Noko Tori Paitan Ramen Misora

I went ramen hunting with a friend in Kyoto, and we ended up at Misora, a shop I didn't realize at first was related to nearby shop Mitsuru. Knowing that, I decided to instead of ramen, order their Noko Tori Tsukemen Black.

友達と京都でラーメンを探しに行きました。美空に行ってみて、入ったら前行った美鶴の姉妹店がわかりました。ほんで、ラーメンじゃなくて、「濃厚鶏つけ麺　黒」を注文しました。

The Bowl
The broth was a strong and salty shoyu, with a heavy background flavor of chicken. The noodles were one of my favorite styles - round and smooth, ultra slurpable. The chashu was nice and tender, tasting strongly of ginger.

スープは濃いめの醤油で、鶏の香りも強かったです。麺はお気に入りの啜りやすい滑らかな丸い麺でした。チャーシューはやわらかーくて、生姜の風味がしていました。

Would I Go Again?


Should You Go?


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濃厚鶏白湯ラーメン 美空

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

Kyo Yasai Festival

Just like a couple years ago, at the end of October in Kyoto they held the Kyo Yasai Festival. There was a large selection of ramen shops, all made with Kyoto Kujo negi. It was Halloween, and I knew I would be drinking at night, so I had to have a couple hearty bowls during the day.

二年ぐらい前に１０月末に京都で京野菜フェスティバルが開催されました。今回もあって、行こうとしました。京都九条ネギが乗っているラーメンが色々な店から提供されました。ハロウィンで夜に飲むつもりだったので、昼にかなりご飯を食べなあかんと思いました。

For my first bowl I decided to try Noodle Labratory Kinton. They offered a rich miso that I decided would be my starter.

最初に「ヌードルラボラトリー金斗雲」に行ってみました。濃厚味噌はいっぱい目にしました。

The Bowl
Not a thick miso like I would expect, Kintoun's bowl was more like a thin miso barbecue sauce. To match this, the noodles were of medium thickness, and they tasted strongly of wheat. There were nice chunks of green onion mixed in, and the chashu, though fell apart quickly, was very well done.

期待したドロドロとした味噌と違って、金斗雲からもらったスープは味噌系バーベキューソースの味がしました。それと合って、麺が中太くて、麦の香りも味わいました。ネギも入っていて、チャーシューはすぐ破りましたけど、うまかったです。

For round two I spotted KÜCHE, a shop I first had the pleasure of trying just a few months earlier. Their special offering was a Kyo spicy shoyu.

二回目は何ヶ月前に初めて食べたKÜCHEという店です。KÜCHEが提供したのがKyo Spicy Shoyuでした。

The Bowl
This was a dark, roasty, garlicky shoyu. There was a little bit of a kick, but it was more salty than spicy. The noodles were medium-thin and short; just a little insubstantial for a strong soup like this. The chashu, too, was meaty but a bit tough, but as always, the Kujo green onions were a nice mix-in.

くらい系ニンニク風味の辛い醤油でした。ちょびっとピリピリがありましたけど、やっぱり塩辛い方でした。麺は細くて短くて、もうちょっと太くてよかったかなと思いました。チャーシューは旨味がすごかったですけど、ちょっと堅い目でした。このラーメンもネギが十分乗っていました。

And no better way to wash it all down than with Kuji negi ice cream.

やっぱり〆は九条ネギアイス。

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京野菜フェスティバル

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

Inoichi

I have a small handful of shops I mean to check out when I visit Kyoto. Inoichi has been on that list, but last time I tried to go there, it was randomly closed. There was room for a line, but luckily there were plenty of seats in the restaurant. They specialize in shoyu ramen, available in the dark black or light white. I decided to go for the white.

京都に一回行ってみたい店は何軒かあります。「猪一」にずっと行きたかったですけど、前回行こうとした時にたまたましまっていました。外見を見ると、列ができそうですけど、運が良くてすぐ入れました。醤油の「支那そば」が定番で、黒と白の中からあっさりとした白にしました。

The Bowl
This may have been shoyu, but if I hadn't been explicitly told, I would have guessed it was a light shio. It was thin and salty in a good way; the kind of ramen that won't wreck your stomach. The noodles were round slippery straws, good and easy to slurp. The jelly-like egg and dark, thick chunks of menma were the highlights of the toppings. Yuzu and tororo konbu were provided in addition; I'll never say no to some citrus in my soup, but the tororo konbu was a bit too close to seawater for my taste.

このラーメンは醤油なんですけど、言われていなければ、絶対塩と言っちゃいます。透き通って、さっぱりとして、お腹にすごく優しかったです。麺は啜りやすくて丸かったです。卵は特にとろけて美味かったです。メンマも気になって、分厚くて濃いめでした。ゆずととろろ昆布も置いてありました。ゆずはいつも通り好きでしたけど、とろろ昆布は昆布の味しすぎて、わたし的にちょっと苦手でした。

Would I Go Again?
It was good; I might stop in again and try the black.

