Kyo Tsukemen Tsurukame

A trip to Kyoto and a chance to try more Kyoto ramen! This time I visited Kyo Tsukemen Tsurukame and their Nishikyo miso tantan tsukemen.

京都の日帰りプラス京都ラーメン！今回「京つけめん つるかめ」の西京味噌担々つけめんを食べました。

The Bowl
Just as it looks in the photo above, this tantan tsukemen was more smooth than spicy. There was just a tickle of spice, which was fine since the sesame and rayu did the job of keeping the bowl flavorful and interesting. The noodles were fat and grainy, and there were thin slices of chashu, too, that were juicy and brimming with flavor.

上の写真とわかるかもしれません、スープは激辛じゃなくて、まろやかでした。ピリ辛だけでしたけど、ゴマとラー油などの味で満足しました。麺は太くてつぶつぶとしました。チャーシューはほそめで、濃くてうまかったです。

Would I Go Again?
Yes.

はい。

Should You Go?
A good stop for anyone looking for something a little different in Kyoto.

京都で普通じゃないものを食べたい人にお勧めします。

Information
京つけめん つるかめ

Namae no Nai Ramenya

I had some plans in Kyoto, which meant another opportunity to try ramen in the prefecture I don't visit as often as I should. Once again by time I was limited to the greater Shijo-Sanjo area, but I found a recently opened shop that was pretty interesting.

"Namae no Nai Ramenya" means "the ramen shop with no name". Either the shop has no name, or that is the shop's name. At any rate, it was hard to find on a map, being in the basement of a random building and having no discernible sign outside.

京都の予定があったので、またあまり行かない京都符のラーメンを食べる機会ですね。今回も時間があまりありませんでしたから四条と三条の辺にしか行けませんでした。

「なまえのないラーメン屋さん」なんですけど、本当に名前がないみたです。政府にどうやって登録したかな。とにかく、看板もないので見つかり辛かったです。

Inside was a nice garden, and a vending machine that looked just like the one in Sugari, not too far from this shop. It turns out that the two shops are related, and like Sugari, this one offered motsu ramen, tsukemen, and curry tsukemen. I was feeling ramen, so I went with that.

店内には、なんかの庭がありました。それに、すがりとそっくり似ていた販売機も置いてありました。結局すがりと連携していて、すがりと同じ濃厚ラーメン、つけ麺、カレーつけ麺がありました。ラーメンの気分だったので、ラーメンにしました。

A variety of spices available to mix in.

お好みの香辛料もかけられます。

The Bowl
This was a chicken paitan that was very rich without being too thick and goopy. It was well spiced, with a bit of pepper, and mellowed out by the seafood soup. The noodles were brown and square. They looked and even tasted a bit like soba.

Unusually, there was a tomato in the ramen, a sweet interlude during the otherwise salty meal. There was a single meatball that was also quite interesting. It had a grainy texture, but it tasted more like juicy, fried chicken.

味深い鶏白湯で、こてこてしすぎませんでした。スパイスがよく効いて、魚介スープでまろやか感がしました。麺が四角くて茶色でした。見た目も、味も、そばに似ていました。

びっくりしましたけど、トマトが乗っていました。塩辛いラーメンに甘味のトマトの休憩で癒しました。肉玉もなかなか面白かったです。食感はつぶつぶですけど、味はなんかジューシーフライドチキンっぽかったです。

Would I Go Again?
I would; there are a few more shops in the same family that I might try.

また興味あります。他の連携している店があるので、それに行くかもしれせん。

Should You Go?
Yes.

おすすめします。

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なまえのないラーメン屋

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。

Information
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。

Information
麺匠 たか松

Ryukishin

I made another trip to visit Kyoto at night, which meant another chance to eat Kyoto ramen.  There are a handful of Ryukishin shops in Kansai.  I had been to the one in Namba before, but never to the Kyoto branch.  I went for the tori shio ramen.

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龍旗信
157 Takoyachō

The Bowl
Ryukishin provided a solid and refreshing if not-very-exciting chicken shio bowl.  The broth was light and thin, and the noodles were thin and soft.  The chashu was especially light on flavor, but my friend ordered some of the extra chashu which was very fatty and delicious.

Would I Go Again?
The bowl was pretty good; I don't think I'll go back to the Kyoto one but I might visit a different Osaka branch.

Should You Go?
If you're in Kyoto, it's worth trying.  If you're in Osaka, it's a pretty good shio available right near Namba Parks.

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.