Tantanmen × Yume azito

In Kyoto without a ton of time, I looked for a place where I could get good bowl on my way to where I was going. I found Tantanmen x Yume azito, a basement shop hidden away not far from Shijo Station. I ordered the tantanmen, but not just any tantanmen: the white sesame soymilk tantanmen.

京都にいましたけどそんなに時間がなかったので近くにある麺屋さんを検索しました。「担担麺×夢azito」という四条ら辺の隠れ家の店が見つかりました。普通の担々麵じゃなくて、白ごま豆乳担々麵をオーダーしました。

The Bowl
This was one thick bowl. The soymilk gave the broth a creamy feel, and it was almost like eating noodles soaked in a sesame paste gravy. The noodles themselves were in thin bunches that brought the milkiness of the broth with them. The soup was covered by ra-yu, too, which allowed it to become thinner and more drinkable as it went on, even if by the end it was mostly salt.

これは濃かったですね。豆乳でクリーミーでまろやかになりました。ゴマダレのグレービーに浸している麺を食べていた感じがしました。麺は細めで、スープのミルキーさをよく取れました。ラー油も乗っていて、溶けたらスープがもっとサラッとして飲みやすくなりましたけど、最後ちょっと塩辛かったです。

Would I Go Again?
I enjoyed the wacky bowl but I don't make it to Kyoto enough to merit another visit, even if the place hadn't closed for good.

変わっているラーメンがおいしかったですけど、店自体がつぶれています。

Should You Go?
If it were still open I would recommend it for anyone who likes thick ramen with a bit of spice.

もし閉店していなければ、ピリ辛のこってり系が好きな人にお勧めします。

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担担麺×夢azito

Shinjuku Menya Fuka

One by one I will make it to all of the good shops in Kyoto. Or the ones near Shijo and Sanjo, at least. This time after attending an event in Kyoto I was left hungry with a friend, so we walked down the block to Shinjuku Menya Fuka. Fuka is a shio shop, and most of what they had were variants on that. It being my first time, I got the natural salt ramen with an egg.

一軒ずつ京都のおいしいラーメン屋さんを征服したいです。せめて四条と三条の辺。今回京都にあるイベントを参加してから友達と一緒にいて、お腹が空いていました。近くにある「新宿めんや風花」に行ってみました。風花の名物は塩ラーメンで、いろいろな塩ラーメンを提供していました。初めてなので、天然塩らーめんと味玉子にしました。

The Bowl
Fuka's shio was exactly what I expect a bowl of shio ramen to look like: clear and simple broth, a bit salty, but not so much so that you can't finish it. There was a tinge of garlic mixed in, and the green onions helped the broth have some character, too. The noodles were solid, medium, and curly, and although the chashu fell apart as soon as I picked it up, it was clearly nicely stewed in soy sauce.

風花の塩ラーメンはめっちゃ塩ラーメンらしく見えました。スープは透き通ってあっさりして、ちょっと塩からでしたけど、飽きません。ほんのりにんにくが味わえて、ネギもスープに混ぜたらちょびっと辛くなりました。縮れ麺はちょっと中太かったです。チャーシューはすぐ壊れましたけど、醤油にじっくり煮込んだ味がうまかったです。

Would I Go Again?
This was a solid shio, but I won't go all the way to Kyoto for that.

美味しかったですけど、京都まで行くほどじゃありません。

Should You Go?
It's a pretty good bowl if you're looking for shio in Kyoto.

京都にいて塩らーめんを食べたいと思ったら、ぜひ行ってみてください。

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新宿めんや 風花

Wajo Ryomen Sugari

Another visit Kyoto means I can continue exploring the Shijo area for ramen. Last time I was deciding between a couple ramen shops, but I ended up only being able to find one of them. This time I was determined, and finally discovered where Wajo Ryomen Sugari is. They have ramen and curry tsukemen, but the main dish is the motsu tsukemen, so I ordered that.

