Niboshi Ramen Rarara

On one lazy Sunday I needed to get out of my house, and used that as an excuse to hit up a shop outside my normal radius. I visited Niboshi Ramen Rarara, a shop founded by an alum of Tamagoro, and got their dried sardine ramen.

だらだらとしている日曜日に家を出かけないとなと思っていて、まあまあ遠くにあるラーメン屋さんに行こうかなと決めました。「玉五郎」で終業した人の「二星らーめん ららら」というダジャレの名前の店に行って、味玉煮干しらーめんを頼みました。

The Bowl
As in the Tamagoro mould, the ramen was a cloudy, salty, sardine broth that was thick but far from impenetrable. The noodles were square and firm, in a good size to fit the saltiness of the soup. The chashu and egg were pretty simple when it came to flavor, but the egg was nice and creamy, and the dash of pepper on the pork went a long way.

玉五郎と似ていて、濁っている煮干し系のとろみがある塩辛いスープでした。麺が四角てまあまあ太くて、スープの塩分と合っていました。チャーシューと味玉の味が薄めでしたけど、玉子がクリーミーでチャーシューに乗っている胡椒が効いていました。

Would I Go Again?
This was solid but I don't think I'll make it out here again.

うまかったですけどまた行く機会がなさそうです。

Should You Go?
It's a solid addition to the Fuse ramen scene, but maybe not worth the trek out there.

この店を含めて布施がだんだん激戦区になりますけど、市内の人にはちょっと行きづらいかな。

Information
二星らーめん ららら

Sumiyoshi

Ever since I went to Koyoken, I'd been curious to try neighboring old-school Takaida-kei shop Sumiyoshi. My brother was still around, so together we made the trek east to Fuse. Sumiyoshi was very small, and reminded me of Ganso Nagahamaya in Fukuoka in that, unlike some new posh ramen shops, Sumiyoshi feels like it's filled with people from around the area just looking for a good bowl of cheap noodles.

光洋軒に行ってからその近くにある住吉という高井田系の店に行ってみたいなと思っていました。兄がまだいたので一緒に布施まで歩いて行きました。住吉は狭くて、福岡にある元祖長浜屋みたいに新しいオシャレな店じゃなくてクラシック的においしくて安いラーメンを食べたい客様が入っていました。

Information
住吉
Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Higashinari-ku, Fukaeminami, ３丁目２０−８

The Bowl
Like other Takaida-style bowls I had before, the broth was a light, but sharp and salty shoyu. The noodles were very thick and very firm. They tasted good along with the saltiness of the soup. The chashu was alright and the menma was very flavorful.

高井田系ラーメンらしくスープが塩辛くて飲みやすいしょうゆでした。麺が太くてスープの味と一緒においしくなりました。チャーシューはよくて、メンマが厚かったです。

Would I Go Again?
Maybe, it was fun to bring my brother there.

兄と一緒に行くのが面白かったのでまた行こうかな。

Should You Go?
Takaida-kei is worth trying, and this is as good a shop as any if you make it out to Fuse.

高井田系ラーメンが食べる価値があるので、もし布施にいたら行ったらいいかもしれません。

Koyoken

Takaida.  What was an old bus stop, is now a subway stop, and will forever remain an Osakan style of ramen.  Takaida-kei ramen is a classic chuka soba, simple shoyu ramen.  What makes it stand out is that the broth is a much darker, richer, soy sauce, and that the noodles are fat and straight.  This style is not famous at all, but as an Osakan ramen amateur, it's come across my radar a number of times.  I've tried the most famous chain, Kinguemon, but I've always wanted to try one of the original places.

Koyoken was one of the first, having been established in 1953.  I walked all the way out to Fuse, expecting that a place of lore like this would have a huge line all day long.  Nope, there was only one other customer in the shop when I got there, and no one else came while I ate.

Information
光洋軒
3-20 Fukaeminami

The Bowl
Something tasted very "raw" about this shoyu broth.  It wasn't as dark as the other Takaida-kei shops I had been to.  It was much saltier, though, and therefore harder to drink.  It kind of tasted like what would happen if you took the sauce of some Chinese stir-fry dish and turned it into a soup.  The noodles were a bit better, being fat and straight they absorbed the flavor of the broth and just the right amount of salt.  The menma was alright, and the chashu was standard.

Would I Go Again?
I'm glad I tried it but I can understand why people flock to the newer shops.  I'd like to go back to Takaida, but I think I'll hit one of the other classic shops.

Should You Go?
Eh, it's far.  I'm curious about the other shops in the area, but you'd be better off heading to Kinguemon or Marujoe in town.

Mikaeri Ramen

I've only been so far east in Osaka before, so I decided to push the boundaries.  I gave myself a decent amount of time and headed to Shinfukae for one of the few places that is supposed to be open between lunch and dinner on a Sunday.  I arrived to a restaurant with all its lights off.  I was hungry and in the middle of nowhere, but luckily I had Ramen Walker with me.  I looked up a place that was a bit farther east, and would be open after the additional time it would take me to get there.  All the way to Fuse Station, a place I've never been before, and is not even in Osaka city.

Mikaeri is a branch of a shop from Wakayama.  The ramen was available available in thin, regular or rich.  I would normally go with rich soup, but according to the menu, the thin soup has a light chicken base, the rich has a chicken and pork base, and the regular is a mix of two.  Well, when you have a tough time deciding, I say get both, so regular it was.

Information
みかえりらぁめん
Ōsaka-fu, Higashiōsaka-shi, Ajiro, １丁目１９−６
Mikaeri is directly south of Fuse Station, on the west side of the street.

The Bowl
The broth was a very thin and chicken-tasting soup.  There was something very familiar about the taste of it; it tasted maybe more like the broth of nabe than it did ramen.  They allow you to choose which noodles you want, and the flat noodles I ordered were easy to gulp down.  Most of the toppings were nothing special, but the one that stood out is the ball of processed chashu and garlic in the center.  I started out by sampling it directly for a delicious taste of garlicky goodness, then afterwards mixed it into the broth.

Would I Go Again?
Yeah, this ramen tasted different from others I've had before, and the garlic chashu clump was great.

Should You Go?
It's not a must-go, but if you ever find yourself east of the border it's certainly worth checking out.