Delicious Noodle Tiger & Dragon (虎と龍 福井渕店) in Fukui City, Fukui

Even in the midst of summer, ramen for lunch always hits the spot for me. I visited Delicious Noodle Tiger & Dragon, a ramen shop in Fukui City serving up a few different variations of tonkotsu (pork bone) broth.

There are also mildly differing toppings that are Kumamoto or Hakata-inspired. Most of their options can be customized with thin or egg noodles, noodle hardness, and stronger or weaker soup flavor strength.

I ordered their Tonkotsu Chashu Ramen for 920￥ ($8.30 USD) with an egg topping for 100￥ more, opting for a stronger broth and soft-cooked egg noodles. The noodles were great, soft as expected, and at a reasonable portion for the price. The chashu was plentiful, if not a little fatty. The softness does complement the creamy, but not too heavy, tonkotsu soup, so it was likely a purposeful choice. Even though they messed up my egg for the day (the chef apologizing for this batch of overcooked eggs), it was still nonetheless surprisingly, deliciously savory.

I also appreciated the countertop had a few additions like spicy vegetable, Chinese-inspired spice, and the usual spicy hot oil and soy sauce. The spicy greens were really great to put on the ramen before the end to change the flavor profile.

It was overall quite delicious. Worth the stop for a good bowl of ramen!

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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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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.

Ramen Zenya (らーめん善谷) in Ishinomaki, Miyagi

Ramen Zenya in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, is one of those ramen shops only accessible by car, in the middle of not much. I probably have driven by hundreds of shops similar to this without knowing what delicious treasures lay inside.

However, if I didn’t stop here, I would’ve missed out on an amazing Michelin-reviewed bowl of ramen… and probably one of the best light soups I’ve had in a long time.

I’ll admit my first impression was not very good, seeing the large menu and a long wait. While the shop was huge, there were even more chefs behind the glass window at different stations. This looked like a food factory, an assembly line better suited producing instant ramen than Bib Gourmand bowls. They advertise locally-sourced and produced noodles and in-house made broths. Sure, with production facilities out back, perhaps...

Given that I live in Obama City, a place known historically for our catch of saba (mackerel), I was curious to try their take with Saba Ramen for only 800￥ ($7.50) for a large size. The smell was the first thing I noticed, a savory scent of salted fish. I took a sip and I was transported to ramen broth heaven, imagining fishermen and their fresh saba haul pouring them into a hilariously large pot, then straight into my mouth. The taste was so unexpectedly flavorful with the unique smokey, rich taste of saba in every sip. What I did expect was the broth to be slightly greasy, given the high oil and fat content in saba.

The chashu was exceptionally soft, making me wish I had a side order of extra chashu. The noodles were thin, nice, and firm, tying the whole ramen together. The only minor let down was the egg, which wasn’t particularly tasty or cooked well. One could forego that issue because the rest of the bowl was exceptional.

Wow.

 

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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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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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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Ajino Sapporo Onishi (味の札幌 大西) in Aomori City, Aomori

Ajino Sapporo Onishi is arguably one of the most famous ramen restaurants in Aomori. Their most popular is a Miso Curry Milk Ramen for a very reasonable 830￥ ($7.50 USD). It seems unique enough to draw a crowd fairly late on a weekday evening, apparently even being featured on local TV. So I braved the hour-long line and tried it myself. Starving for a good meal, I ordered the large size for only 100￥ more.

Placed down in front of me was undoubtedly what I consider a “large.” The bowl, soup, and ramen portion was definitely great for the price. The smell of miso and curry was certainly distinct. But how was the taste?Amazingly, it was a nice and flavorful, yet medium-light broth with distinctly rich miso and the aftertaste of a creamy curry, giving it a uniquely smooth feel that I really enjoyed. The thick noodles complemented the ramen with soft flavors and textures all around.

However, I expected a clearer “milk” taste given the name, but it wasn’t quite as milky or creamy as I hoped. Once the butter melted into the ramen, the butter taste was all but swallowed up by the curry and miso. I think if it had one more slice of butter, I think it would have been perfect.

They certainly earned their popularity with this uniquely delicious ramen at a great price. If you’re ever up in Aomori eating their famous apples, check out this famous local establishment, too.

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Menya Teru-no-Suke (麵屋 輝之介) in Fukui City, Fukui

While I don’t live near Fukui City, I go there often enough to try many of their ramen shops and sometimes, I am quite surprised. Spoiler alert: Teru-no-Suke Ramen is one such restaurant that I really enjoyed recently. For us single diners, they have a few “single booths” that are comfortable, wide, and offer a nice view of the street. Overall, the decor seemed quite clean and modern, leading to a good first impression.

Their menu had six total variations: Black, Red, White, Chinese-style, and Black and White varieties of Tsukemen “dipping-style” ramen. Their Black is what they recommended, so as my first time, I always try to go for the shop favorite. At 850￥ for the regular and 1000￥ ($9 USD) for the large, the bigger size was my choice this time, along with an unusual curry rice side for 190￥ more. Their Black is so named because of the charred garlic oil-based broth, combined with tonkotsu. This should give it a creamy savoriness from the pork bone soup with a salty, rich, and deep garlic taste.

