Rairaitei (来来亭 敦賀店) in Tsuruga, Fukui

Previously on Instagram, I reviewed Rairaitei, a chain of ramen shops all around Japan. Having been there several times over the years, but not in a few years, I stopped by the Tsuruga, Fukui, shop with some friends. After the loads of delicious bowls of ramen I’ve consumed in the intervening years, how did it fare?

Honestly, Rairaitei still stands up as a solid ramen restaurant with cheap, but delicious bowls. This most recent time, I opted for a Kotteri (rich, heavy) Ramen for 780￥ ($7 USD) with Wonton dumpling toppings for 110￥ more. While I wasn’t blown away, it was still a great meal, offering good value at a good price.

As a bonus, here are a few photos I’ve taken over the years at some other shops around Japan.

I will definitely come again.

 

Ramen Yokozuna (ラーメン横綱 刈谷市) in Kariya, Aichi

Ramen Yokozuna is a chain of ramen shops hailing from Kyoto, now spreading primarily around the Chubu and Kansai (roughly central) areas of Japan. They are famous for having a wide variety of ramen and are always open late. I stopped by the Kariya, Aichi, location a few months ago with my friend to have a bite on the way home from picking up a car in Nagoya.

I ordered a Irodori Tonkotsu/Shoyu Ramen for 850￥ ($8 USD) and a side of Tarako Fish Egg and Mayo fried rice for 360￥. The broth was surprisingly rich and flavorful, with a nice pork taste. The noodles, chashu, and egg were also quite good, but otherwise not spectacular.

While I didn’t necessarily love the fried rice and the heavy Japanese mayonnaise topping, it was interesting enough I could order it again.

You can also add garlic, green onion, and other spices to taste. And for hungry eaters, there are also larger sizes for 100￥ more. For the value and convenience, I will definitely be stopping by one of their restaurants again!

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Mugiwaraya (麦わら屋) in Fukui City, Fukui

In my continuing quest to eat all the ramen Fukui has to offer, I stopped by Mugiwaraya, a ramen shop near Route 8 in the northeastern part of the city. Stopping on a weekday right before they opened, I was greeted by the owner and given a couple coupons; this is a great way to build customer rapport!

Their menu is extremely simple with only two main options, Shoyu Ramen or Tsukemen dipping-style Ramen. Sub-divided, there are also normal or large sizes and with or without a flavored egg. I opted for normal size ramen with egg for 900￥ ($8.30 USD) and a side of Chashu Rice for 450￥ ($4 USD) more.

The dark broth that arrived made it immediately apparent that the broth would be strong. The strong fish dashi taste was rich, very reminiscent of the tsukemen broth they also serve. The noodles were nice and slightly firm, which goes well with the flavorfully strong soup. The highlight, by far and away, was the absolutely mind-blowingly delicious chashu slice on top. It had just about the perfect amount of fattiness, softness, and with the grilled, crispy edges, the savory umami taste and texture was probably one of the best I’ve had in awhile.

Can I get more of that chashu, please? Holy wow. I might complain that with this much deliciousness, it’d be a crime not to include more.

The Chashu Rice was pricey, I admit, so I set my expectations for it a bit high. Nonetheless, since the aforementioned chashu was so good, chunks of it over some warm, fluffy rice really was a bit of heaven. It was perfectly soft, salty, and delicious.

This ramen restaurant definitely comes recommended if you love strong fish broth shoyu, amazing chashu, and darn good customer service.

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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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Bannai Shokudo (坂内食堂 本店) in Kitakata, Fukushima

Kitakata is a small city located in Fukushima, essentially renown worldwide as a city of ramen because it has the highest number of shops per capita. Granted, the capita is pretty small at 48,000, but it still says a lot about their local food, Kitakata Ramen. What sets Kiatakata-style apart from others is primarily their unique wavy, flat, thick noodles, which helps to draw in the lighter salt-based broth.

With room and time for only one ramen in my belly, I chose Bannai, one of the most famous Kitakata ramen shops with long lines even before the shop’s opening at 10am.

I waited about an hour in the summer heat to order from their simple menu, all focusing on the local specialty. I opted for their large Negi Chashu at 1200￥ ($11 USD).

The noodles were indeed the local style and were soft, wavy, and really scooped broth into my eager mouth. The medium-light broth was salty and had a bit of savory meaty taste which really distinguishes it from other simple shio soups. (It actually reminds me of some Chinese noodle soups in a way.) The chashu portion was good, each slice were super soft and thin, complementing the lighter profile broth. I could definitely see why this local establishment and town are so famous in Japan.

