that really increases the seafood aroma of this soup.

The Noodles - are medium thickness straight noodles and cooked quite firm. The noodles have just the right amount of water content that when served it abosrbs just the right amount of soup and is a great match with the Japanese style soup.

The Toppings - are cha-shu pork, a small slice of nori dried seaweed, naruto fish cake, menma bamboo shoots and a flavored boiled egg. The cha-shu is very soft but a little on the salty side, the seaweed is almost unnecessary since the whole dish is strong with seafood aroma already. The menma was crunchy but didn't have much flavor. The aji-tama (boiled egg) was half cooked inside and very flavorful.

Overall - Take-chan has a lot of wonderful aromas and flavors but doesn't achieve an essential balance. The soup is a very rich seafood soup that goes great with the noodles, but the toppings are either too salty or has no flavors. Also I wish that there were more soup in comparison to the amount of noodles you get. Still a delicious ramen place and worth checking out if you want to try a veteran Japanese style soup ramen place.

http://www.takenibo.com/shop/main.html

★★ Hong Kong Noodle House - Seattle

2006-07-02T00:24:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong Noodle House is another Cantonese style wonton noodles restaurant that recently opened in Seattle's international district. They have a huge menu and a lot of non- noodles dishes. Their Congee is very good as well though I came here for the noodles. On this day I tried their beef tendon wonton noodles.

The Soup - is a delicious lightly seasoned broth that has a lot of flavor, I am guessing it is a combination of pork and chicken but I am not sure.

The Noodles - are the standard contonese noodles, thin and very tough, not the type of noodles where you can slurp and swallow like Japanese ramen noodles.

The Toppings - are very good. The beef tendon are very tender and delicious. The wontons are filled with pork and shrimp, firm and flavorful. I wish I can learn how they make their wontons achieve such firmness, they are almost springy (some Chinese describe the texture as almost being "crunchy").

Overall - the wontons never dissapoint. I am not a fan of the noodles but the soup and toppings make everything worth it. I am almost tempted to just make a special order of beef tendon wonton soup, without any noodles. Hong Kong Noodle House opens until late at night making it a great place for a late night snack.

Hong Kong Noodle House - 414 8th Ave S Seattle WA 98104

★ Green Village - Seattle

2006-07-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

Green Village is a Chinese restaraunt that serves a variety of authentic Chinese food with fast food like prices. There is nothing fancy about this place, simple fold up tables, plastic bowls & plates, a menu filled with items you'll see being sold on food stands rather than at up scale restaraunts, but the place is bright and clean and the store greets you warmly with each visit. On this day I tried a standard noodle soup dish: 紅焼牛肉麺 (beef noodle soup).

The Soup - is a slightly spicy beef based, soy sauce flavored broth that has a good hint of Chinese herbs and spices. This soup would've been better if it didn't have so much of the flavor of the noodle blended in it.

The Noodles - aren't very good. The noodles they use are these wide, flat noodles that are very soft and absorb the soup really fast. As the noodles turn soggy the salty flavor of the noodles blend in with the flavor of the soup, ruining the pure flavor of the beef broth.

The Toppings - the beef could have been a little softer, the veggies are simply boiled spinach.

Overall - still a bargain for its price and quality. Come here for their fried rice and other Chinese dishes. If you are looking for a good beef noodles soup then I would recommend Sandie's Gourmet or Szechuan Noodle Bowl, both located in Seattle.

Green Village - 516 6th Ave S Seattle, WA 98104

★ Fu-Lin - Seattle

2006-07-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

Fu-Lin is a Japanese/Chinese restaurant that specializes in Japanese style ramen. The restaurant has the atmosphere of a good old fashion chu-ka ryori (Chinese restaurant in Japan), the type that cators to the average worker looking for a cheap place to eat. There are a huge variety of noodle and rice dishes, and lot Japanese comics avaiable, just like many similar places in Japan. On this day I tried their tonkotsu ramen (pork bone ramen).

The Soup - is a thin creamy soup that barely has any resemblance to authentic tonkotsu soup. The soup is so thin that I suspect that the soup might be made from concentrate... or dare I say... instant noodle soup base.

The noodles - aren't much better than the soup. Not much flavor to them, springy but not firm and quickly becomes soggy as it sat in the soup. Not quite instant ramen quality, but just a few steps above it.

The Toppings - everything you expect from Japanese style ramen toppings are here, the cha-shu, menma bamboo shoots, green onions, etc. The one problem is that every one of them are of rather poor quality. The pork is okay but tastes like a regular HK style BBQ pork and doesn't match the ramen, the wakame seaweed are bland, and the green onions are way too strong for the thin flavored soup.

Overall - I guess if you are in Seattle and starving for a Japanese ramen experience then you could come here for this. I haven't tried the shoyu or miso ramen yet but definitely don't get the tonkotsu ramen.

Fu-Lin 512 S. King St.Seattle, WA 98104

★★ Chan's Kitchen - Redmond

2006-07-01T21:22:00.000-07:00

Chan's Kitchen is a new Cantonese restaurant that opened recently in Redmond. Besides a good amount of Hong Kong style noodle soup they also have a wide variety of stir fried noodles, fried rice and authentic Cantonese cuisine. On my first trip I tried the noodle their owner recommended, 柱侯牛腩麵 (Zhu-hou beef noodle soup).

The Soup - tasted like regular Hong Kong style wanton noodle soup, with a slight taste of Chinese herbs that is probably from the stewed beef.

The Noodles - were the typical Cantonese style egg noodles that were then and very firm. Different from Japanese style noodles, these Cantonese noodles are not very springy and can be quite tough, they don't just slide down the throat smoothly like Udon-noodles.

The Toppings - were bok-choy and the stewed beef. The beef is not very soft but tastes very good. It uses a special sauce called Zhu-hou sauce that is a blend of traditional Chinese herbs: anise star, orange peel, blended with fried garlic, red onions then stewed with rock sugar and water.

Overall - I am a huge fan of Taiwanese style beef noodle soup, which is usually less sweet and much more spicy with a lot more exotic Chinese herbs and spices. The Hong Kong variety is still relatively new to me, and it might be by built in bias but I feel that the soup and noodles here are better matched with regular wontons.

Chan's Kitchen - 2560 152nd Ave Ne Redmond, WA 98052

★★★ Noodle Boat - Issaquah

2006-06-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Noodle Boat is a Thai restaurant in Issaquah, about 15 minutes east of Seattle downtown. I was in the area for business so I decided to drop in and check out their noodle soup: "Noodle Boat". The dish is a noodle soup variety from the city of Ayutthaya located north of Bankok. This dish is called "Guay teaw reau Ayutthaya" which translates to Ayutthaya style boat noodle.

The Soup - is a thick and richly flavored hot and sour soup. Imagine a tom yun kun soup just more sour, saltier and with even more intense flavors of the spices... then add a hint of curry and/or peanut sauce. To tell you the truth, I wasn't able to figure out the exact ingredients of this soup, all I can say was that I wish the dish came in a bigger bowl because I wished there was more.

The Noodles - are the Chantoboon noodles that you see in pad thai. This flat rice noodles that start out rather soft and can turn soggy real quick if over cooked or left in the soup for too long. The noodles are a great match with the soup but were a challenge to eat since it was buried underneath of lots of vegetables and toppings.

The Toppings - included your choice of meat, deep fried tofu, green onions, coriander, bean sprouts, and raw cabbage and carrots served on the side like a salad. All the toppings were great with the noodle and soup, but there was so much of it that I wish the bowl was bigger for me to organize them. I ended up eating most of the toppings first just to work my way to the noodles underneath.