おいしかったです。また行って黒を食べてみるかもしれません。

Should You Go?
If you're in Kyoto and looking for a shio-equivalent, this is a gem.

京都にいて、塩っぽいラーメンの気分なら、行ってみてください。

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猪一

Ginjo Ramen Kubota

Kyoto for me is an untapped paradise of ramen. It's not that there's so many more shops than in Osaka, it's just that I don't go often enough to appreciate them. One night I had plans in Kyoto and did some investigating for a shop to visit when I discovered Ginjo Ramen Kubota. Kubota is a miso tsukemen shop, a double rarity in Kansai. With my love for miso and tsukemen, how could I go wrong?

私には京都はラーメンの激戦区のイメージがします。大阪よりいっぱい店があるより、あまり行かないので行ったことない店が多いです。ある日に京都に予定があったのでその前にラーメンを食べるつもりでした。ネットで調べて、吟醸らーめん久保田を見かけました。味噌つけ麺専門店で、関西にそれはすごく珍しいです。味噌もつけ麺も大好きなので、行かんとあかんくなりました。

The Bowl
The soup was rich if a bit oily, a strong miso with a slight note of sweetness. There was just a tinge of spiciness; the right amount to keep it interesting. The noodles were very thick, but they slurped up the miso briskly. The chashu was a bit greasy on its own, but worked well covered in miso. The only minor flaw was at the end the soup-wari was a bit grainy from all of the miso remnants at the end.

スープはこってりで濃かったです。ちょっとだけの甘い風味がしました。じょじょ飲んだら、ピリ辛の味もしました。麺が太くてスープで飲みやすかったです。チャーシューがちょっと濃いめでしたけど、スープに浸したらうまくなりました。最後のスープ割ちょっとつぶつぶでしたけど、ぜんぜん美味しかったです。

Would I Go Again?
Yes

はい。

Should You Go?
Yes

はい。

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吟醸らーめん 久保田

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

Shinpuku Saikan

It was a Friday night and I had plans in Kyoto. They were pretty late, and near Kyoto Station, which meant that that I could hit up a ramen shop I'd been meaning to visit for a long time. Kyoto is known for its two types of shoyu ramen, an assari kind and a kotteri kind. The kotteri ramen is perhaps most associated with chain Tenkaippin, whose flagship shop I visited last year. Finally I had a chance to visit the flagship shop of the most famous shop of the assari kind: Shinpuku Saikan.

An old school shop with a line, the only bowl offered was the chuka soba. This kind of traditionalism reminded me favorable of other classic shops, like Shukaen or Ganso Nagahamaya.

金曜日の夜で今日に予定がありました。時間があったので、京都駅の近くにあるラーメン屋さんに行けるかなと思っていました。京都は二つのラーメンの種類で有名です。こってりの醤油だったらひょっとしたら天下一品のチェーン店が一番有名かもしれなくて、去年本店に行きました。ようやくあっさり系が有名な新福菜館に行く機会が出てきました。

「中華そばや」って感じの新福菜館は中華そばぐらいしか提供していません。前行った朱華園と元祖長浜屋に似ていたかな。

The Bowl
Medium yellow noodles, dark shoyu broth, and thin slices of chashu fit the bill of a classic chuka soba shop in my eyes. The broth's hoisin-sauce style flavor and saltiness was too strong to drink in large quantities, but just strong enough to provide a powerful flavor to the soft, tender noodles. The chashu was pretty tough, but the fatty slices were salty and brimming with flavor. This kind of simple, salty ramen is where a lot of mediocre shops go wrong, but good, classic shops nail it.

中太い黄色い麺、暗い醤油スープ、細いチャーシューがあるとやっぱり中華そばですね。海鮮醤っぽいなスープは濃くていっぱい飲む感じがなかったですけど、柔らかい麺に味つけることができました。チャーシューはちょっとかみにくかったですけど、うまかったです。こんなシンプル塩辛いラーメンだったら普通の店はよくミスますけど、クラシック的な店がよく行けます。

Would I Go Again?
Yes.

はい。

Should You Go?
Yes, it's a Kyoto classic.

京都の定番で行った方がいいです。

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新福菜館

Kyoto Kujo Negi Festival

I had a free Sunday and wanted to do something outdoors with some friends while it was still warm. Originally we planned to go hiking, and that plan devolved into hitting up a food festival somewhere. We chose the Kyoto Kujo Negi Festival, a festival celebrating Kyoto's delicious green onions. Unbeknownst to me, there was a ramen showing as part of that festival. Need I say more?

暇な日曜日に友達と一緒にどっかに行きたかったです。元々ハイキングしようかなと思ていましたけど、それからフードフェスに行くことになりました。友達に調べてもらった京都九条ネギフェスにしました。運がよくて、そのフェスの中に、ラーメン対戦がありました。

There was a contest to see how many bowls of ramen these guys could eat in a set time.