And that it did. I was actually surprised at the strong, flavorful broth, with the black part of the soup the oil and the remainder tonkotsu. A quick taste of the black only revealed an incredibly savory, garlicky, and slight bitter flavor. Mixed together and the broth was sublime, a bit on the heavy and oily side, but amazingly delicious.

The rest of the dish was also amazing, as the plentiful, thick, and soft noodles soaked up and carried all the broth flavor. The bamboo shoots were firm, but soaked in a bit of flavor. The chashu was also quite flavorful and would be worth ordering an additional topping of it next time.

The only minor downside was the egg which was salty and tasty, but a bit overdone.

And lest I forget, the unusual (for a ramen restaurant) curry and rice side dish. While small, at only 190￥ it was well worth the price, as it was chunky, slightly spicy, and quite good to complement the richness of the ramen. Though it is slightly sweet so it’s similar to what you may have eaten at other Japanese curry restaurants.

As you can see, I quite loved their ramen and I will definitely leave it on my list to try again in the future.

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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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Aji no Daio (味の大王) in Tomakomai, Hokkaido

Curry soup is a food famous in Hokkaido, but Aji no Daio also offers a curry ramen version. Although I know it is not the typical curry soup I really wanted to try, my trip to Hokkaido was meant to be a ramen one, so when I was doing a bit of food research, I came across this chain around Hokkaido. And I just happened to be driving by the honten main store in Tomakomai, Hokkaido!

As expected, there was a line even though it wasn’t the peak lunch hour. Their menu has a few options and a few toppings, but I came here for their speciality. What goes great with curry? Cheese! I ordered one of their popular options, a Cheese Curry Ramen for 950￥ ($9 USD). After placing the order, I got a numbered ticket and took a seat. Around 7 or so minutes later, they called my number.

The smell of the curry was quite evident and the cheese looked absolutely mouth-watering. While it definitely is not the most beautiful of dishes as curry tends not to be, I couldn’t wait to dig in. The noodles were soft and the portion very reasonable, every ramen bite carrying the curry flavor. The curry broth itself was not simply just “watered down” curry, as it had plenty of meaty, rich taste. Since the soup was so strong, the cheese was simply not necessary and couldn’t really be distinguished. The chashu, too, was lovely and soft, but I wanted more.

Unless you’re a huge curry lover, though, I found myself halfway through the ramen wanting to cut the taste with some rice or some veggies to lighten it up. Still, it was worth having if you’re in town.

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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!

 

Butanchu (豚人) Ichijoji Honten in Kyoto

Although I've stopped by Butanchu before, I went with my friend to check out their Honten (Main Store) in the Ichijoji area of Kyoto.

This area is famous for a ton of other main stores and amazing shops and Butanchu is no exception. Their huge variety of ramen choices and customizable broth and toppings are amazing... every time I've stopped by one of their shops, it has been delicious.

Instead of the “Bakusho” (LOL) crazy mountain of toppings I ordered last time, I went with their popular Doko Tonkotsu Ramen with Dragon Noodles, thicker broth, more pork fat, and more garlic... all for only 830￥ ($7.60 USD). The price, value, and portion was absolutely perfect. That soft chashu and thick, fatty broth were unbelievable.

The noodles were surprisingly awesome, as one side of the noodles had serration-like teeth that helped to really hold on to that thick broth, hitting me with a spike in flavor with every bite!

Definitely worth coming here again.

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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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Mensho Kaguya (麺匠かぐや) in Tsuruga, Fukui

Mensho Kaguya (麺匠かぐや) in Tsuruga, Fukui is currently offering a limited-time Kani Miso Noko Shio Ramen for 1080￥ ($10 USD) starting Monday, November 11th for the winter crab season, so I went by with my friends Jenny and Josie on their first opening day to try it. Luckily, when we showed up shortly after 6pm, there wasn’t much of a crowd.

They have signage proclaiming the crab ramen in front of their shop and on the menu so we were not led astray. Given that I didn’t have much for lunch, the 120￥ more for the larger size could be justified.

Here was the beautiful bowl of ramen that arrived: A slice of beautifully grilled aburi chashu, medium-thin ramen noodles, and thick, fatty broth, topped with wakame seaweed, scallions, and a crab shell. The crab was beautifully prepared with kani miso and scallions. Kani miso is actually the innards of the crab, perhaps because the consistency is much like soybean paste and it also has a strong flavor.

I was actually surprised at the clean and clear shell of the crab. My guess is they likely boiled the whole thing to clean and strain off every last bit of crab miso.

I’ve actually visited Kaguya before, so I am familiar with their thick, rich, and flavorful tonkotsu pork bone broth. Their noodles are medium-firm and their chashu nice, fatty, and soft; both a perfect complement to their soup. We were recommended to mix in the kani miso into the broth and it subtly added a creamy, salty sea taste with a hint of the bitterness of the miso.

The large portion was well-worth the value and I couldn’t help but gulp it up quickly, despite my burning tongue’s protestation. Especially given the price, the crab is an absolutely amazing value.

If you can, I highly recommend you try their limited-time ramen, but even their regular ramen is also quite good.

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