Overall - a great Thai style ramen that I will be coming back for more. Issaquah might be too far for you to come just for a bowl of Thai noodles, but most Thai restaraunts in the Seattle area serve some type of noodles soup. Look for tom yun kun noodle soup in other places, which can taste quite similar to this dish.

http://www.noodleboat.com/

★★★ 山岡家 (Yamaoka-ke) - Sapporo

2006-06-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

Yamaoka is a relative new comer to the Sapporo ramen scene that started its first store back in 1992. This is actually a large ramen chain store that started in Ibaraki prefecture closer to Tokyo, but the owner had a long admiration for Sapporo style ramen and wanted to test his creation in one of the oldest ramen markets in Japan. I figured if he wanted to survive in Sapporo he better have a good 味噌ラーメン (Miso ramen), which is what I ordered.

The Soup - was a thick and rich tonkotsu based soup that had none of the strong pork bone smell. The miso they used looked like a white miso paste that tasted quite mild. They use red miso paste for the 辛味噌ラーメン (spicy miso ramen), which is deep red in color from the miso and the tons of red chili powder is uses. There was a layer of oil on the soup to keep the heat of the soup, just like other Sapporo ramen, the soup was so hot it burnt your tongue.

The Noodles - are very nice, these thick, curly ramen noodles that are cooked firm and are springy and chewy. Ofcourse the ramen here took a long time to cook and I had to wait quite a bit.

The Toppings - were simple, a slice of cha-shu roasted pork, some boiled green vegetables, 3 big sheets of nori dried seaweed and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. The roasted pork was so-so, but the seaweed was a nice match to the soup.

Overall - a richer, oilier, less refined version of Sapporo ramen, perfect for those cold winter nights before you head home after work or school. If you were to be very picky you could say this isn't even real authentic Sapporo style ramen. The tonkotsu flavor dominated soup is not the standard in Sapporo, but this ramen has gotten so popular that it now has many chain stores in the area. There is even one in Tokyo if you don't want to go all the way north.

http://www.yamaokaya.com/menu/index.html

★★ 鼎泰豐 Din Tai Fung - Shanghai

2006-06-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

Din Tai Fung is famous for its Chinese pork dumplings called ShiaoLongBao, during my last visit to Shanghai my co-workers and I ate about 100 of these dumplings. Even with all those dumplings I was still able to find some room to try their noodle dish 原汁紅焼牛肉麺 (Beef noodle soup).

The Soup - is a soy sauce flavored beef broth that is very pure and simple. A can taste a trace of some ginger, garlic and star anise, but otherwise contrary to its appearance, this is a very light soup.

The Noodles - are thin, straight noodles cooked firm, very similar to the Kyushu style tonkotsu ramen noodles. The firm noodles have a strong presence, maybe a bit too much for the light delicate soup.

The Toppings - are some pieces of cooked beef, beef tendon and green onions. The tendons are cooked vey tender, almost melting in your mouth. The pieces of beef are not as tendor and a little dissapointing.

Overall - a sophisticated beef noodle soup that is light and delicious, though I think this dish might be catered more to the preference of foreigners rather than the locals. Beef noodle soup should filled with intense flavors of Chinese herbs and other spices, Ding Tai Fung's version is just a little too reserved for my taste. But then, not a lot of people would go to Ding Tai Fung to order beef noodle soup, I would recommend you try the pork dumplings along with the dozens of different types of dumplings they have before trying the noodles here.

http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/

★★ Thai Kitchen - Kirkland

2006-06-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

Thai Kitchen has been around the Seattle East side area for 25 years, while I've visited them numerous times for their curry and and Rainbow yum yum, here I am only interested in their noodle dish - Yen Ta Fo.

The Soup - is shocking pink! Compare this to the Yentafo noodle I had at Noodle House, the Yen Ta Fo at Thai Kitchen looks more like a modern museum art piece than something edible. The flavor of the soup is as intense as its appearance, spicy, sour and very salty. IMO they went a little overboard with the salt and yentafo sauce.

The Noodles - are the thin Chantaboon noodles used in pad thai, the noodles must have been cooking in the soup for quite a bit for it to soak up all the pink coloring, but the noodles were firm and delicious.

The Toppings - spinach, fried wonton, squid balls, fried tofu, and shrimp, all pink in color and great match to the spicy and sour soup.

Overall - I liked the dish overall but I feel the flavor was a little too intense for me to recommend out right. Maybe this was an anomoly and someone accidentaly spilled too much salt on this day. Ask them to take it easy on the salt and you can adjust the flavoring on your own. The thin, firm noodles were a treat and worth coming back for for ramen fans.

http://www.thethaikitchen.com/

札幌ラーメン Sapporo Ramen

2006-06-09T03:58:00.000-07:00

Miso Ramen was invented in Sapporo, the largest city in the northern island of Hokkaido. The first miso ramen appreared around the early 1960's and quickly spread all over Sapporo city. In 1967 the first Sapporo style miso ramen store was set up in Tokyo. Today miso ramen is considered one of the four major types of ramen in Japan.

Because if the bitter cold winters in Sapporo, the miso ramen from this area is also famous for its heat and how it warms you up from the inside. The ramen is served very hot, often with a layer of oil to preserve the hear in the soup; A healthy serving of stir fried vegetables is also standard in Sapporo style ramen. To counter balance the texture of the stir fried bean sprouts, onions and carrots, they use thicker, curly noodles that has a strong presence as well.

★★★★ 白樺山荘 (Shirakaba Sansou) - Sapporo

★★ 満龍 (Manryu) - Sapporo

★★★ 山岡家 (Yamaoka-ke) - Sapporo

★★★ 麺屋 Chichi - Sapporo

★ 味噌丸 (Miso-maru) - Tokyo

★★★ 味噌一 (Miso-ichi) - Tokyo

★★★ 大腸面 (DaChang Mian) - Shanghai

2006-06-09T00:22:00.000-07:00

DaChang Mian is one of the best noodles places in Shanghai, at least that's what my native Shanghai friends say so I had to give them a try. Once I was at the restaurant I knew that I had to muster up quite a bit of courage just to eat this ramen. The restaurant, to my expectation, was sanitarily challenged. The floors were sticky, garbage bags were placed right next to the tables, and the kitchen was fortunately very dark so I couldn't see what it was really like. So I ordered the most popular dish 大腸面 which literally means, "big intestine noodles", there's no need for fancy product naming in China I guess.

The Soup - was simply the broth that they used to stew the meat, and intestines. The taste was very simple, a sweet soysauce flavor that was surprisingly good. Okay, after what I saw from the store I must say that my expectations were low, but the soup was a pleasant surprise.

The Noodles - were straight, plain white noodles that were actually cooked very FIRM, what a surprise! After all the years of eating soft, mushy, overcooked noodles in Chinese restaurants in the US I began to think that all Chinese noodles were like that. Guess we can only blame it on the Americanization of Chinese food on that one.

The Toppings - pig intestines, and nothing else. No jokes here, they were actually really good. The sweet soysauce stew is a common flavor for stewing meat in Chinese home cooking, I've just never had it with intestines before. The toppings are cooked to just the right firmness and chewiness.

Overall - try at your own risk. Actually, you know what, don't try this ramen; I would like to report that it's been 2 weeks since I tried the intestine noodle and my health is normal, but I've trained my immune system in the foodstands of Asia since I was 8 years old. I don't think I want to jeapordize your health if you've been raised in a more sanitized country.

I actually enjoyed this ramen and would return for their other items on the menu. They have another popular dish called
辣肉面 (spicy meat noodle) that I will definitely try if I ever come near this area again.