ラーメンを食べるフードファイターもいたみたいでした。

Shops from all around Japan, all featuring Kujo negi.

全国のいろいろな店が九条ネギが乗っているラーメンを提供しました。

When you get an opportunity like this, you don't waste it. So I hit two shops. The first was JinGu, from Tokyo, showing a gyukotsu ramen. And as if that wasn't enough, I stopped by Kisshomaru, a Kyoto shop, after for some shrimp tonkotsu ramen.

こんな機会があれば、一杯しか飲まないともったいないです。で、二杯飲みました。一つ目は牛骨を提供した東京からの「JinGu」という店でした。二つ目は海老豚骨ラーメンを作った吉匠丸という京都の店でした。

The Bowl

JinGu
This was a beefy, garlicky gyukotsu bowl. It wasn't sweet like other gyukotsu I've had before, but it wasn't too heavy either. The noodles had a bit of the garlic flavor to them, too. The roast beef on top was something I'm not used to in ramen; but it went with the theme and tasted good.

ビーフ的なニンニクっぽい牛骨ラーメンでした。他の食べたことある牛骨ラーメンと違って甘くなかったですけど、重くもなかったです。麺もちょっとニンニクの味がしました。乗っていたローストビーフはちょっと変わっていましたけど、テーマに合って、おいしかったです。

Kisshomaru　吉匠丸
If I've only had gyukotsu ramen a couple times before, I've never had shrimp tonkotsu before. Lemon, seaweed, chashu, greens, and a potato on top for good measure. The broth was good and very shrimpy; the added flavors of the lemon and the seaweed worked really well, too. A broth this flavorful is often better in festival-sized mini bowls than big bowls, but in that size, it was great.

牛骨ラーメンラーメンは二、三回ぐらいしか食べたことありませんけど、海老豚骨ラーメンは初めてでした。レモン、海苔、チャーシュー、野菜、芋が全部乗っていました。スープの味が強い海老でしたけど、レモンとのりを一緒に食べたら、さらにうまくなってきました。

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RAMEN DINING JinGu
吉匠丸。

Masutani

A while back, a friend told me about a new campaign Yahoo started running called the Ramen Ambassadors.  They were recruiting foreigners in Japan who have a passion for ramen.  Well, I applied and I got in!  I've advertised on facebook already, but check it out if you haven't already!

One of my duties as Osaka's ambassador was to make a video as a promotion.  As Osaka's ambassador (most of the others are up in Tokyo), I decided to go around Osaka and Kyoto and show off different landmarks and nearby ramen shops.  Of course this meant that I had to stop somewhere to eat ramen too.

It had been a long time since I ate in Kyoto Station's Ramen Koji.  Since this was for the video, I decided the best place to go was Kyoto's famous chain Masutani.  They are famous for their shoyu broth with a chicken soup base.

I'll post details below, but check out my promotional video here!

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ますたに
901 Higashishiokōjichō

The Bowl
The soup was a fatty, oily shoyu.  It was a little garlicky, and generally reminiscent of the Jiro-style.  The thing about Jiro-style bowls, is that they are usually more about quality than about quantity.  Without the quantity, Masutani felt like a fairly generic chain-y bowl.  The noodles were thin, straight, and springy, and the chashu was pretty mediocre.

Would I Go Again?
No way.  There are better places in Kyoto Station and better representatives of Kyoto.

Should You Go?
Nah.

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.

Sumire

A couple months earlier I went to visit Tokushima, and my friend there told me that in Kyoto there was a place called Ramen Koji, a single place where there are branches of many favorite ramen shops, similar to Ramen Stadium in Fukuoka.  That alone made it my goal to go check it out.  Then he mentioned that his favorite ramen place was a Sapporo Miso chain called Sumire, that happened to have a shop in Ramen Koji.

Since then, I've always meant to go, but while Kyoto is fairly close to Osaka, it still takes about an hour each way, which along with last train makes it hard to go on a weekday.  Finally, though, a friend from Tokyo came to visit, which was a more than good enough excuse to go check out Kyoto, and stop for ramen before leaving.

They just added two places to Ramen Koji bringing the total to eight, and with this post I've been to but one of them.  I hope that number will increase as I write this blog.

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すみれ
Kyoto Station
Sumire is in Kyoto Station's Ramen Koji, on the tenth floor of the Isetan building.

The Bowl
It had been a while since I had a miso bowl.  For some reason everything I have had recently seems to be tonkotsu or shoyu...
I welcomed the change with Sumire's rich miso broth, which was a little grainy and held thin, springy noodles.  There were tons of toppings; crunchy menma, small cubes of chashu and ground pork that was interspersed with the noodles.  At the end the broth was a bit salty, but the left over pork and bean sprouts that added to the last drop's flavor more than made up for it.

Would I Go Again?
Yes, it was great, but I'd probably try one of the other seven shops in Ramen Koji first.

Should You Go?
Yes, it's right in Kyoto station and you really can't go wrong.