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Ramen Yume wo Katare (ラーメン荘 夢を語れ) in Ichijoji, Kyoto

After coming back from my trip to Osaka, I wouldn’t be a real ramen lover if I didn’t stop by and have a bowl in the famous Ichijoji area of Kyoto. As previously mentioned, there are a ton of famous ramen shops in the area and this time I decided to check out Yume wo Katare which was recommended to me by my co-worker. The restaurant has always eluded me with their crazy long lines, but this time, I stopped right as they opened and there were already a few other hungry patrons waiting. Good timing, me.

Their menu is simple, offering only two sizes of two ramen: regular or large of soup or soupless. The other buttons are for toppings or take away pork. “Take away pork? Why?” I wondered and I was answered later. For now, I selected the larger size at 900￥ ($8.25 USD) plus a flavored egg for 100￥ at the ticket machine. (The normal size is 800￥.) I wanted to see how large the rumored size was. Grab your water, your oshibori (hand towel), chopsticks, and spoon from the corner and have a seat, placing your tokens from the machine on the counter. The only question the patrons were asked shortly before being served is “Do you want garlic?” Unless you avidly avoid the flavorfully smelly ingredient, I highly, highly recommend it. And they throw a huge scoopful down, as you can see.

The ramen is actually a Jiro-style ramen, made famous from the chain of Ramen Jiro, particularly around the Tokyo area. (I’ll make a post about them later.) The style is mainly an over-the-top style, with mounds of bean sprouts, thick noodles, a heavy or greasy shoyu soup base with lots of fat, hilariously large portions, and lots of garlic, giving it a strong flavor and a portion that just doesn’t seem to disappear as you consume it.

And Yume wo Katare is no exception to that. They differ slightly, as their shoyu soup base is actually a bit stronger than others, with chunkier bits of pork fat in the soup. The sprouts are piled high, the noodles thick, chewy, and flat, and the chashu chunky and thick. And the chashu, while not the normal “rolled” chashu, was soft, juicy, and well-marinated… certainly savory and extremely delicious. I could see why someone would want to order this separately. I also highly recommend the flavored egg, as it was really soft, perfectly cooked, and surprisingly delicious.

Later I found out you can customize your order to some degree, asking for more or less sprouts or fat. Maybe next time I’ll ask for even more garlic.

“Gourmet” this is not, but at this price, the value per yen is amazing. If none of this sounds appealing to you, this definitely won’t be the place I recommend. But for those seeking quantity, satisfying savoriness, and a bit of salty fattiness, Yume wo Katare will fit the low-priced bill.

Even Eustace* agrees.

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*Eustace is a husbando-worthy character from the web-based free-to-play RPG game Granblue Fantasy. He actually does not eat ramen in order to keep his manly physique.

Menya Johnny Honten (麺屋ジョニー 本店) in Nagahama, Shiga

Even though Shiga is the next prefecture over, I don’t often go there to have ramen, partially because the population density is low, so solid ramen restaurants are few and far between.A few weeks ago I drove down to Nagoya City in Aichi Prefecture to sell my car, so coming home rather late at night through Shiga, Matsuda-san and I craved some ramen to warm us up. For some reason, I had bookmarked Menya Johnny in Nagahama. They are open until midnight on Saturday and have some decent reviews, so we decided to stop in. While it doesn’t seem like much from the outside, they have a rather large menu of typical broths and varying toppings. (Unfortunately, I was so hungry and sad at selling my car, I forgot to take a picture of it.)

I opted for their Grilled Chashu Ramen for 1080￥ ($10 USD), which does seem pricey for a ramen in the middle of nowhere… until it arrived. These two slices of delicious-looking chashu may seem meager from the outset, but lifting them up, they are THICC. They have to be the largest, most mouth-watering pieces I have ever seen on a bowl of ramen and I was absolutely blown away by the soft, juicy, charred taste.

The rest of the bowl was a bit underwhelming, with the noodles a bit on the firm side with not much of a nice texture. The shoyu soup base was a nice medium thickness and had some fat added for flavor, though overall the aftertaste was a bit oily. The portion size was quite reasonable and a large size and kaedama are available for hungry eaters.

The thick chashu alone is worth the trip. The value also seems to match the price for a late night meal, so I expect to be back again.

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