★★ 満龍 (Manryu) - Sapporo

2006-06-07T07:33:00.000-07:00

Manryu is one of the old school miso ramen stores in Sapporo, this place is famous for representing Sapporo ramen in a nation wide contest in the 90's and winning the grand prize. Today I tried one of Hokkaido's famous ramen the バターコーン味噌らーめん (butter corn miso ramen).

The Soup - is a blend of tonkotsu pork bone and vegetable stock, it is actually quite light compared to many of the newer, richer miso ramen. The miso flavor has quite a sweet aroma to it. The ramen is topped with a thick slice of butter (Hokkaido is famous for its milk and butter), the melted butter gradually changes the flavor of the soup to a rich creamier soup. Many people say that the butter and miso is a good match, for me it still took some getting used to.

The Noodles - are regular thickness, slightly curly noodles cooked slight on the soft side. Noodles now a days mostly are on the firm side, the softer noodles are probably part of the old school formula too.

The Toppings - wakame seaweed, cha-shu pork, green onions, menma bamboo and CORN! The corn is very sweet and kinda matches the sweetness of the miso soup. The rest of the toppings are average, the cha-shu pork is served cold so soak it in the hot soup before eating.

Overall - I loved this miso ramen because it has quite a bit of nostalgia for me. Having read for many years about the "Butter Corn ramen" of Hokkaido, I couldn't wait to try this ramen out. The hot soup and the thick layer of melted butter is suppose to help keep people warm in the cold winter months, unfortunately it was the beginning of Summer when I visited Sapporo. I will definitely have to come here again during the winter and try this ramen in the right weather.

http://www.manryu.co.jp/

★★★ 麺屋 Chichi - Sapporo

2006-06-07T05:34:00.000-07:00

Menya chi-chi has been around sapporo for more than 15 years, but around the year 2004 the owner came up with a new ramen called the 焦がし味噌らーめん (burnt miso ramen), that made chi-chi one of the new favorites in Sapporo. On my first trip I gave their burnt miso ramen a try.

The Soup - is a pork bone, vegetable, broth based soup. The soup is topped with some black oil that gives the soup a burnt flavor that is a very nice match to the miso soup. I have had a similar ramen in Tokyo a few weeks back called Go-gyou, Chi-chi's soup is slightly lighter and has much less of the burnt black oil... slightly dissapointing since the smokey flavored soup can be so addicting.

The Noodles - are regular thickness, slightly firm, slightly curly noodles.

The Toppings - two slices of cha-shu pork, green onions, menma bamboo and kikurage mushrooms. The boiled egg and cha-shu pork are slightly flavored, neither of them overpowering. Like a lot of other miso ramen, the main character is the soup.

Overall - a very delicious ramen where the burnt black oil adds a new twist to the miso soup. However, if you are in Sapporo and had time for only one ramen then I would recommend 白樺山荘 (Shirakaba Sansou). Chi-chi actually has 4 different miso ramen on their menu, the 白味噌、赤味噌、辛みそ、焦がし味噌、(White miso ramen, Red miso ramen, Spicy miso ramen and Burnt miso ramen). I am tempted to try the White miso ramen on my next trip, since that type of ramen soup is so rare.

麺屋 Chichi is located in the "Sapporo Ramen Republic" which is near Sapporo station, on the 10th floor of the department store Bic Camera.

http://www.sapporo-esta.jp/ramen/top.html

★★★★ 白樺山荘 (Shirakaba Sansou) - Sapporo

2006-06-07T05:15:00.000-07:00

Shirakaba Sansou is a recent darling of the ramen scene in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Started 8 years ago by a Japanese salary man who decided to quit his day job and go into the ramen business, after numerous trials and errors he finally came up with the perfect balanced miso ramen that put him on the map. Needless to say, I tried the 味噌ラーメン (Miso ramen) on my first trip to this ramen store.

The Soup - is HOT!!! The soup is covered with a thin layer of oil that keeps the heat, be careful not to burn your tongue. The soup is a rich broth, most likely a pork bone-seafood blend soup. But neither the flavor of the pork bone or seafood overpowers, making this a really well balanced miso flavored soup.

The Noodles - are normal thickness curly noodles, cooked at regular firmness. Nothing fancy here, just good old fashion ramen noodles. The focus seems to be put on the delicious soup.

The Toppings - are menma bamboo, kikurage mushroooms, green onions, nori dried seaweed and small chunks of cha-shu pork. Every topping is a good match with the soup, again, nothing fancy here that overpowers the soup.

Overall - make this the first ramen you try when visiting Sapporo. It is located right near Sapporo station in the 札幌ら～めん共和国 (Sapporo Ramen Republic). The owner of the ramen store mentions that the secret to his ramen is not the ingredients, but achieving the perfect balance between everything. I tried many miso ramen in Sapporo during my short trip there, Shirakaba definitely is the most memorable because of the well balanced soup.

http://www.sapporo-esta.jp/ramen/index.html

★★★★ AFURI - Tokyo

2006-05-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

AFURI is a trendy restaurant located near Ebisu station in Tokyo. The owner of AFURI is Nakamura-san, who has many other ramen stores in neighboring Kanagawa prefecture and is quite famous in the ramen circles there. This is his only store in Tokyo, after trying his ramen I wished he had more stores in this area. I tried AFURI's famous 塩ラーメン+鶏油 (salt ramen + chicken oil).

The Soup - is a blend of tonkotsu, chicken,and seafood stock. The chicken flavor dominates while the seafood adds most of the support. Most other places that blend a variety of soup stocks has a complex personality with the different flavors competing against eachother. AFURI's soup ingredients come together quite harmoniously.

The Noodles - are thin straight noodles cooked quite firm. Suprisingly a good match with the sophisticated soup.

The Toppings - you got to try the roasted pork here! The thick piece of the roasted pork is very tender and broiled slightly before being served, one of the best of any ramen I've had. The boiled vegetables and menma bamboo are a perfect match with the soup as well.

Overall - this is one of the best ramen in Tokyo. AFURI has really brought shio ramen (salt ramen) to a whole new level. If you are near Ebisu station in Tokyo it might well be worth a trip here. Come here with an empty stomach and maybe you can visit Miharu as well, two of the best new ramen places in Tokyo.

http://www.walkerplus.com/tokyo/gourmet/contents/tky_ra004.html

★★★ 中華蕎麦ぷかぷか (Puka-puka) - Tokyo

2006-05-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Puka-Puka is another ramen store produced by the famous Watanabe-san, who is also responsible for other famous ramen stores such as Watanabe and Zou-Roku. On this day I tried the ラーメン(塩) or (salt ramen).

The Soup - is a rich chicken soup that also has hints of Japanese dried bonito. The soup is has a few drops of garlic flavored oil but overall a relatively light soup, maybe a little too light... I've seen a lot of places that blend heavy tonkotsu soup with fish stock, but Puka-puka's choice of chicken stock instead of tonkotsu is quite refreshing.

The Noodles - are medium thickness straight noodles, cooked to regular firmness. Delicious but nothing spectacular.

The Toppings - are cha-shu pork, menma bamboo, and dried seaweed. The cha-shu was very tender, very flavorful, adds a nice punch to this otherwise relatively reserved ramen. The menma was crunchy and good too.

Overall - A great ramen, but I recommend you get the チャーシュー麺（醤油）or (shoyu cha-shu ramen). The shoyu or soy sauce flavored ramen was a better match to this ramen than the salt flavored which I ordered. Plus the lighter soup might be healthier than other ramen places, but I found myself craving more which the extra slices of cha-shu pork might fix. Puka-puka is located near 中目黒 (naka meguro) station.

http://www.geocities.jp/urach92/pukapuka.htm

Ramen Basics - The Noodles

2006-05-22T06:30:00.000-07:00

The noodles commonly used in Japanese ramen are made with wheat noodles and eggs. They can be round and come in a variety of thicknesses or occasionally can be flat as well. I will talk aobut ramen noodles by breaking down the topic into three areas: the ramen noodles' ingredients, thickness and texture.