もう一回京都に行ったので、四条を開拓するチャンスになりました。前回二軒を迷っていましたけど、結局その中に一つしか見つかりませんでした。今回絶対見つかるぜ！。。。と思って、時間をかけましたけど、「和醸良麺すがり」が見つかりました。ラーメンもカレーつけ麺がありましたけど、もつつけ麺が名物なのでそれにしました。

The Bowl
The bowl was full of "motsu" innards, but the soup itself was a pretty standard gyokai tonkotsu. It was salty and tingly with umami, but it didn't stand out terribly from other good soups. The noodles did, however, and they were strong with their own flavor, grainy in a way that soba often is. The grilled onions and motsu mixed in had a nice charred, smoky flavor, and the pork melted in my mouth.

つけ麺にもつがいっぱい入っていましたけど、スープはよく見る魚介豚骨でした。塩辛くて、旨味が強かったです。麺が特に気になりました。そばみたいにツブツブとした麺が自分の小麦粉的な味を引き出していました。焼いたタマネギともつを食べたら、こげた薫製的な風味がしました。すごくとろけていました。

Would I Go Again?
Yes.

はい。

Should You Go?
Yes.

はい。

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和醸良麺 すがり

Noko Kyo Toripaitan Menya Mitsuru

Most of the time I eat ramen in Osaka, but one by one I am making my way through the shops in Kyoto, especially the ones in the downtown districts of Karasuma and Kawaramachi. Today's shop is Noko Kyo Toripaitan Menya Mitsuru, off a small alleyway by Karasuma. As the "toripaitan" in their name suggests, they specialize in chicken ramen. They had a white shio and a black shoyu, so I decided to try the shio.

普段大阪でラーメンを食べますけど、京都のラーメン屋さんもいろいろ開拓しようとしています。特に、烏丸と河原町のへんの店によく行っちゃいます。今回「濃厚京鶏白湯めんや美鶴」という店に行ってみました。名前通り、鶏ラーメンが名物です。白の塩も黒の醤油もあって、塩にしました。

The Bowl
The broth was yellow and clear, but was a surprisingly hearty chicken soup. It was pretty hearty, but the short, and thin noodles still went well pulling the goop and various toppings out. A ginger-filled pork ball, some light and tender chashu, and some sharp onions that had a scent of red onions you find on a hot dog were among the items. When the thing was taking me down towards the end, I added bit of black shichimi and sansho, which toned it down a bit.

黄色くて透き通ったスープでしたけど、意外とこってりっぽかったです。短いストレート麺でも合いました。ショウガ風味の肉玉、とろけるチャーシュー、辛いホットドッグでよく見るネギが乗っていました。最後ら変にちょっとしんどかったので、京都黒七味と山椒をかけました。

Would I Go Again?
Yeah, it was a solid chicken ramen shop in a good location.

美味しかった鶏ラーメンで便利な場所なのでまた行くかもしれません。

Should You Go?
If you're into chicken ramen, check this place out.

鶏系ラーメンが好きなら、行ってください。

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濃厚京鶏白湯 めんや美鶴

Mensho Takamatsu

I had plans in Kyoto, so I decided to take a break from my hardcore schedule of eating at every ramen shop at the Dotonbori Ramen Festival. In its place, I decided I would eat some ramen in Kyoto. My Kyoto ramen knowledge is limited, but ramendb and tabelog help me out, and I decided to go to gyokai tsukemen shop Mensho Takamatsu.

京都に予定があったので道頓堀らーめんフェスタの全部のラーメンを食べることをちょっと休憩しました。その代わりに、京都でラーメンを食べました。私の今日とラーメンあまり詳しくないのでramendbと食べログと相談して、つけ麺専門店「麺匠たか松」に行くことにしました。

The Bowl
The broth was a light gyokai dashi. A lot simpler that I'd expect from tsukemen, but it had a light sweetness that combined with the green onions, and it fit the thin, grainy soba-like noodles very well. There small juicy chunks of chashu floating in the broth. There were some onions, sudachi, and mitsuba on the side, and while I normally love adding sudachi to anything, this tsukemen really didn't need it.

スープがさっぱりな魚介出汁でした。普通のつけ麺と違って甘みがして、ネギといいコンビになりました。細くてそばっぽい麺が薄めのスープとよく合いました。チャーシューがジューシーでおいしかったです。タマネギ、すだち、みつ葉もおいてあって、普通は私は好きですけど、このつけ麺はすだちがなくてもぜんぜんうまかったです。

Would I Go Again?
It was good, but there are so many other places I need to try in Kyoto so I don't know if I'll make it back.

