Shofuku

I'm not always in the mood for Jiro-style ramen, but this time I tried Shofuku, a shop in Awaza for their pork ramen.

次郎系の気分はそんにないですけど、今回阿波座の「笑福」に行って、豚ラーメンを食べました。

The Bowl
It was a solid shoyu base, and to be honest, I was glad that it was one of the mildest Jiro-style bowls I've had. The noodles, were, thick, square and wheaty, and the bonito flakes too helped to mellow out the bowl. The chashu wasn't necessarily brimming with flavor, but it was juicy and fatty in a way that kept me warm on a cold winter day.

よく見る醤油スープで、正直に言うとがっつりとした感じが薄くて胃がありがたかったです。麺は極太で、麦の感が強くて、カツオの影響でちょっとマイルドした味になりました。チャーシューはジューシーで油濃かったので、ほっこりとなりました。

Would I Go Again?


Should You Go?


Information
ラーメン・つけ麺 笑福

Rekishi wo Kizame

I'm not in the mood for Jiro-kei ramen every day, but every once in a while I enjoy giving it a try. This time I stopped at maybe Osaka's most famous Jiro-kei shop, the Teradamachi branch of Rekishi wo Kizame. It was a greasy, messy place, filled with young men and the smell of garlic and oil. I ordered the aptly named "ramen".

毎日次郎系の気分じゃありませんけど、たまに食べたくなります。今回大阪の中にかなり有名な法の「歴史を刻め」の寺田町店に行ってきました。ごちゃごちゃな店で、少年とニンニクのにおいだらけでした。ただの「ラーメン」を頼みました。

The Bowl
The broth was a sharp, garlicky shoyu, captured at its best by the chunky, curly, glutinous noodles. The chashu was enormous too, but didn't quite capture the essence of the bowl the same way the noodles did. I was destroyed by the oil and raw amount of food, but I don't regret it.

濃いめのニンニク臭い醤油スープで、極太くて縮れ麺と一緒に食べるのがバランスが良くてうまかったです。チャーシューはデカかったですけど、やっぱり麺のバランスのほうがお気に入りでした。最終的に油と量がしんどかったですけど、食べる甲斐がありました。

Would I Go Again?


Should You Go?


Information
ラーメン荘 歴史を刻め

Komen Tamaran

A new Jiro style ramen shop opened up in Taisho a while ago. I in theory had been meaning to visit, but in reality had been putting it off a bit. Partially because the new shop replaced delicious Ramen Do, but really because I can only very occasionally handle Jiro style ramen. I saw a magazine really pushing Komen Tamaran's miso, though, and that was enough of a reason to actually push myself to make the trip.

何ヶ月前に大正に新しい二郎系専門店ができました。理論上行くつもりでしたけど、何か行く気がありませんでした。美味しいラーメンどうの跡で出たこともあって、それよりやっぱり二郎系はそんなによく食べられません。何かの雑誌に好麺たまらんの味噌ラーメンがイチオシされていましたから、結局行ってみようとしました。

The Bowl
As you'd expect from any Jiro style, the broth was a murky mix of, oil, garlic, and fat, and in this case, salty, strong miso, too. It wasn't bad overall, and it was filled with curly, ultra-thick ropes, that on their own seemed like a great idea, but were a too hard even for this flavorful mess. The chashu was fatty and tender, but was a hit a little too hard by the garlic punch in the soup and in the air.

二郎系の期待通り、ごちゃごちゃの脂っこくて、ニンニクだらけの塩辛い味噌でした。濃かったですけどうまかったです。縮れている極太麺が入っていて、バリ硬くて、ちょっとやりすぎたかな。チャーシューがとろけてジューシーでで、空中にでもあるニンニクの味が強かったです。

Would I Go Again?
It was fine, but I'll find a new shop next time I'm going to make a challenge at Jiro style ramen.

美味しかったですけど、今度二郎系をチャレンジするときに行ったことがない店に行ってみます。

Should You Go?
If you're a big fan of Jiro in Osaka, it's worth stop.

大阪人の二郎系ファンにいいと思います。

Information
好麺 たまらん

Ginjiro

Right by work, beloved shrimpy Typhoon Gang saw its last day and closed down. In its place was born Ginjiro, new Jiro-style ramen shop. Because of how full Jiro-style shops make me, I was intimidated by Ginjiro, especially since I'd go there for lunch and still be expected to do work after. But one day I knew it had to be done. I worked myself up, skipped breakfast, and headed to Ginjiro for lunch.

職場の近くに好きな海老つけ麺屋さん「台風ギャング」がつぶれました。その代わりに「ぎんじろう」という次郎系ラーメン屋さんが生まれました。次郎系ラーメンですっごいお腹いっぱいになるので行きづらくて、その上に昼ご飯を食べに行くつもりだったので会社に戻って仕事しないとだめなのはさらにつらいです。だが、行かなあかんかった。朝ご飯を抜けてがんばって銀次郎に行きました。

The Bowl
Jiro-kei ramen tends to be quantity over quality, providing a mediocre, fatty soup, but limitless amounts of it. Ginjiro's soup was definitely garlicky and fatty, but a bit more attention had clearly been paid to its creation because it was flavorful and fairly drinkable. The noodles, too - thick and firm without being too much for the thin broth - were a quality grade above what I was expecting. And that leaves the best for last. The two pieces of chashu were so thick it would be unreasonable to call them "slices". Each bite let out succulent juice, which although it would kill me in the afternoon, was good in the moment.

