Nidaime Ajito

Any day is a good day for spicy food! I stopped at Nidaime Ajito, a hole-in-the-wall tantanmen shop for their gold sesame tantanmen.

辛い物を食べる日はいい日ですね！今回二代目 AJITOに行ってきて、金ごま担々麵を食べました。

The Bowl
This was redder than many other bowls I've had, and tasted primarily of smokey rayu chili oil. The noodles were thin and straight, better for chewing than slurping. It reminded me of some of the noodle dishes I've had in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

他のラーメンより真っ赤で、主に燻製香りのラー油の味がしました。麺はストレートな細麺で、啜るより噛みやすかったです。台湾と香港で食べた麺料理になんか似ていた気がしました。

Would I Go Again?


Should You Go?


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二代目 AJITO

Ebi Tori Menzo

A new shop in Sakaisuji Honmachi opened. It's called Ebi Tori Menzo, or "shrimp and chicken noodle warehouse". It was a tough choice between the shrimp tsukemen and chicken shio, but I was in a tsukemen mood so I went with the former.

堺筋本町駅の辺で新しい店ができました：「海老鶏麺蔵」。海老つけ麺と鶏塩ラーメンを迷いましたけど、つけ麺お気分だったのでつけ麺にしました。

The Bowl
The soup here was a thick, orange paste, flowing with shrimp, which went well with the square, grainy noodles. But that wasn't the only way to enjoy the broth. There was a baguette for dipping, a chunk of chashu, and a smorgasbord of vegetables. With the potato, tomato, lemon, and greens mixed in, the meal changed into a vegetable potage with shrimp notes. I love when a bowl gives itself new flavors as it goes on, and this was quite a transformation.

スープはオレンジトロ〜とした海老ペーストでした。麺は四角てつぶつぶとしました。でもスープの色々な楽しみ方がありました。バケットをはじめ、チャーシューの一枚もじゅんの野菜が付いていました。さつま芋、トマト、レモンなどを入れたら、海老風味のベジポタージに変換しました。食べながら変わるラーメンがお気に入りで、このラーメンがすごく変わってうまかったです。

Would I Go Again?
Yes. I have to try the chicken, after all.

今度鶏塩ラーメンを食べてみたいです。

Should You Go?
Yes.

一回行ったほうがいいです。

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海老鶏麺蔵

Yamafuji

My scans for new shops picked up Yamafuji, in Sakaisuji Honmachi. I didn't know too much about it, but it was in a good location, so I ambled over to check it out. Giving nothing away, the ramen was called "Yamafuji Ramen", leaving even the style a mystery.

ニューオープンの店をチェックした時に堺筋本町にある「やまふじ」が気になりました。そこまで詳しく書いてありませんでしたけど、行きやすかったので行ってみようとしました。メニュー名は「やまふじらーめん」なので味も謎でした。

The Bowl
It turns out the ramen was a seafood pork bone broth. The soup was grainy: a lid of hot oil containing very peppery seafood flavors in the vein of Osaka classic Tamagoro. The curly noodles went down easy, but were just a bit too thick to be coated by the spiced oil of the broth. There were two thick slices of pork that were tough, but nice and simple. Overall solid, and there was a bonus ochazuke addition of rice and seaweed at the end. It was a nice if gratuitous bonus.

結局豚骨魚介ラーメンでした。スープはつぶつぶとしました。透き通った油をはじめ、胡椒などの香辛料がかかりました。大阪のチェーン店「玉五郎」の味にいていました。ちぢれ麺が啜りやすかったですけど、あっさりスープにちょっと太めでした。チャーシューが厚くて、シンプルな味がしました。全体的に美味しかったで、最後にお茶漬けをもらえました。それもうまかったですけど、あの時点でお腹がもういっぱいでした。

Would I Go Again?
It was alright but I don't need to stop by again.

美味しかったですけど、また行かないかな。

Should You Go?
I would push this restaurant in particular for Tamagoro fans.

玉五郎ファンにお勧めします。

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らーめん やまふじ

Fukuryu Rapas Bunke Wadachi

After my previous attempt and failure to go to Fukuryu Rapas Bunke, I had the itch to go back. As soon as I had a free moment, I headed over to Sakaisuji Honmachi to try the strange ramen pasta fusion place. They offered clam, curry, and chicken rapas. Without having any real idea which one to go for, I picked the first on the menu, the clam.

この前「ふく流ラパスWADACHI」行ってみようとしましたけど、結局しまっていたのでまた行きたかったです。時間があるときに、堺筋本町まで行って変わっている店に行きました。アサリ、カレー、チキンのラパスがありました。どれがいいかわからなかったので、最初のアサリにしました。

The Bowl
What is rapas? It turns out it's a half-way point between pasta and abura soba. Looking at the bowl, you would expect it to be a wacky abura soba, complete with thick noodles, onions, and some chewy, tangy pork. But mixing the tare in, and summarily the rice and tomatoes meant for the end of the meal betrays a garlic clam sauce that would be fit for a light pasta dish. Is it ramen or pasta? I'm not sure, but it was pretty good.

ラパスとはなんだ？パスタと油そばの中間みたいです。ぱっと見ると、油そばっぽいです。麺が太くて、ネギと歯ごたえがいいチャーシューが乗っています。でもたれとトマトご飯をかき混ぜたら、パスタらしいニンニクアサリソースが味わえます。ラーメンですか？パスタですか？わかりませんけど、一応うまかったです。

Would I Go Again?
This was very strange. So yes.

