Spring is the time for cherry blossoms. Everyone in Japan loosens up, grabs some beer or umeshu at a convenience store, and brings it to the park to sit under the trees and relax. The only thing more enjoyable than this, is making sure you have a full stomach to take it all in. With that in mind my friend and I headed to Menya Keiji, a shop by Osaka Business Park, not far from Osaka Castle.
Menya Keiji had a variety of tonkotsu and gyokai tonkotsu bowls; they ranked them by their popularity among guys and girls. The gyokai tonkotsu ramen looked the most interesting to me, so I ordered that one, which was the #1 ramen picked by girls.
春は桜の季節です。日本のみんなは休みを取って、ビールか梅酒をコンビニで買って公園に行って木の下で飲みながらのんびりします。そうするならその前に食べないと危ないので友達と一緒に大阪ビジネスパークにある「麺屋慶次」に行ってみました。
いろいろな豚骨と魚介豚骨のラーメンがあって、男と女の人気さでソートされていました。わたしは女の一番人気の魚介豚骨ラーメンにしました。
The complimentary appetizer
お通し
The Bowl
The broth started out as a good mix of deep tonkotsu flavors and a balancing gyokai soup. It was a good combination that's seen much more often in tsukemen, so I was happy to have this in ramen, even if the thick, wavy noodles would have been more suited to a thick tsukemen broth. The main issue creating a ceiling for this ramen, though, was the salt content. What started out as a tinge of salt underneath the double soup slowly crept up and by the end prevented me from drinking any more of the broth. I'm glad I was on my way to get some drinks afterwards, because it was tough to wash my mouth out of all that sodium.
スープは一口でこってり豚骨と魚介のだぶるスープの味がしました。よくできているコンビで普通はつけ麺にあるのでこんな味のラーメンがあるとよかったです。太縮れ麺もよかったですけど、やっぱりラーメンよりつけ麺に合います。一番気になるのが塩分でした。最初にちょびっと塩の味がしましたけど、最後にほとんど塩しか味しませんでした。
Would I Go Again?
I don't plan on it.
また行かないと思います。
Should You Go?
It's alright, and it's one of the only shops in the area, so it's passable if you're at Osaka Business Park.
大阪ビジネスパークにそんなにラーメン屋さんはないのでそこにいるといいかもしれません。
Information
麺匠 慶次
