Menya Hassaku (麺屋はっさく) in Kaminaka, Fukui

This is Menya Hassaku, a brand new ramen shop in the Wakasa area, near my town. Their menu consists of chicken-based toripaitan ramen, such as tsukemen dipping-style. They currently have only six counter-top seats, so get in early!

Along with most of the other customers in the shop, I also opted for the Ajitama Shiro Chashu ramen, with egg and extra chashu, for 1230¥ ($11 USD). With only the friendly proprietor running the shop and taking orders, it took a bit of time, but it was nice to be able to watch his process and converse with him a bit. Luckily, it was worth the wait! The smooth, salty, slightly creamy chicken broth complemented the good portion of thin, firm noodles. It was flavorful without being overwhelming.

The soft egg and other ingredients were also quite delicious. My only minor complaint was that the chashu was a bit greasier than I expected.

You can also add an extra noodle portion for 150¥ if you’re still hungry. They also seem to have some rice bowls on the menu… I will definitely be back!

The Most Deserted Ramen Bar in the World (世界一暇なラーメン屋) in Osaka

The Most Deserted Ramen Bar in the World is a huge lie. It is most definitely not deserted by any means of the imagination, perhaps unless you define it by relative location. This restaurant in Osaka is located on the second floor of an office tower, nearby other business towers with few other ramen shops directly nearby. But with the long lines forming in front of the shop, no, it is certainly not deserted.

I was glad to get there before the shop opened because the line only got longer and longer afterwards. The shop has six different ramen options, but I chose the Kanko Dori for 900¥ ($8.20 USD) because it was the most unique item on the menu… “No soup citrus soy sauce,” it claims. And you can choose regular or large sizes for the same price. Sounds good to me!

For lunch time, you can also add a few things for a few hundred yen more. I added the Chashu Bowl for 200¥, given I was super hungry at the time having skipped breakfast.

This is definitely a more fashionable restaurant with an upscale modern decor and fancy bowls to match. The tall sides made me worry that I should’ve selected the larger portion of noodles because it looked tiny at the bottom of the cavernous sides. The whole presentation was lovely… but could the taste match?

Absolutely! These house-made noodles were stunningly delicious. The soupless, yet saucy, broth really coated the noodles so thoroughly, the flavor was packed in every bite. The first hit was surprisingly spicy, but it was followed with salty, umami flavors, ending in a light citrus taste. Definitely complex, rich, and flavorful… maybe one of the best I’ve had in a few months! The juicy chicken topping was also quite well-cooked, soft, and delicious.

However, two points brought the experience down. The soft, thinly-sliced chashu looked gorgeous, but they were a bit dry to the taste. The egg was also a bit overdone, though it was still tasty nonetheless.

The Chashu Bowl was probably the best-value add-on in a ramen shop I have ever had for the price. It was extremely meaty and rich with a ton of umami flavor, and it was larger than I expected. Well worth the lunch time occasion!

The back of the menu is quite interesting…

I am definitely leaving this ramen restaurant on my list of places I will come back to. The flavors, complexity, and value really made it an outstanding experience. Highly recommended, even if they lied.

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Chuka Soba Ryo (中華そばRyo) in Sabae, Fukui

Chuka Soba Ryo is a popular ramen restaurant in Sabae, Fukui known for their chicken-based ramen. Their main options all have some chicken in the broth as opposed to the more frequent pork used in other shops.

They offer shoyu soy-sauce, salt with niboshi (baby sardines), toripaitan (creamy chicken), and spicy maze mix soba. Of the four, I was recommended the salt or creamy variants by the waitstaff, so I opted for the Nibo Salt Chicken Soba for 780￥ ($7 USD), large-sized for 130￥ more, and a side of Chicken Chashu Rice Bowl for 350￥ more.

The light clear broth was quite lovely, imparting lots of fish and chicken flavors, while having a really clean and light finish. I’ve had soups before that end up oily due to the chicken and fish used, but this was not the case here. The noodles were also quite chewy and soft, portioned well at the large size. The chicken toppings were also delicious, with a perfect texture that had a great balance of softness and firmness.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the chicken bowl. While it was deliciously light and refreshing, it was not quite worth the extra yen unless you’re really hungry. I’d recommend just going with a larger side or extra helping of noodles.

Definitely a good restaurant if you’re looking for nice, unique bowls of chicken ramen that are becoming more popular, especially in the Kansai area of Japan.

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Menya Trip (麺屋 鶏っぷ) in Echizen, Fukui

My co-worker and I have both actually visited Trip in Echizen, Fukui, a few months prior to this most recent visit, but since it was so good and we were already nearby, we decided to go there again. This time, I opted for their monthly variant, called Butappu, which is a play on their store name and main ramen, Torippu. This ramen is a pork and shoyu-based ramen with some veggies on top and a thicker noodle for 830￥ ($8 USD).

The broth was a great deal thicker and heavier than their usual chicken-based soup, but it was almost too heavy with a strong, salty taste. However, the veggies on top did lighten up the bowl a bit to offset the heavier taste. I also liked their thick and soft noodles, which were quite a nice, satisfying portion.

As a bonus, here is a picture of my last meal last year here. This is more their typical fare, with the  chicken broth and thin noodles. When I come back again, it will be for one of these bowls and their deliciously rich chicken toppings.

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Menya Nanabe (麺屋菜々兵衛) in Sapporo, Hokkaido

Menya Nanabe is a small ramen shop in the suburbs of Sapporo, serving up Michelin-rated Bib Gourmand ramen. With a recommendation like that, how could I pass it?

They had a two-page menu that was relatively simple, but their main seller is their Toripaitan Shio Chicken Ramen for 780￥ ($7 USD). I opted for a large for 50￥ more and a soft-boiled egg for 100￥.

Despite the lunch hour, I only had to wait about 30 minutes before I could get the bowl I was eagerly awaiting. The thin noodles were firm, yet had a delightfully springy texture and the large portion was well worth the extra yen and definitely filled me up. The egg, slice of chicken, and chashu were all flavorful, soft, and deliciously satisfying.

However, all was not perfect. While the broth was decently flavorful, it was a bit thin and watery compared to some famous toripaitan shops Kansai is famous for.

Still, I heartily recommend this place and I could definitely understand why it has a coveted rating from Michelin.

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Nakau (なか卯) Chain Restaurants

Nakau is a huge, nation-wide chain of "Kyoto-style" udon and rice bowls from Osaka. Given that I could find it everywhere, I never had the inclination to visit. Not to mention, their menu options of rice bowls and Kyoto-style udon didn’t sound particularly interesting.

“Kyoto-style,” or more commonly known as “Kansai-style,” differentiates itself from the Kanto (Tokyo) variant by using a lighter soy sauce and seaweed broth. “Kanto-style” uses a darker soy sauce and fish-based broth. This generally means Kansai udon is lighter and has a nice non-fishy, umami savory taste.

So when they recently offered their Granblue Fantasy collaboration, I figured it was time to try it. (To be fair, it wasn’t for me.) I sadly missed out on their Evangelion collaboration earlier this year… woe is me.

While their beef and chicken bowls are good, undoubtedly the star to me is their Kyoto-style chicken udon, which is surprisingly way more deliciously light and full of chicken flavor than I expected. Of all the (admittedly not *that* many) variants of udon I've had, this was one of the more unique ones. If I had known their chicken udon was this good, I definitely would've stopped by earlier!

Nakau is just another great example of finding good food all over Japan, even at chain restaurants.

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