変わっている店でしたね。だからまた行きたいです。

Should You Go?
Yes.

行ったらいいです。

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ふく流ラパス 分家wadachi

Ippai Ippai

Ramen collaboration Strike-ken in Tenroku was such a hit that the manager of that shop decided to try to make it on his own. The result is Matsuyamachi's very own Ippai Ippai. I had tried to go to this shop several times, but their hours written on their website didn't really match the times they were open. Finally one Saturday morning I called them up to make sure they were open, and biked over to try their shoyu paitan.

天六にあるラーメンコラボの店「ストライク軒」はうまく行っていたので店長が独立しようとしました。松屋町にある「いっぱいいっぱい」を作ることになりました。何回も行こうとしましたけど営業時間が変でした。ようやくある土曜日に電話して空いていると言われたので自転車で行って白湯醤油を食べてみました。

Opening congratulations from Strike-ken

ストライク軒からの記念プレゼント

The Bowl
The broth was not as thick as it looks, but that says nothing for how bursting it was with flavor. It was a milky chicken soup; powerful but still balanced. The thin, soft noodles sucked up just enough of the broth to keep the theme consistent, and the menma's strong flavors stood out through the soup. There is something magical about the balance that Ippai Ippai managed to hit: deep but just light enough to be addictive. I left wanting more.

スープは見た目よりドロドロ感がなかったんですけど、味が十分に濃かったです。まろやかな鶏ガラスープでこってりなのにバランスしました。麺が細くて柔らかくてメンマが逆に長くて強い味がしました。このラーメンのバランスがちょうど良くて本当に癖になります。もっと食べたいです。

Would I Go Again?
Yes.

はい。

Should You Go?
Yes.

はい。

Information
いっぱいいっぱい

Hanabusa

When looking through this year's issue of Ramen Walker when it first came out, a few specific bowls caught my eye. Some I've been to, some are far, but some are in a convenient enough location that I can walk there on my way home from work. Hanabusa is located near Sakaisuji Honmachi Station, right in the center of the city. Unlike wackier ramen shops I've been to recently, Hanabusa offers a classic if fish-filled chuka soba.

最新のラーメンウォーカーが出たときに、気になったラーメン屋さんが何軒かありました。行ったことがあるのもあるし、遠いのもあるし、会社と家の間にある店もあります。はなぶさは後者で堺筋本町にあります。最近変わったラーメンと違ってはなぶさは魚介系の中華そばを提供しています。

The Bowl
The bowl was a solid shoyu ramen, with a bit of essence of fish making it stand out more than other shoyu. The square noodles went down easy, but the soup was a bit too thin to take advantage of the noodles' sponginess. On the other hand, the big piece of chashu was dark and juicy, and a wonderful counter to the light ramen. My main complaint is that the flavor wore thin towards the end, leaving me wanting something small to change it up a bit.

おいしい醤油ラーメンですが、魚が入っていたのでちょっとユニークでした。麺がすすりやすかったですけど、スープが薄めでしたので、麺がちょっと太ったかなと思っていました。一方、でかいチャーシューがジューシーでさっぱりなラーメンに合いました。うまかったですけど、最後の変にちょっとあきて、なんかちょっと入れて味変わるようにしたかったです。

Would I Go Again?
Nah.

たぶんまた行きません。

Should You Go?
It's not a bad place for the area, but if you're looking for this kind of ramen I would recommend Rakunijin first.

堺筋本町にはいいですけど、こんなラーメンを食べたければ、落二神に行ったらいいです。

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麺屋はなぶさ

Kyosuke

There were still a number of places in the new issue of Ramen Walker I hadn't tried yet, and one was just a little bit of a detour off the way home from work. Kyosuke specialized in fishy ramen, in particular, a fishy chicken paitan. I hadn't had such a wacky combination since my last visit to Menya Taku almost a year before, so I was interested.

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麺屋 きょうすけ
Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Chūō-ku, Azuchimachi, １丁目４−５

The Bowl
The broth was rich and cloudy. It tasted strongly of fish, and it did remind me a lot of Menya Taku. The noodles were medium and firm, and like the creamy egg and thin menma, were quite tasty. There was on thick piece of barbecued chashu; it tasted almost like yakiniku. A rich memory of a rich bowl.

Would I Go Again?
Yeah, this place was good.

Should You Go?
If you're near Sakaisuji Honmachi, check it out.

Shingetsu

It had been a while since I had ramen, and I had been hankering for some.  I found one day where I wasn't busy, and walked home from work.  I had never heard of it before, but I picked out a place on the way home, and Shingetsu was it.

They offered a number of chicken paitan ramen bowls, both shio and shoyu.  I was deciding between the shoyu paitan and the gyokai shoyu paitan, but in the end went with the former because the staff suggested that one was richer.

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新月
8-8 Honmachibashi

The Bowl
As promised, the broth was quite rich.  It wasn't super thick, but it was a strong shoyu with a bit of chicken flavor.  The noodles were medium-thin, firm, and very hot.  The chashu was served as a couple of thick slices which, like the broth, were very rich.  The bowl was smaller than normal, but it was very flavorful, which left me satisfied but not bloated.

Would I Go Again?
Everything about the ramen was great, save for maybe the egg, so if I'm ever in the area again I might stop by.

Should You Go?
If you're near Sakaisuji Honmachi Station for some reason, definitely stop by.