The Ingredients - are flour, eggs, and water. But from these three ingredients are numerous possible combinations to create just the right ramen noodles. The flour that is most commonly used are a high gluten bread flour milled from hard wheat, which contains a higher percentage of protein. High gluten flour is more elastic than regular wheat flour, giving the noodles a chewier texture. The eggs are added to hold together the flour together, with the egg white's protein adding more springiness to the noodles while the egg yolk gives it a natural yellowish color. The water can sometimes be alkaline water with sodium carbonate or potassium carbonate. The Alkaline water adds elasticity and flavor to the ramen noodles, though some places prefer to only rely on the eggs to provide the texture and flavor.

The Thickness - the noodles are all long and thin, but how "thin" is what's important here. A thick noodle is anything wider than 1.8mm, while a thin noodle is aroun 1.15mm wide. Hakata style tonkotsu ramen are famous for using thin noodles at around 1.1mm thickness. Some Japanese noodles are slightly curly, where the noodles are pressed slightly perpendicular to the length of the noodles. This adds more texture to the noodles, it also makes the noodle intertwine with the soup more when eaten with chopsticks.

The Texture - is a result of the ingredients, the kneading of the dough, and the length of boiling them.. Some ramen noodles use less water, which results in a dough that is harder to knead, the noodles also absorbs the soup faster and can be overcooked more easily. Some ramen noodles uses more water and have more springiness to them. The length of time for boiling the noodles can also come in different extremes. Some ramen places are famous for boiling their ramen for no more than a few second, resulting in a ramen that is very hard and chewy.

There really isn't one type of ramen noodle that is the best, each ramen has its own taste, shape and texture that matches best with the soup.

★★★★ 五行 (Go-gyou) - Tokyo

2006-05-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

Go-gyou is from Hakata city located in the southern island of Kyushu. Hakata ramen is famous for its tonkotsu soup, but Go-gyou takes tonkotsu and gives it a unique flair. Their signature dish is the 焦がし味噌ラーメン (burnt miso ramen).

The Soup - as you can see from the picture, is black. That is until you run your spoon through the soup and reveal a creamy miso broth underneath the thin layer of burnt black oil. The soup starts out as a rich tonkotsu soup, then the burnt miso, which I am told is fired at just the right temperature in a Chinese wok, is added to the soup. The burnt miso adds flavor and aroma to the soup that is totally addicting.

The Noodles - are medium thick straight noodles. Cooked slightly on the firmer side and chewy.

The Toppings - are cha-shu pork, mizuna (a Japanese spinach like vegetable), naruto fish cake, and a boiled egg. None of the toppings have a lot of flavor, but instead absorbes the flavor of the soup really well. The cha-shu was on the drier side but after sitting in the soup a while was quite delcious.

Overall - I highly recommend this out of the ordinary ramen. The soup is the star of this ramen while the noodles and toppings complement it perfectly. The soup is served very, very hot, expect burnt tongues after your meal here. Go-gyou is located in Roppongi but requires quite a walk from the subway station, expect long lines during lunch and dinner hours.

http://chikaranomoto.com/gogyo/ng.html

★★ 風来居 (Fuuraikyo) - Tokyo

2006-05-17T04:19:00.000-07:00

Fuuraikyo was started by a ramen chef who spent many years training at the big ramen chain store Santouka. Fuuraikyo does have a lot in common with Santouka, an Asahikawa style ramen where the soup is a blend of tonkotsu and seafood stock. On my first visit to Fuuraikyo I tried their みそらーめん (miso ramen).

The Soup - is a blend of tonkotsu, chicken and seafood stock. The tonkotsu flavor seems a little lighter than Santouka's, probably a result of the stronger presence of the chicken stock. The soup is topped off with a layer of flavored oil that seals in the heat of the soup, be careful not to burn your self when eating this ramen.

The Noodles - are medium thin curly noodles that are delivered by air from Hokkaido every day. I noticed that ramen were still in their individual plastic packs before being cooked, but I didn't notice any drop in the flavor or freshness of the noodles. The texture of the noodles were on the firmer side.

The Toppings - are slices of roasted pork , some menma bamboo, and large pieces of kikurage mushrooms (the dark purple-ish things in the ramen). The roast pork could be a little more tender, but the flavor was okay. I do wish that they sliced the kikurage mushrooms since as is the texture doesn't match well with the ramen.

Overall - I recommend you try the しょうゆらーめん (shoyu ramen, soy sauce flavored). The soup is already a complex mix of flavors, the miso is one too many. Try the shoyu (soy sauce) ramen or shio (salt) ramen instead. While this place is delicious in its own right, I feel that Asahikawa style ramen doesn't pack as much punch as Kyushu style ramen which is made of the same soup base. But that is my personal bias, please try and judge for yourself. Fuuraikyo has stores in Shinuku, Shibuya and Omiya.

http://www.fuuraikyo.com/Shop.html

★ 味噌丸 (Miso-maru) - Tokyo

2006-05-17T02:42:00.000-07:00

Miso-maru is a ramen store located near Ebisu station in Tokyo that focuses only on miso flavored ramen. I ordered their 味噌玉子ラーメン (miso egg ramen).

The Soup - is surprising light and slightly sweet. The flavor of the soup is a blend of white miso with a strong accent of ground sesame. However the soup did feel a bit too light, I really wasn't able to figure out what the soup stock was.

The Noodles - are flat curly noodles cooked medium firm. The noodles are very springy and chewy, but the texture might be a bit too strong for the lightly flavored soup.

The Toppings - are a healthy mix of corn, spinach, and stir fried bean sprouts and onions. The boiled egg was pretty salty and boring. There were a lot of additional spices available on the table though, fresh ground sesame, spicy bean sprouts, raw ground garlic, and shichimi Japanese hot spices. The raw garlic did not go well with the ramen at all.

Overall - a hit and miss ramen that still needs some work. The overall balance of the soup and ramen wasn't there, the toppings needed more refinement. I must say that this ramen seemed very healthy though, not oily at all and not too salty, plus all the vegetables as well. While harder to get to, Miso-ichi seems like the better option if you want to get some good miso ramen in the Tokyo area.

http://www.geocities.jp/urach92/misomaru.htm

★★★★ らーめん瞠 (Miharu) - Tokyo

2006-05-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

Miharu is another ramen store that falls into the tonkotsu/seafood double soup category, it's becoming apparent to me that this is the trendy flavored ramen in Tokyo at the moment. I tried the 味玉らーめん (aji-tama ramen) or flavored boiled egg ramen.

The Soup - is a tonkotsu/seafood blend double soup, with what seems like a strong dried bonito flavor that dominates over the tonkotsu soup. The soup is quite salty but the flavor and aroma of bonito makes the soup easy to eat Slightly on the heavy side with a layer of oil on the soup.

The Noodles - are medium thickness straight noodles cooked very firm. The noodles are very delicious but could be a little softer.

The Toppings - are average. The cha-shu was forgetable, the menma bamboo was very large, almost bigger than the cha-shu, but crunchy and delicious. The boiled egg was strongly flavored and delicious as well.