おいしかったですけど、京都に行きたい店がいっぱいあります。

Should You Go?
Kyoto-ites looking for a lighter, sweet tsukemen should come here.

ちょっとあっさり甘みがあるつけ麺が食べたい京都人が麺匠たか松に行ってください。

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麺匠 たか松

Tentenyu

Kyoto is famous for two styles of ramen. One is a thin, dark shoyu style, as exemplified by Shinpuku Saikan. The other is a thicker, chicken soup, also shoyu. There are two shops that represent this style: Tenkaippin and Tentenyu. I had made a pilgrimage to Tenkaippin's flagship shop some time ago, and now I finally had a chance to go with some friends to Tentenyu.

今日は二つのラーメンスタイルで有名です。とろみがなし黒醤油の「新福菜館」などの店が提供するラーメンが一つ。もう一つはこってりな鶏ガラ醤油です。天下一品と天天有がその系ラーメンの代表です。昔に天下一品本店に行けたので、今回ようやく天天有に行くチャンスがありました。

The Bowl
As expected of the style, the ramen brought to me was a cloudy chicken paitan, trying to decide if its flavors were more chicken or umami. It managed the balance well, keeping me hooked for the entire meal. The medium noodles pulled in the rich broth, and although the chashu was plentiful, it wasn't anything above and beyond your standard shop. The whole Tentenyu package is quality - mostly because the broth manages that burden well.

京都ラーメンらしく、濁っている鶏パイタンでした。けっこううまみの風味が強かったですけど、ほんまに飽きないスープでした。中太麺がとろみがあるスープを吸収して、チャーシューが多かったですけど、普通でした。美味なスープのおかげで天天有が全体的にうまいです。

Would I Go Again?
A solid representative of Kyoto ramen. I would go again.

京都ラーメンの代表においしいです。また行きたいです。

Should You Go?
Yes.

行った方がいいです。

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天天有

Menya Itadori

My friends had one last night in Kyoto, and so we yet again went searching for ramen.  We failed to find a place we were looking for by the river, but luckily I had a backup prepared.  A backup with curry.

Itadori offered a variety of curry options: curry rice, curry tsukemen, curry tantanmen, and curry udon.  Curry alone is great, but an opportunity to get curry and tantanmen in one bowl?  I couldn't say no.  Plus, I added in some pork shabu shabu as a topping.

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麺屋虎杖 四条富小路上ル
17-3 Tachiurihigashichō

The Bowl
This was an interesting mix.  I could tell it was clearly tantanmen, but there was also a strong curry flavor.  It was weird but they mixed well.  The curry was a bit light and the broth wasn't that spicy, so I would have liked it to be even richer.  The noodles were the curly, chewy kind of noodles that are standard with tantanmen.  The thin slices of pork weren't very flavorful, which was very good because there was enough flavor in the broth to make the pork taste good.

Would I Go Again?
Curry all the time?  Yes.

Should You Go?
Yeah, this place is unique and great.

Gogyo

After spending a few days in Osaka, my friends visiting from America decided to stay a few nights in Kyoto.  That meant that I'd be making nightly visits to Kyoto to hang out with them, but more importantly, that all of us would be exploring a set of ramen shops I normally don't get to visit.

Gogyo is one I picked out from Ramen Walker.  The advertised charred miso ramen hit two things I love: miso, and weird ramen.  What I had not realized when I visited is that I'd actually been to Gogyo before.  I had visited the branch in Tokyo just after arriving there over two years ago.

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京都 五行
452 Jūmonjichō

The Bowl
Black miso broth!  I could stare at it for hours.  It was rich and as oily as it looks, which means that it was scalding.  The charred flavor really came through; charred miso is exactly what it tasted like.  The noodles were medium and broke apart easily, but they carried the flavor well.  The slices of chashu were standard, but the egg was creamy and delicious.  There was an assortment of other goodies in there: ginger, cabbage, onions, seaweed, and a fishcake.

Would I Go Again?
The ramen was interesting and good.  I would check it out again, but I have more exploring to do in Kyoto first.

Should You Go?
Yeah, definitely.  It's right in downtown Kyoto too.