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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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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Ramen Sekai (らーめん世界福井敦賀店) in Tsuruga, Fukui

Ramen Sekai (“Ramen World”) is a chain of ramen restaurants around four local prefectures: Ishikawa, Toyama, Shiga, and, of course, Fukui. I usually stop by the Tsuruga, Fukui location. This is one of those ramen places when you don’t need something fancy and something delicious will do.

And delicious it is. With a reasonably large menu, they seem to really try to cover all the basic ramen bases.

Their main specialty seems to be their Kaga Miso Ramen, made from miso from Ishikawa Prefecture. Their miso has a bit of spice and is of the red miso variety, with hints of seaweed or fish in the broth. Their noodles are thick with a simple, clean taste and texture. The chashu is one of soup highlights, with a light, salty taste. Definitely a good value for the price.

I also recently tried their seasonal Yuzu Shio Ramen, which was quite cheap at 790￥ ($7.20 USD). It has a clean, light broth which allowed the thin slices of yuzu to really shine through. While it wasn’t the most revolutionary taste, simple and satisfying is always perfect for this season.

Their fried rice is also quite good with a savory, salty taste. If you crave more than just ramen, I highly recommend it.

Overall, this is a good place to stop when you need a quick bite without much fuss. The price is right, hours are long, and locations are pretty convenient.

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Thunder Ramen (拉麺点心雷堂) in Misawa, Aomori

Ramen Tenshin Ikazuchido in Misawa, Aomori is affectionately called “Thunder Ramen” in English.

Frequented by locals and foreigners alike, they offer a reasonably wide menu of typical soups with their own variations. As it is a small restaurant, wait times are pretty long during the lunch hour. We were seated for a while before our order came out.

Their most popular menu item is definitely their BBQ (Chashu), which is grilled and charred to perfection. You can have their BBQ on any of their ramen, but I opted for their BBQ Miso Ramen at 920￥ ($8.50) which was a very reasonable portion for the price.

As my friends mentioned, it definitely had a spicy miso taste that was just perfect. The miso was strong and flavorful, offering a savory richness to the broth. The noodles were deliciously soft and chewy which made the whole ramen experience wonderfully satisfying. While I can’t say it is the most complex bowl I’ve ever enjoyed, this certainly was one of the highlights of my trip to Hokkaido.

Thanks for the meal! ごちそうさまでした!

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Hōheikyō Hot Spring (豊平峡温泉) ONSEN Restaurant (ONSEN食堂) in Sapporo, Hokkaido

The Hoheikyo Hot Springs are amazing. The huge outdoor area has plenty of space and nice, sulfur-y hot water at a perfect temperature. I just wished there was a sauna area too, but overall it was a great, relaxing experience.

However, you didn’t come to read about the onsen, did you? Half the reason I went there was because of a recommendation to check out the attached Indian restaurant! In fact, it seemed pretty popular online and at the time, with quite a few customers waiting. For a place literally in the boonies, it was surprising.

They have a huge plastic food display so I can browse the options. I chose the Chicken Masala Curry at a hot spice level for 980￥ ($9 USD) which comes with a regular naan along with a Cheese Naan for 480￥. I really struggled at that latter choice, though… it was between cheese and the local ? berry. At that moment, cheese won over.

Now, I’m pretty familiar with Indian / Nepalese Curry Restaurants in Japan, as I have two within a few minutes from my house and I have visited some dozen or so around the country. I’m not an expert nor am I very knowledgeable, but I think I can say I safely know how it should taste.

That being said, I was pretty disappointed with this place. The curry lacked the depth and spicy flavors of true Indian curry, as it felt it was heavily adjusted for “Japanese” tastes, moreso than other similar shops. I liked the chicken though, oddly enough, the predominate note reminded me of tomato-sauce. I was even imagining it was made from pre-made curry packages with some tomato soup mixed in… not at all Indian.

To add insult to injury, the pricey cheese naan had little cheese and no hints of spices as found in most other places and the regular naan was actually… lukewarm. If the regular naan had additional free servings, it might have been acceptable.

Perhaps it’s unfair for me to say, but I cannot recommend this place due to many of the other better shops like Spice Town in Tsuruga. (Not to say they are “the best,” but comparatively speaking, they are better.) ONSEN Restaurant might be considered good for Hokkaido, but not for Hokuriku.

It was also a mistake to eat after my onsen because of the lingering curry smell, but it was still worth the relaxing trip down to the outskirts of Sapporo.

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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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Myeongdong (明洞2号店) in Tsuruga, Fukui

Myeong Dong is a Korean-style restaurant in Tsuruga, Fukui. This is actually their second shop (2号店) in the city. While it seems to be a more of an izakaya-style restaurant, I came for this: ramen that comes piping hot in a stone bowl.

I ordered their popular Special Ramen for 1080￥ ($10 USD) which comes with cheese topping, kimchi, veggies, and meat, all bubbling hot, spicy, and delicious.

While it is a bit pricey for the portion size, but it is definitely more reminiscent of real Korean food taste than many other dishes I’ve had here. They even start you off with some banchan!