Overall - worth the trip to Ebisu station, I highly recommend this ramen for people of all levels of ramen experience. About a 3 minute walk from the station it is hidden among the buidlings to the east of Ebisu station so you might need some effort to locate this place. There is also another Miharu located in Ikebukuro.

http://tokyo.gourmet.livedoor.com/restaurant/info/4935.html
http://tokyo.gourmet.livedoor.com/restaurant/info/303536.html

★★★★ 麺場七人の侍 (Seven Samurai) - Tokyo

2006-05-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

Seven Samurai is a ramen shop that can be accessed with a 10 minute walk from Ikebukuro station. A fancy little store that has interior decor that resembles a high class bar rather than a ramen shop. On this trip I tried their 特中華そば (Chuka-soba special).

The Soup - is a double soup made from pork/chicken stock and dried bonito soup, with the aroma and flavor of the bonito dominating this ramen. The soup is very delicious without being too salty or oily, something you rarely see with recent ramen.

The Noodles - are medium thick straight noodles cooked regular firm. The texture of the noodles are just right with the flavor matching the Japanese style soup very well.

The Toppings - 3 slices of very, very thick cha-shu pork that is sliced and steamed right when you order, they are served very hot and tender without a lot of fat but still just melts in your mouth. The menma bamboo is lightly seasoned but crunchy and delicious. The boiled egg has little extra flavoring and wasn't anything special.

Overall - I absolutely loved this place! But it is very well hidden and quite far away from Ikebukuro station. If it wasn't for the strong aroma of the soup that you can smell when near the store I probably would've walked right by it. Make the trek to the store if you have a lot of spare time, otherwise I would recommend you visit 麺屋武蔵二天 (Musashi Niten) and 瞠 (Miharu) instead which are both closer to their respective train station.

http://www.ramendb.com/shop.php?sid=212

★★★ 麺屋武蔵二天 (Musashi Niten) - Tokyo

2006-05-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

Musashi Niten is a spinoff of the popular original Musashi store based in Shinjuku, Niten also has the signature Japanese style seafood based soup and delicious thick noodles like Musashi, but tries something new with its toppings. Today I tried Niten's signature dish, 玉豚天らー麺 (tama-buta-ten ramen).

The Soup - is a rich Japanese style broth probably made from mainly dried mackerel, this soup is also slightly richer than Musashi which makes me think that quite a bit of chicken and pork broth is blended together with the seafood broth. The soup is then flavored with a soysauce based sauce with a thin layer of oil on the ramen.

The Noodles - are thick curly noodles that are cooked medium firm and really chewy and delicious. The original Musashi had very memorable noodles and Niten is the same as well. The thicker soup and oil wraps around the noodles really well, every bite of noodles are filled with all the flavors of the soup.

The Toppings - are simple, menma bamboo, nego green onions, and the buta-ten which is like a thin tonkatsu (deep fried pork-chop). The buta-ten is quite unique since it is wrapped in a thin layer of seaweed batter, giving the tonkatsu more of a Japanese flair. The rest of the toppings are simple but match the ramen perfectly.

Overall - one of the best ramen I have had. I liked the original store Musashi, but Niten is worth it even if there's a long wait. The buta-ten ramen is essentially a Japanese style 排骨麺 (pai-ko men), quite a few other ramen stores have pai-ko noodles, Niten is the first that I've tried that actually got it right. The soup is wonderful by itself, the noodles match it perfectly, and the toppings just like the rest of the ramen has a Japanese flair that just wraps everything together nicely. Niten is located to the south of Ikebukuro station, requiring a short walk but worth the effort.

http://ramen.gnavi.co.jp/shop/jp/g838300n.htm

★★ ばんからら～めん (Bankara ramen) - Tokyo

2006-05-15T03:58:00.000-07:00

Bankara ramen is ramen chain store that recently expanded into the kabuki-cho area near Shinjuku station in Tokyo. I tried their 角煮ばんからら～めん(Kaku-ni Bankara ramen).

The soup - was a rich tonkotsu based shou flavored soup. This soup further pushes the extreme of how oily a ramen can get. The rich broth is covered with a layer of oily to begin with, then there's bits and pieces of se-abura pork fat added on top. I strongly recommend you request them to go easy on the oil and fat. The soup goes very well with raw garlic and the pickled ginger though, they are available on each table and you can add as much as you want.

The Noodles - are medium thick, slightly curly noodles, cooked very firm. The noodles are very chewy and delicious.

The Toppings - are the standard cha-shu pork, menma bamboo, negi green onions, dried seaweed... and a huge piece of kaku-ni slow cooked pork. All the toppings are very good and matches very well with the ramen. The kaku-ni slow cooked pork could be a little more tender, but the bigger complaint I have is the amount of fat on the pork. Isn't there enough fat in thie ramen already?

Overall - I love heavy oily tonkotsu ramen and I don't mind the fat. If you are new to ramen then be forwarned at how heavy this ramen can be. If you do come here then I recommend you get the regular ramen and not the kaku-ni bankara ramen. I also suggest you order the ramen with little fat 脂控えめ (abura hikae-me).

http://www.toshimaku-town.com/do/001/016/

★ 味千ラーメン (Ajisen) - Tokyo

2006-05-15T02:34:00.000-07:00

Ajisen ramen is a tonkotsu style ramen from Kumamoto city located in Kyushu Japan. I went to their Shinjuku store in the Kabuki-cho area during my last trip and tried their standard 味千ラーメン (ajisen ramen).

The Soup - was a mild flavored Kyushu style tonkotsu soup that is covered with a thin layer of brown oil which they call ajisen oil. The brown oil is infused with deep fried scallots, a spice often used in Taiwanese cuisine. The deep fried scallots have a strong aroma that hides the tonkotsu smell, which might dissapoint some fans of tonkotsu ramen.

The Noodles - are regular thickness straight noodles cooked slightly firm.

The Toppings - are a couple slices of thin cha-shu pork, a lot of sliced kikurage mushrooms, boiled egg and sliced green onions. Instead of the standard crushed raw garlic for toppings ajisen has a special deep fried garlic powder on every table, the powder is not as potent as raw garlic and I feel doesn't pack the same punch. They claim the powder gives you the garlic flavor without the bad breath.

Overall - I am not a fan of the ajisen brown oil that they put in the soup, it just doesn't compliment the tonkotsu soup in my opinion. If you are in Japan I don't recommend Ajisen ramen, there are simply too many other options for better Kumamoto style tonkotsu ramen. If you are in LA and NY then give Ajisen a try and let me know how it tastes.

http://www.aji1000.co.jp/index.php

★★★ 味噌一 (Miso-ichi) - Tokyo

2006-05-13T03:50:00.000-07:00

Miso-ichi is a ramen chain in the Tokyo area that focuses on miso flavored ramen only. Miso ramen has its roots in Sapporo city in the northern part of Japan, with corn and sometimes a slice of butter being the unique toppings only for miso ramen. This day I ordered the standard 味噌一らーめん (Miso-ichi ramen).

The Soup - is a thick blend of miso, ground sesame and many spices. When ordering the soup you can specify how spicy you want it, the default is non spicy, ピリ辛 (piri-kara, is hot), 火吹 (hi-fuki, is very hot), and 爆発 (bakuhatsu, is "get your photo posted on the wall" hot). Don't order anything hotter than piri-kara if you like to taste your ramen.

The Noodles - are slightly flat, straight noodles. The noodles are cooked quite firm. There also seems to be more weight to these noodles as well, making them a little chewier.

The Toppings - are stir-fried bean sprouts, cha-su pork, some corn, and wakame seaweed. You can order extra toppings as well, of which I recommend the negi green onions that goes really well with the miso soup.