次郎系ラーメンは普通「おいしい」というイメージより「量が多い」の印象が強いです。でも、ぎんじろうのスープはニンニクっぽくて油がいっぱい入っていますけど控えめしていたのでまだうまかったです。麺もめっちゃ太って固かったですけど以外にスープと合いました。一番おいしかったのはチャーシューでした。部厚くてジューシーで会社に戻ってから大変でしたけど食べる瞬間においしかったです。

Would I Go Again?
It was pretty solid but it was still Jiro-kei; I might come back.

おいしかったですけど次郎系なのでしんどかったです。また行くかもしれません。

Should You Go?
If you want good Jiro-kei, it's either here or Maccho.

ちゃんとうまい次郎系が欲しいならここかマッチョにしか行けません。

Information
麺座ぎんじろう

Nosuta

One of my least favorite styles of ramen is Jiro-kei. Invented by Jiro Ramen in Tokyo, Jiro-kei ramen is shoyu ramen with as much oil, fat, garlic, and piles of bean sprouts as you can eat. Shops that server Jiro-kei often have challenges to eat as much as a whole kilogram of a noodles. This is a quantity-over-quality argument, and when you have that much oily shoyu, it tends to be not so great. But still, once or twice a year I decide it's been a while and I need to try it. Today was Namba's shop Nosuta.

ラーメンの中にそんなに好きじゃないのは次郎系です。麺、背脂、もやしなどはいっぱい乗っていて、チャレンジみたいになります。おいしさより量が大事なので、私はあまり興味はありません。だが、年一二回ぐらいに食べてみようと思っています。今回なんばののスたに行くことにしました。

The Bowl
After mixing the bean sprouts into the bowl as recommended, I dug in to the mountain of carbohydrates and oil that awaited me. The broth was oily as expected, but surprisingly light. The noodles were thick, and flat, and picked up the soup nicely. The chashu, although large and fatty, was not that flavorful. Overall, the broth was light and fatty, but tasted a bit better after adding pepper as they recommended.

もやしを麺などに混ぜてから食べてみました。スープはめっちゃ脂っぽくて意外と薄めでした。麺は太くて平たいでした。チャーシューがでかかったですけど、まーまーおいしかったです。やっぱりそんな量で飽きますけど、こしょうを入れたらもっとおいしくなってきました。

Would I Go Again?
Nah.

いいえ。

Should You Go?
If you're looking for Jiro-kei, I would suggest Maccho down the round.

次郎系を行こうとしたら、マッチョに行けばいいです。

Information
のスた OSAKA

Bushido

I was walking around Nishi-ku after looking at some apartments, and decided to get something to eat.  What better way to relax on a Sunday after walking around all day than a huge amount of garlic, oil, salt, and pork?

Bushido is a Jiro-style ramen shop located near Awaza.  Bushido is paired with a similar ramen shop in Teradacho called Wasshoi.  Both offer soups that will kill your breath and your stomach in huge, or "men's" sizes.  Thankfully they offer reasonable sizes for those of us who can barely finish a small.

Information
麺屋 武士道
4-6-20 Itachibori

The Bowl
A classic bowl of Jiro-style ramen: oily, garlicy, and covered with chunks of fat.  The broth was scalding too, so my tongue hurt for a couple days after this meal.  The noodles were oily, firm and eggy.  There were some onions and cabbage in there so you can pretend the bowl is at all healthy.  The chashu were, unlike Maccho, not large chunks, but thinner strips, and not as good.

Would I Go Again?
It wasn't bad, but the best thing about this brand of Jiro-style ramen is that it came in a relatively small serving.  I won't go back to Bushido, but maybe I'll review Wasshoi some time.

Should You Go?
It's Jiro-style ramen you can eat without getting a huge size, but if you're aiming for the best, try a different place.

Dogamori Maccho

I had skipped lunch, so I was pretty hungry.  When I was thinking about where to go, it crossed my mind that I had not yet ever been to a Jiro-kei shop in Osaka.  In Tokyo, there is a famous chain of shops called Ramen Jiro.  They make a shoyu-based soup that is heavy on pork, garlic, and fat.  And when I say "heavy", I mean to the extent that it's in a giant pile on top of your bowl.  Finishing the contents of a Jiro bowl is very difficult, and drinking all the soup is stupid, if not impossible.

Ramen Jiro makes a unique and popular enough ramen that it has become a style in its own right, Jiro-kei.  You can usually choose how much garlic, fat, and vegetables (read: bean sprouts) you get, though even saying "normal" will get you a medium sized heap.  I'd been to a small handful of Jiro-kei restaurants in Tokyo, but never to one in Osaka.  I looked up a nearby Jiro-kei shop, Maccho, and as I always do with Jiro-kei, I set off with good intentions, knowing full well that in the end I would regret it.

Maccho had tsukemen and even abura soba, but I went for the ramen.  They say that the normal size has as many noodles as a large at other places, so I didn't try to be a hero and just stuck with that.

Information
自家製太麺 ドカ盛 マッチョ
Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Chūō-ku, Nipponbashi, ２丁目７−２２
Maccho is south of Nipponbashi Station, in one of the side streets west of Sakai-suji.

The Bowl
As you can see, they don't shy away from the toppings here, and yes, that small mound of yellow stuff on the top is raw garlic.  It would be two or three times as big if I had asked for extra.  The broth was extremely fatty and garlicky.  It was delicious for the first few sips, but there's a reason you're not expected to finish it.  The noodles were of medium thickness, and very greasy.  There were two or three big pieces of chashu which were brown, fatty, and more flavorful than I expected.

Would I Go Again?
It's been a while since I've been to a Jiro-kei and it will be a while until I go to one again.  That said, when I do, I'll probably see if I can find a different one.

Should You Go?
Everyone should try Jiro-kei once.  My favorite so far is probably one in Tokyo but Maccho was not bad, and the chashu was quite good.  If you live in Osaka, you wouldn't be wrong to make this your Jiro-kei trial.