Honoru

Halal food has gotten bigger here, so Osaka was bound to see its first, as far as I know, halal ramen shop. Honoru is from Tokyo, but I visited the Namba shop for a bowl of their spicy chicken ramen.

ハラル料理はだんだん出てきて、大阪でハラルラーメン屋さんができました。帆のるはそもそも東京から来て、私は難波店に行って、「旨辛麺」を食べてきました。

The Bowl
A thick chicken potage, covered in smokey ra-yu chili oil. There were chili peppers hiding inside, along with some chewy chicken chashu. The noodles were thin, bouncy, and yellow, and bit by bit brought up some of the smokey spice with them.

燻製風味ラー油が乗っているドロっとしているチキンポタージュ。唐辛子はスープの中でもちっとした鶏チャーシューと隠れていました。腰がある黄色麺はちょっとずつ燻製の味を引きました。

Would I Go Again?


Should You Go?


Information
麺屋 帆のる

Tsukemen TETSU

Every once in a while a bowl from Tokyo makes it down to Kansai. In the Hankyu Sanbangai food court, a tsukemen chain from Tokyo opened up: Tsukemen TETSU. I couldn't make it on the opening day, but just the day after I showed up to try their tsukemen.

たまに東京の店が関西に進出してきます。阪急三番街で「つけめんTETSU」のつけ麺専門店がニューオープンしました。オープンの日の翌日に行って、つけ麺を食べてみました。

The Bowl
This was some Tokyo style gyokai tonkotsu tsukemen, through and through. There are plenty of good bowls in Osaka but sometimes it's good to try one more heavily influenced from the birthplace. TETSU's broth was rich and fishy; not quite as thick nor as sweet as other similar bowls. The fat noodles sparkled in the underground mall's light. A thick piece of chashu bobbed up and down in the soup, but overall its taste was overtaken by the broth.

ザ・東京魚介豚骨です。大阪にいろいろな似ているつけ麺はありますけど、本場からの店はやっぱりちょっと違います。TETSUのスープはコクがあって、魚の味が強かったです。他の魚介豚骨より甘みが控えていました。極太麺がモールの電気の元でキラキラとなりました。チャーシューの大きいのが一つで、ほとんどスープの味がしました。

Would I Go Again?
TETSU was solid, but with so many other tsukemen options around, I don't see myself making another trip.

美味しかったですけど、他のつけ麺屋さんがいっぱいありすぎて、また行くチャンスがないだろう。

Should You Go?
This is a good option if you're feeling tsukemen while browsing the Umeda food court.

もし三番街にいるときにつけ麺の気分だったら、食べに行ってください。

Information
つけめんTETSU

Mutahiro

Fukushima is a place I try to frequent, but there still somehow are a handful of shops that have managed to elude me. Tonight I made an attempt to go to Kineko.

福島によく行きますけど、なぜかまだ行けていない店が何軒かあります。今回きねこという店に行こうと思っていました。

Time for Plan B. Another shop on my list was Mutahiro, a sardine ramen shop from Tokyo. I had enjoyed the bowl I had at the Ramen Sengoku, and was curious to try their specialty, the Wahaha Niboshi Tokusei Soba.

無理でした。もう一軒行きたかったのが東京からの煮干らーめん専門店「ムタヒロ」でした。ラーメン戦国でラーメンを食べる機会がありましたけど、店で食べられるワハハ煮干特製そばを食べてみたかったです。

A nice side dish of meat, eggs, bamboo shoots, and seaweed

肉、味玉、メンマ、海苔

The Bowl
In my imagination ramen like this is what they used for mirrors back in the olden days. The soup was brimming with oil and fat, making the greasy sardine broth scaldingly hot, salty, and delicious. The noodles were fat and curly, like in some of my other favorite sardine bowls.

Ordering the special "tokusei" meant I had no shortage of toppings. There were slick and chewy wonton skins, kind of an alternate to the noodles. Pork and chicken chashu provided different textures for the piles of fat that would come with them when being pulled from the dish, but the creamy egg with its partially protective white proved to be the best vessel for the salt and fat.

私の頭の中に江戸時代に鏡が必要な時にこんなラーメンの表面を見ました。スープが油ばかりで、激熱くて、塩辛くて、うまかったです。麺は他の好きな煮干ラーメンと似ていて、極太縮麺でした。

特製を頼みましたから具がいっぱい来ました。もちもちとしたワンタンの皮が違う種類の麺の感じがしました。豚と鶏チャーシューがあったのでスープと色々な食感の組み合わせができました。結局塩などを吸収するには、味玉が最高でした。

Would I Go Again?
I might, but given how much fat I ate directly, I can only go sparingly.

また行くかもしれませんけど、油っこくて気をつけなあかん。

Should You Go?
This is a bowl for sardine fans who can stand a little grease.