Overall - I highly recommend this place. I simply don't know of that many ramen places that only serve miso ramen, therefore I don't have much experience with this type of ramen. All I know is that this place was delicious, a flavor that stands out among the saturation of tonkotsu flavored ramen in the Tokyo area.

http://www.misoichi.com/tenpo.html

★★★ Peking Chinese Restaurant - Bellevue

2006-05-13T03:24:00.000-07:00

Peking is a Chinese restaurant whos owners are Korean of Chinese decent, so hidden in the menu are quite a few authentic Korean dishes. I came here because of the Korean ramen that my Japanese friends in the area recommended. On this day I tried a delicious spicy ramen called 三鮮炒馬麵 (seafood spicy noodle soup).

The Soup - is a spciy, rich seafood broth. It is quite hot, probably probably 3-4 out of 5 stars hot from the Thai restaurant standard. The soup is seasoned with a fine chili powder that gives it the steady heated spiciness.

The Noodles - they claim are hand made, but seem a little to soft for me to believe so. But still, the noodles are on par with the noodles in the area. If the noodles were firmer and curly noodles instead of straight it would match the soup a little better, but that is just my Japanese ramen bias.

The Toppings - are a variety of noodles and some seafood (shrimp, squid and scallops). Everything is once stir-fried before being served on top of the noodle soup. I would prefer if the vegetables were cut a little thinner, the big chunks of onion and green peppers didn't match the overall texture of the noodles. More seafood would've also been nice.

Overall - a decent ramen, though I would prefer other places in the Seattle area when eating 三鮮炒馬麵. Is Peking restaurant's Korean style noodles authentic? I have no way of finding knowing. I will need to bring my Korean friends along to find out.

14150 NE 20TH St. Bellevue, WA 98007

★★ 羊城麵家 (Canton Wonton House) - Seattle

2006-05-09T05:04:00.000-07:00

Canton Wonton House is my first review of Hong Kong/Canton style ramen. I've tried a bunch of different ramen from China, Taiwan, and SE Asia, all of them are quite different from the ramen in Japan. But Hong Kong style noodle soup is very similar to Japanese ramen that it leads me to think that this might be the original ramen that was brought into Japan 100 years ago. Located in the International District in Seattle. I ordered the first item on the menu, 鮮蝦雲吞麵 (wonton noodle soup).

The Soup - in Japanese ramen standards this soup seems unfinished. A simple clear chicken/pork based broth seasoned with salt and soy sauce, that's it. No special sauce, no drops of flavored oil, and no bits of pork fat rained on top... The soup was simple yet enjoyable.

The Noodles - are in appearance very similar to the ramen noodles in Japan. Thin and slightly curly, yellow egg noodles just like Japan... that is until you take a bite of it. These noodles are tough, hard, and not very easy to swallow; Japanese ramen can be judged by its 喉越し (nodo-goshi) or "the texture of the food as it passes through the throat". Some Japanese ramen noodles are slippery and silky, making it easily possible to swallow even without chewing. Don't try that with these Canton noodles though; There was also a trace of shrimp flavor in the noodles itself.

The Toppings - run the gammit from wontons, cha-shu pork, sui-kau (gyoza dumplings), bok choy cabbage, and more. There are over 40 different ramen you can order, the major difference is the topping you order. The shrimp wontons were very good.

Overall - if you are a fan of Japanese ramen then Hong Kong style noodle soup might seem a bit bland for you. I enjoy it because it is simple and cheap (this dish was only $3.25). The texture of the noodles I didn't enjoy, but I'm sure this is just from an initial ramen culture gap. I will try some more Canton style ramen places and see if I can develop a new appreciation for this type of noodles.

608 S Weller St Seattle, WA 98104

★★★ 桂花 (Keika) - Tokyo

2006-05-08T00:08:00.000-07:00

Keika is a ramen chain from Kamakura that first debuted in Tokyo back in 1968. For almost 40 years Keika has been serving the same style of Tonkotsu ramen to busy commuters going through Tokyo and Shinjuku station. Today with many newer styles of tonkotsu such as Ichi-ran and Ippudou dominating the ramen scene Keika hasn't been getting much attention as of late. But there are many ramen fans who had their first tonkotsu ramen at Keika back in the old days, including me. I went back to Keika again recently and tried their most popular ramen 太肉麺 (ta-ro-men), ta-ro meaning tender cooked pork.

The Soup - is a less refined tonkotsu that has a bit of the signature tonkotsu smell. The white soup is topped off with a few drops of マー油 (ma-yu) or a special sesame oil. There is quite a strong accent with the soup here and might turn some people away.

The Noodles - are very firm, what I expect from a kyushu area ramen, but the noodles here are medium thickness which goes against the other tonkotsu ramen.

The Toppings - the ta-ro pork were very tender, the konbu seaweed and raw cabbage were very crunchy. The raw cabbage and ramen is still an odd combination for me, there's just a little too much variety in textures for me.

Overall - go to Higomonzu if you are new to tonkotsu or Kumamoto style ramen. Try this place out if you want to adventure a little with your ramen experience. On the wall in the ramen store is an old, hand written sign that says: "please visit us at least three times", claiming the flavor is something that will grow on you. It worked for me.

http://keika-raumen.co.jp/map/kanarea.html

★★★ 野方ホープ軒 (Nogata Hope-ken) - Tokyo

2006-05-07T15:20:00.000-07:00

Nogata Hope is a popular ramen store in Tokyo that serves a tonkotsu based shoyu soup ramen that many have termed it "背脂チャッチャ" which literally means "pork fat cha-cha". This style of ramen was started in Tokyo about 20 years ago. "Cha-cha" is not a dance, here it's describing the motion of straining a piece of pork fat through a strainer and raining the little bits of fat over a bowl of ramen. Needless to say, the ramen I had on this day easily falls on the extreme end of oily. I ordered the 全部入りラーメン (zenbu-iri ramen) or "ramen with everything in it".

The Soup - is a rich tonkotsu based, shoyu flavored soup. From the picture you might notice the little bits of white colored pork fat floating on the soup. You can actually request the amount of "cha-cha" or fat on the soup, it ranges from 脂抜き (abura-nuki, no-fat), あっさり (assari, light), 普通 (futsuu, regular), こってり (kotteri, heavy), こてこて (kote-kote, very heavy). I ordered the heavy kotteri and kind of regretted it. The flavor of the broth is very rich and delicious, I bet the soup is actually quite refined if it didn't have the thick layer of fat floating on top.

The Noodles - are medium-thick curly noodles, cooked slightly firm. These noodles are a joy to eat, springy and chewy. These egg noodles are quite flavorful and matches well with the soup.

The Toppings - are many chunks of slow cooked tender pork that just melts in your mouth. Lots of green onions, menma bamboo and dried seaweed. They have raw garlic on the counter so you can add as much as you want, it went really well with the tonkotsu based soup.

Overall - I have never felt so guilty after eating an oily ramen like this, I recommend you try the soup "assari" with little fat on it. This ramen place isn't just a grease fest though, the soup had such a strong, rich flavor to it that even the oiliness couldn't hide it completely. I had to order the ramen with lots of "cha-cha" on it since "pork fat cha-cha" ramen is quite a major style in Tokyo, I did it for "acedemic" reasons.

http://www.nogata-hope.com/index/index.html

★★★★ 地雷源 (Jiraigen) - Tokyo

2006-05-07T03:58:00.000-07:00

Jiraigen is one of the best ramen shops in Tokyo, I would easily recommend it to anyone if it was only more easily accessible. Jiraigen is a tiny store with only about a dozen counter seating, with posters of great American soul musicians all over its walls the decor feels more like a bar than a ramen shop. On this day I ordered the 我流旨味ソバ (ga-ryu umami soba), or directly translated "my style delicious noodles".

