Iwamotoya (岩本屋 福井本店) in Fukui City, Fukui

Iwamotoya, a large Reinan chain of ramen shops, offers various limited monthly specials.

This time, I stopped by their Main Store to have their Hotate Soba (Scallop) for 980¥? ($9 USD). As always, regular, large, and extra large noodle portions are all the same price! Before I ordered the Hotate Soba, I asked the friendly shop guy what soup base it was… Salt? Soy sauce?  He was puzzled by my question because he said, “Hotate base.” Well, this I had to try! As with their other ramen, you can customize it a bit to your likingI asked for the strongest soup strength, heaviest oil, and softness noodle... 

And it did not disappoint. The broth had a nice, deep, and rich scallop and seafood flavor. It was creamy, rich, and savory… somewhat reminding me of a Seafood Cup Noodle, but in a good way! The three scallops from Hokkaido on top were small, but they were decently fresh, with a nice, soft and springy texture. The slice of slightly rare chashu, too, is always a treat, though I wished for a bigger piece. For the price, the extra-large portion of noodles was definitely a good value considering it was a no-cost change.

I am glad that my friend and I could enjoy a damn good bowl of ramen, especially during midday on a Saturday, as most ramen shops are closed around 3 to 5:30pm. Iwamotoya is always worth coming back to check out.

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Shiotetsu (塩てつ) in Echizen, Fukui

Shiotetsu is a small ramen shop along a busy street in Echizen, Fukui. Coming back from Fukui City at night, I was hungry for dinner and this seemed to fit the bill. Parking was limited up front until I saw the large parking lot behind. Seats inside the restaurant are reasonably plentiful with some group seating and a few counter spaces. Their menu consists of a few variations of primarily Shio Salt and Miso Ramen with a wide variety of sides like Gyoza, Rice, Fried Chicken, and the like.

I tried their most popular ramen, a Shio Dragon Ramen with Garlic Ramen noodles for only 670￥ ($6 USD) for a regular. As a huge fan of garlic in ramen, I was deeply intrigued so I ordered the larger size at only 795￥. What arrived shortly thereafter really impressed me with the sheer value of size for the price, the smell of savory umami and garlic hitting me.

I think a lot more ramen shops should do this! The noodles were a bit firm, but had a really unbelievable amount of garlic flavor imbedded within each strand. If you love garlic, you’ll be in heaven! The salt broth was good and light, but rather greasy so it was not particularly memorable. There was only a sliver of chashu, but it was good. Perhaps next time I’ll order a larger grilled portion.

Maybe their Dragon Ramen is so named because you are going to breathe some major garlic breath after eating it! But I loved it!

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Iwamotoya (岩本屋) in Tsuruga, Fukui

Iwamotoya is a chain ramen restaurant born in Fukui Prefecture, but the closest one to me is in Tsuruga City. They have the standard varieties of Salt, Soy Sauce, and Tonkotsu ramen and they also often run limited monthly specials. For this season, they have a delicious Vegepote Miso Ramen for 980￥ ($9 USD) and the spicy version is just 1080￥. Sadly, we just missed their previous limited Clam Ramen.

One thing I love about Iwamotoya is their customization options. You can choose the noodle hardness, soup strength, amount of fat, and with or without garlic. If you order a spicy ramen, you can also select the spice level. I don’t know if it’s a recent change, but the large and special large sizes are also the same price! Given those options, I ordered the large, base-level Spicy Vegepote Miso Ramen with thicker broth, highest fat, and garlic.

Iwamotoya’s thicker noodle just soaks up the broth. And the broth was exactly what I hoped; thick, fatty, garlic-y, spicy, and full of flavor. Of course, the flavor profile was a bit plain and heavy, but the raw, chopped onions and bean sprouts helped to lighten the palate. The chashu was thin, but quite soft and delicious. Overall, a great, filling ramen for the price.

My friend clearly didn’t like the raw onions, so she piled them up on me. So the lesson is: avoid this month’s special if you hate them. But by all means, come for their other flavors.

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