背脂と煮干が好きな人におすすめします。

Information
中華そば ムタヒロ

Tairyuken

Dotonbori is known for its myriad takoyaki shops, but often overlooked (at least by sober people) is its array of ramen shops. They are there mostly for drunk party-goers looking for some food before heading home. The lineup, including Osaka classics Shitenno, Kamukura, Kinryu, and Kinguemon doesn't change often, but every once in a while a new shop sprouts up. This time, Kanto shop Tairyuken has expanded to Osaka, right at Dotonbori. Tairyuken claims to be from Ebisu, a fashionable district in Tokyo, but the ramen they offer is Yokohama classic tonkotsu shoyu.

道頓堀はたこ焼きの屋台で有名ですけど、ラーメン屋さんもいっぱいあります。しめラーメンのイメージがします。大阪の有名な四天王、神座、金龍、金久右衛門全部あります。新しい店がたまにしか出ませんけど、最近、関東からの太龍軒ができました。恵比寿から来たと書いてありましたけど、横浜の家系ラーメンを売っていました。

The Bowl
Like any tonkotsu shoyu bowl, it was pretty heavy. There was a thin layer of oil topping off the bowl, and then underneath was a surprisingly creamy soup. The whole thing was a bit too salty; even the chashu that was otherwise pretty decent was overwhelmed by salt. Overall not a bad bowl, but for iekei in Osaka I'd still head over to Konshinya.

豚骨醤油らしくこってりでした。スープの上に油がたまりましたけど、スープが意外ととろりがありました。拉麺が塩辛かったです。チャーシューもおいしかったですけど、塩がちょっと多すぎました。結論的においしかったですけど、家系を食べたければ、たぶん魂心家に行くと思います。

Would I Go Again?
Nah.

たぶん行きません。

Should You Go?
It's not the worst of the lot if you're buy Dotonbori, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

道頓堀にいればいいかもしれません。

Information
太龍軒

Mitaseimenjo

I was just in Tokyo visiting a couple of shops that I had gone to long ago, and now it's time for one more.  Mitaseimenjo, much like the other tsukemen shop Yasube, is a chain from Tokyo.  There has been a shop in Umeda that I've been too lazy to go to, and now there is a shop in Namba too.  I'd been to the one in Ebisu in Tokyo, and remembered it being solid.  How will it taste in Namba?

They offer a choice between tsukemen and spicy tsukemen, so obviously I chose the spicy.

Information
つけ麺専門店 三田製麺所
2-11-3 Sennichimae

The Bowl
I think I may have forgotten how good Tokyo-style gyokai tonkotsu tsukemen is.  You can find some good ones in Osaka, but Mitaseimenjo still stands out as being very good.  Thick broth that's tingly-spicy.  Fat, firm noodles.  The menma and chunks of chashu in the soup were soft and very flavorful.  The wari-soup that topped it off was light and refreshing.

Would I Go Again?
I might.  Maybe I'll hit up the Umeda one next time.

Should You Go?
Yeah, it's a good gyokai tonkotsu tsukemen in a really convenient location.

Yasube

Once upon a time, I was new to Japan.  I knew the wonders of ramen from living in San Francisco, and as a newcomer to Tokyo, tried to eat it as much as I could.  I had heard of tsukemen, but it seemed crazy.  Why separate the noodles if you're just going to dip them anyway?  Why get the noodles cold?

A friend dragged me along to Yasube in Ikebukuro, and my questions were answered.  Sweet and spicy, this was my first bowl of tsukemen, and also the one that got me hooked.  Cut to August this year, and I discovered that the first Yasube outside of Tokyo was opened, and in my very own Osaka no less.

Information
Link here
2-4-4 Shinsaibashisuji

The Bowl
Light, sweet, oniony, and with a little bit of spice to it, like I remembered.  The noodles were fat and spongy, and the menma went very well with the sweet broth.  The chashu was very light but tender.  The wari-soup heated up the broth and tasted a bit fruity - a good finisher for a good meal.

Would I Go Again?
It's a solid tsukemen, and they have a miso on the menu I'm curious about, so yes.

Should You Go?
It's a Tokyo classic.  Check it out.

Taishoken

Tsukemen, the form of ramen where you dip your noodles instead of drinking them straight from the broth has its origins in Taishoken in Higashi-Ikebukuro in Tokyo.  A long time ago I visited that shop, and while I was less experienced then than I am now, I was not impressed.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as solid as a lot of other bowls I had had before.  But I decided to give it another try, in the Osaka Nipponbashi branch.

Information
大阪大勝軒
2-1-22 Nanbanaka

The Bowl
Well, I've changed my opinion.  The tonkotsu gyokai broth was thinner than I normally like, but was a really good balance of sweet and salty.  Even though the soup wasn't that thick, the fat noodles worked excellently.  The chashu was pretty good, though the egg and wari-soup were pretty standard.

Would I Go Again?
Yeah, I stand corrected.  I think there's another branch in Osaka that I'll check out next time.

Should You Go?
Yeah, it's in a good location and it's a branch of the place that created tsukemen.