Friday, January 13, 2012

Mendokoro Ishin

I've walked home through Shinsaibashi quite a few times now, and every once and a while, I see a restaurant that looks interesting and mark it down for later.  A while back I spotted Ishin, but wasn't hungry.  Tonight while walking home again, I decided to check it out.  I knew nothing about it, but the tsukemen looked good, so I went in and ordered the tsukemen with an egg.

Information
麺処 維新
Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Chūō-ku, Shinsaibashisuji, 1丁目5−2
Ishin is just a block east of the Shinsaibashi shopping arcade, a few blocks south of Nagahori Dori.


The Bowl
If you look at the picture above, you may notice that in addition to the egg I ordered, there's a raw egg in the middle of the noodles.  That's because before you start dipping the noodles into the broth, you are supposed to mix the egg in, and try them on their own.  With the egg, the bowl of noodles becomes a bit like a carbonara, with thick, eggy, chewy noodles.  They were a little lacking in flavor, but then again, that's why there's soup on the side.  The soup was a thick soup that I think was a gyokai tonkotsu.  There were small cubes of chashu already inside the soup that were very tender, and the slices that came with the noodles tasted a little bit like barbecue sauce and reminded me of delicious American pulled pork.  To top it off, the wari-soup, instead of being the standard simple dashi, was a murky broth with green onions, some spicy sauce, bits of egg.

Would I Go Again?
Yeah, this place was great.  The raw egg made the noodles a lot creamier, and the extra delicious wari-soup at the end will ensure I'll be back.

Should You Go?
Yes.  It's really close to Shinsaibashi, so it's convenient, too.

8 comments:

  1. Hey! Is this place still open? Coming in Dec 2015 and really want to try it!

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    Replies
    1. Nope, it looks like it closed not long after I wrote this :-(

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    2. Oh no! I also really wanted to try Rakuzan (curry tantanmen) and Zundoya - do you happen to know if they are still open?

      Thanks for all the info!

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    3. They're both still open! Zundoya has even expanded to Umeda and Kyoto, and the Shinsaibashi branch is open 24 hours.

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    4. Great!

      I am using your blog to plan my Ramen tour of Tokyo/Osaka haha.

      Thats great, I can use Ichiran and Zundoya as my late night ramen spots for when we finish drinking at 2am!

      Are there any other bowls you consider must eats?

      Thanks again!

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    5. To give you some info that might help your recommendations:

      I really enjoyed Yasube Tsukemen and Kikanbo last time I was in Tokyo. And last time in Osaka the Junk Story pork bowl was my favourite (but i didnt have your blog to help me back then!).

      I really like miso and spicy bowls, and chashu is my go to topping and i always add an egg haha.

      I dont like really fishy taste (i never add the fish powder to my bowl and im not a fan of the bonito flakes).

      Thats about it... !! :)

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    6. If you like miso and spice, then I recommend:

      Kamoshi Mitsukabozu
      http://www.friendsinramen.com/2014/02/kamoshi-mitsukabozu.html

      Goma goma
      http://www.friendsinramen.com/2011/08/goma-goma.html

      and for good measure I'll throw in Hiru Dora, the third shop by the Junk Story people (my review is not up yet)
      http://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270206/27085481/

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    7. i'll put them on the list! im there for 4 days, hoping for at least 2 bowls a day haha. hopefully i make it out alive!

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