The Soup - is a beautiful, transparent shoyu soup, not too salty, with only a little bit of oil floating on top. But on the flavor side it packs quite a punch. The soup is a blend of tonkotsu pork bone, chicken and seafood stock. The mellow flavor of the shoyu is balanced with a hint of sweetness from 味りん a type of Japanese sweet vinegar. The soup is delicious and suprisingly light, using less oil than most other places.

The Noodles - are wonderful as well. Very thin straight noodles are cooked slightly firm. The soup and the noodles are very well matched. You can specify the thickness of the noodles as well, chose between 中細麺 (chu-boso medium thin) and 極細麺 (goku-boso extra thin). I chose the extra-thin noodles on this day.

The Toppings - are simple, a slice of cha-shu pork, some menma bamboo, green onions and nori dried seaweed. The cha-shu is roasted slightly before being served and is very tender, the flavor light and subtle. The menma bamboo was memorable, big slices very crunchy and just the right flavor that matches the ramen.

Overall - Jiraigen stands out as a sophisticated ramen that wins you over with its flavor that is refined and well balanced. Everything from the soup, noodles and toppings compliment eachother well. I higly recommend this place if you are new to ramen and if you know your way around Tokyo, unfortunately this place is hard to access. By train the best way is to hop on the Keio line and get off at 代田橋 Daitabashi station, takes about 7 min on foot.

http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/0006711120/M0013016495/

★★ Maple Garden - Bellevue

2006-05-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

Maple Garden is a Chinese restaurant in Bellevue that serves a few varieties of Chinese style ramen. Our favorite dish here is an interesting noodle soup called 大滷麵 (da-lu mian). Da-lu noodles are originally from Sandong province in the north-eastern part of China. What's unique about da-lu noodles is its soup that has been thickened by starch to keep the heat in the noodles, something that comes in handy during the cold winter months in Sandong province.

The Soup - starts out as 清湯 (flavorful clear chicken/pork broth), then they put in a variety of vegetables, seafood, chicken, pork or beef, give it a quick cook, flavor it with soy sauce, and then add a scrambled egg and some corn starch to thicken up the soup.

The Noodles - are medium thickness straight egg noodles, cooked more on the soft side.

The Toppings - there's a little bit of everything. You'll never find a Japanese ramen with brocolli, cauli flower or peas in a pod, but da-lu noodles has it. Some restaurants will serve it with shrimp and scallops too. All these vegetables and seafood are less like toppings and more part of the soup since they were cooked in it right before being served.

Overall - a great departure from the standard ramen, whether Japanese or Chinese. Most ramen are meant to be enjoyed in three parts, soup, noodles, toppings. But with da-lu mian all three parts are enjoyed at the same time. The thickness of the soup pulls everything together, texture wise the soft noodles almost blends with the thick soup. Many authentic Chinese restaurants in America has da-lu mian in their Chinese menu, so search it out and give this delicious noodle soup dish a try. The only thing that might turn you away is if you don't have the chopstick skills to control the heavy noodles.

Maple Garden - 14725 NE 20th St. Bellevue, WA 98007

★★ Mamasan - Bellevue

2006-05-04T04:30:00.000-07:00

Mamasan's started as a Japanese izakaya (pub) that only had one ramen dish, but their nagasaki champon ramen became so popular that they have expanded their ramen menu. Now they serve a large variety of ramen, including shoyu and tonkotsu just to name a few. I ordered their popular dish, the Nagasaki Champon.

The Soup - is a flavorful mix of seafood stock mixed with tonkotsu soup (pork bone)... at least traditionally that is how champon soup is made. Mamasan's champon seems to favor the seafood flavor some more.

The Noodles - are medium thickness, slightly curly noodles, most likely pre-packaged noodles. The noodles simply didn't have the firmness and texture of Japanese ramen, it was soft and didn't come close to matching the strong flavored soup.

The Toppings - are a variety of seafood and vegetables that was stir fried, slightly seared and then cooked slightly in the broth.

Overall - The soup and toppings were great, though the noodles at Mamasan always seem to be a hit and miss. Sometimes the noodles will come out okay, sometimes it ends up being too soft. Fortunately their champon soup is always good. I will probably try their shoyu and tonkotsu ramen next time, but these are soups that require a lot of time to cook and I don't think they can afford to hand cook all these different types of soup stock from scratch. But if you live in the Seattle area, Mamasan is probably as close as you can get to sample a large variety Japanese ramen.

Mamasan - 131 106th Ave. NE Bellevue, WA 98004

★★★ なんでんかんでん (Nanden-Kanden) - Tokyo

2006-05-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

Nanden-Kanden is another tonkotsu style ramen chain from Hakata area of Kyushu. There are over 4-5 major tonkotsu ramen chains that are big in Tokyo, but Nanden-Kanden easily sets itself apart from the others by being bold and just all around fun. The store has the atmosphere of an old school food stand, very minimum decor, simple folder tables and stools. I went on a Saturday night and the place was bustling with long lines of people waiting outside and ramen chefs busy cooking and serving the bowls of noodles. The air is filled with the smell of tonkotsu while we waited in line to make our order. We eventually got seated and had to share a small table with another group of people (just like at the food stands). I ordered just the regular ラーメンramen on this day. though I regreted it and wished I ordered the ねぎバカラーメン (green onion baka ramen)

The Soup - was very rich, oily and salty, but surprisingly not filled with the overwhelming tonkotsu smell that filled the store. Whatever smell that was left in the soup was easily nuetralized by the tons of toppings that you can put into the soup, from beni-shoga (sweet pickled ginger), takana (pickled vegetables), and raw garlic. You can order your soup to come in different levels of oiliness from, 脂抜き(abura-nuki, no oil), 脂少なめ(abura-sukuname, little oil), こってり(kotteri, oily), and すごくこってり(sugoku-kotteri, very oily). I ordered the default which is kotteri.

The Noodles - were the standard thin straight noodles often used in tonkotsu ramen. You can order the noodles at different firmness from やわめん(yawa-men, soft), 普通めん(futsuu-men, regular), はりがね(harigane, firm), and 粉落とし(kona-otoshi, very firm). I ordered the kona-otoshi, which literally means "washing the flour off the noodles", where they only boil the noodles for a few seconds. The default is the futsuu-men but I ordered the kona-otoshi or very firm.

The Toppings - are very different this is where Nanden-Kanden has a lot of fun with its ramen. I ordered the boring simple ramen that comes with green onions, nori dried seaweed, sesame and some deep fried onions. Check out the toppings for the other types ramen from left to right: のりバカラーメン (nori-baka ramen, all dried seaweed) ねぎバカラーメン (negi-baka ramen, all green onions), and 玉子バカラーメン (tamago-baka ramen, all boiled eggs).

You can also add as pickled sweet ginger, takana, sesame, and garlic as you want.

Overall - Nanden-Kenden is one my favorite tonkotsu ramen place. The ramen itself might be heavy for a lot of people, but the flavor is delicious, and I love how the presentation is over the top. There were only two Nanden-Kanden stores in Tokyo, both outside the central Yamanote area, they recently opened a store in Shinjuku, but I've never checked the place out. If you are new to the tonkotsu ramen then I recommend you try ichi-ran or Ippudou first before giving Nanden-Kanden a try.

http://nandenkanden.com/tenpo.htm

★★★ Sandie's Gourmet - Seattle

2006-05-02T05:35:00.000-07:00

Sandie's Gourmet is a hole in the wall type of small restaurant that serves a variety of traditional Taiwanese food. I came here after being referred here because of its great Taiwanese ramen. The owner of Sandie's had a sucessful ramen shop back in Taiwan, she recommended the 川味牛肉麺 (Szechuan style beef noodle soup) so I gave it a try.

The Soup - is a lively combination of rich beef broth, Chinese spices, a slight tanginess, and the steady burn of red chile peppers. I am guessing that they use quite a bit of different vegetables in their stock (tomoatoes, celery, & ginger) that adds more of a sweet and tangy hint to the soup. The spiciness is noticeable right away but doesn't escalate too much. Everything is well balanced and delicious.

The Noodles - are medium thickness straight noodles. Slightly on the softer side but firmer than some other Chinese style noodles.

The Toppings - are many slices of stewed beef and a lot of coriander. The stewed beef is tender with quite a bit of tendon on them giving them a slightly crunchy texture. The slices of beef are wonderful, embodying all the flavors of the soup. Ask for the coriander on the side if you are new to this ramen though.

Overall - one of the best beef noodle soups I have had outside of Taiwan. The type of flavor that helped the owner of Sandie's sell an average of 250 bowls of this ramen a day back in Taiwan. Until I find something better, I will return here anytime I want some really good beef noodle soup.

http://maps.citysearch.com/location/36055138

濃厚魚介 - Rich Seafood Ramen

2006-05-01T13:40:00.001-07:00

濃厚魚介 (rich seafood style) is a new wave of ramen that gained popularity in Tokyo around the year 2002. 濃厚 means thick/rich, in this case it means that richness of broth taken from pork or poultry based soup stock. 魚介 means fish or shell fish, which in this case mostly represents the Japanese style soup made from dried fish such as bonito or mackerel. The two different soups are cooked separately and blended together before being served. Some Japanese ramen circles call this the W スープ or double soup based ramen.

The balance between blending the richer tonkotsu/chicken soup with the lighter seafood based soup varies significantly from store to store. Most places will favor the richer tonkotsu soup to provide the body, and then blend the lighter seafood based stock to add extra aroma to the soup. Some places will blend a lighter chicken based broth with the seafood soup, but those places are more rare.

★★★★ 青葉 (Aoba) - Tokyo

★★★★ はやし (Hayashi) - Tokyo

★★ 渡なべ (Watanabe) - Tokyo

★★★ 櫻坂 (Sakura-zaka) - Tokyo

★★★ 俺の空 (Ore no Sora) - Tokyo

★★★ 麺屋蔵六（Zou-roku) - Tokyo

★★★★ 地雷源 (Jiraigen) - Tokyo

★★★★ 麺場七人の侍 (Seven Samurai) - Tokyo

★★★★ らーめん瞠 (Miharu) - Tokyo

★★★ 中華蕎麦ぷかぷか (Puka-puka) - Tokyo

背脂チャッチャ - Pork Fat cha-cha Ramen

2006-05-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

背脂チャッチャ (pork fat cha-cha) is an extremely heavy ramen that has been around Tokyo for the last 30 years or so. 背脂 refers to the thick layer of cooked pork fat which they run through a strainer and rain down the little pieces of fat into the bowl of ramen. The チャッチャ "cha-cha" is supposedly describing the movement/sound of straining the pork fat.

This rich oily soup is usually a great match with raw minced garlic or 紅生姜 (pickled sweet ginger), most of these stores will have these extra toppings available on the table.

While many "pork fat cha-cha" style ramen stores use a pretty rich soup to begin with, there are some rare stores that start out with a lighter soup.

★★ ばんからら～めん (Bankara ramen) - Tokyo

★★★ 野方ホープ軒 (Nogata Hope-ken) - Tokyo

★★ ラーメン二郎 (Ramen Jiro) - Tokyo

★★ らーめん香月 (Kazuki) - Tokyo

旭川ラーメン Asahikawa Ramen

2006-05-01T13:39:00.002-07:00

The city of Asahikawa lies in the center of Hokkaido island in the northern part of Japan. Asahikawa style ramen is basically a blend of tonkotsu pork bone soup and seafood soup, often flavored with soy sauce and served with curly ramen noodles. Asahikawa style ramen has very little of the tonkotsu smell, which distinguishes itself from the Kyushu style tonkotsu ramen.

Asahikawa style ramen, like its neighboring city Sapporo, has severe cold winters. Just like Sapporo's miso ramen, the Asahikawa ramen also tries preserve the heat in the soup by covering the ramen with a layer of oil. With the tonkotsu based soup, the oil makes the ramen much heavier than most ramen from Sapporo.

★★★ 旭鳳 (Kyokuhou) - Tokyo

★★ らーめん山頭火 (Santouka) - Tokyo

★★ 風来居 (Fuuraikyo) - Tokyo

★ 旭川さいじょう (Saijo) - Tokyo

★ 蜂屋 (Hachiya) - Shin Yokohama

Beef Noodle Soup 牛肉麺

2006-05-01T13:39:00.001-07:00

Ramen noodles from Taiwan have influences from all over mainland China. After the WWII many people from Mainland China came here and brought their regional style of cooking to this island. Through the last 60+ years many ramen noodles in Taiwan have evolved into a style all its own with flavors not found back in China.

The most famous ramen of them all is the beef noodle soup, though there are many of other types of noodles that got further developed in Taiwan. Hopefully as I travel to China and Taiwan more I can find the origin of many of these ramen and find out how they have changed from region to region.

★★★★ 老王記 (LaoWangJi) - Taipei

★★★ 永康牛肉麺 (YongKang Beef Noodle Soup) - Taipei

★★★★ 老張牛肉麺店 (LaoZhang Beef Noodle Soup) - Taipei

★★★ 程班長牛肉麺 (ChengBanZhang) - Taipei

★★ Szechuan Noodle Bowl - Seattle

★★★ Sandie's Gourmet - Seattle

★★ 鼎泰豐 Din Tai Fung - Shanghai

★ Green Village - Seattle

和風醤油 Japanese Style Shoyu Ramen

2006-05-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

和風醤油 (Japanese style soysauce ramen) is unique because of its fish or sometimes shell fish based broth. Usually made from dried sardines or bonito, the fish broth has a very strong aroma and a slightly sweet taste that is similar to the soup used in Japanese soba noodles.

The Japanese style soysauce ramen was invented in Tokyo, the style quickly became popular and the formula spread to many stores. Many people credit this type of ramen for starting a new wave of ramen popularity in Tokyo.

★★★ 麺屋武蔵 (Musashi) - Tokyo

★★★★ せたが屋 (Setaga-ya) - Tokyo

★★★ 七重の味の店　めじろ (Meijiro) - Tokyo

★★ たけちゃん (Take-chan) - Tokyo

★★ 中田兄弟 (Nakata Brothers) -Tokyo

★★★ 麺屋武蔵二天 (Musashi Niten) - Tokyo

博多ラーメン Hakata Ramen

2006-04-30T06:33:00.000-07:00

Kyushu style ramen, or more specifically, Hakata style ramen, is one of the three major regional varieties of Japanese ramen (the other two are from Hokkaido and Kitakata). Ramen from the Kyushu area is dominated by the tonkotsu soup based ramen which originated from the Hakata area of Fukuoka city.

Ramen from the Hakata area in Fukuoka city are famous for its rich, white tonkotsu soup which is created from cooking pork bone at high heat for many hours. The noodles used are often thin, straight ramen noodles. Common toppings include cha-shu pork, dried seaweed, beni-shoga (pickled ginger), and takana (pickled vegetables).

★★★★ 一風堂 (Ippuudou) - Tokyo

★★★ 一蘭 (Ichi-ran) - Tokyo

★★★ なんでんかんでん (Nanden-Kanden) - Tokyo

★★★ ラーメン御天 (Goten) - Tokyo

★★★ 康竜 (Kouryu) - Tokyo

★★★ じゃんがららあめん (Jyangara Ramen) - Tokyo

★★ 博多天神 (Hakata-Tenjin) - Tokyo