Wabito

Tennoji is not normally considered a central location for ramen in Osaka, but a new shop Wabito may be the first of many to change this. I biked down their on a day off to try their Wabito Ramen.

天王寺はラーメン激戦区と考えられていませんけど、たまに 気になる店できています。「和人らーめん」という店ができて、「和人らーめん」というメニューを食べに行きました。

All the utensils and condiments you need are hidden away in drawers

お箸などが引き出しに入っています 

The Bowl
This was ostensibly shoyu ramen, but the broth was more like a super light seafood dashi. It was so simple and weightless it was like drinking air. The noodles were curly and short; a little thick for the broth, but the main issue was that they clumped together in hardened parts in the soup that I had to pull apart with my chopsticks. The chicken in the bowl was a bit strange; it had a taste that reminded me a little bit of citrus fruits and a little bit of the smell of dishwasher detergent.

醤油ラーメンなんですけど、すっごくあっさりとした魚介出汁の感じでした。本当にかるーくて、空気を飲んでいたかのようでした。麺は短いめの縮れ麺でした。ちょっと硬くて絡んで、お箸で取りにくかったです。鶏チャーシューもなんか面白い味がしました。あっさりとした シトラス風味がしました。

Would I Go Again?
The broth was good, but there was enough strange with the bowl that I won't be running back.

スープが美味しかったですけど、麺とかはちょっと変わっていたので、また行くかどうかは迷います。

Should You Go?
You should be able to find better bowls closer to the center of the city.

やっぱりもっと市内の中心にラーメン屋さんが見つかりやすいです。

Information
麺屋 和人

Tantan

For today's trip I decided to go to Tantan in Tennoji, a sister shop to Senba Tantanmen in Yotsubashi. Just like the former shop, they had a variety of different styles, including a mild white sesame bowl. I had to go with the spicy one, though, so I went with the Taiwan-style red tantanmen.

今日のラーメン屋さんは天王寺にある「担担」でした。船場担々麺の姉妹店みたいでした。その店と同じように、いろいろな担々麺を提供していました。やっぱり辛いのを食べたかったので台湾式赤い担々麺にしました。

The Bowl
As advertised, the bowl of ramen reminded me more of Taiwanese beef noodle soup than of traditional ramen. The broth was thin and dark, spicy, and with small pieces of pork and chives floating about. The noodles were short, curly, and chewy, and the miso diced pork was good, but the hard-boiled egg felt a bit out of place.

名前通り台湾牛肉麺にすごく似ていました。スープはあっさりした黒かったです。麺が細くて縮れていました。ニラもメンチも散らされていてうまかったですけど、玉子があまりあわなかったです。

Would I Go Again?
It was good, but I don't think I'll make another stop.

美味しかったですけど、他の行ってみたい店があります。

Should You Go?
If you're looking for some Chinese-style tantanmen, check it out.

中華っぽい担々麺に興味あるなら行ってみてください。

Information
中華厨房 担担

1968 Kotan

Earlier in the month I visited Kamukura, Osaka's most famous ramen chain. Wanting to keep up with my resolution to visit more Osaka chains, this time I went to Kotan. One of my friends says good things about Kotan, but I have never been motivated enough to go. I happened to be in Tennoji's Abeno Q's Mall one day, so I stopped in the food court for a bowl of shoyu ramen with gyoza at 1968 Kotan.

この前大阪の有名なチェーン店神座にようやく行きました。新年の抱負を続けるように今回古潭というチェーン店に行きました。友達においしいと言われましたけど、今まで行く気がぜんぜんありませんでした。たまたまあべのQsモールにいたので１９６８古潭に行ってしょうゆらーめんぎょうざセットを頼みました。

The Bowl
When I visit mediocre-looking chains, I remember why I don't go very often. Kotan's broth was oily and generic; edible, but nothing special. The medium noodles were passable, and the chashu was standard and not exciting. I would have appreciated this meal more when I first came to Japan, but now that I have a number of good shops under my belt, I can't go back. The gyoza were decent, though.

普通っぽいチェーン店に行くとなぜそんなに行かないか思い出します。スープは油っぽくて普通でした。麺は中太くてチャーシューはまあまあでした。来日したばかりな頃にこんならーめんがめっちゃ好きだと思いますけど、今おいしいラーメンをいっぱい食べたので口が肥えてしまいました。餃子がまあまあうまかったですけど。

Would I Go Again?
No.

いいえ。

Should You Go?
No.

いいえ。

Information
1968古たん

Ramen Tatsu

Ramen Tatsu is a shop that had been on my list for a while. At the end of 2012 it sprung up as another fish-based ramen shop, and it looked interesting. I even headed over to Uehonmachi to pay it a visit, only to find it was closed for no reason. But here I am, back again in Uehonmachi, and it's time to finally try it. They offered the Tatsu ramen and the "Goku", super, Tatsu ramen. I went with the Goku.

しばらくらー麺達に行きたかったです。２０１２年末に出来て、面白そうな魚介系ラーメン屋さんでした。上本町まで行きましたけど、たまたましまっていたので、入れませんでした。でも、ようやく上本町に戻って行けました。達らー麺と極達らー麺がありました。もちろん極にしました。

The Bowl
What an interesting bowl. The broth was clear, which normally makes me think of a light, shio ramen, but it was instead a thick, gyokai tonkotsu soup. It was a really good balance of meaty and fishy; similar to some of my favorite places, but leaning more towards the fish end. The noodles were thin and soft; they stuck together, making them easy to eat in clumps. The chashu was barbecued right in front of me with a blowtorch, and tasted as good as it looked.

やっぱ面白いラーメンでした。スープは透明でした。普通に透明なスープをみると、あっさりな塩のイメージがするんですけど、このラーメンはとろりがある魚介豚骨でした。バランスがよく出来ました。他の好きな魚介系ラーメンみたいでしたけど、さらに魚の味がしました。麺は細くて柔らかくて、食べやすかったです。目の前で炙ったチャーシューは見た目のようにうまかったです。

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

おいしかったのでまた行きたいです。

Should You Go?
Yes, Tatsu helps round out a weirdly delicious Uehonmachi.

ラー麺達のおかげで、上本町がだんだんおいしい店が増えてきました。

Information
らー麺 達

Kumagoro

Often I do a lot of research before picking a ramen shop, making sure I'll eat something good or at least interesting. This time, I found myself by Tennoji Station with about an hour to kill, and I needed dinner. I looked around the restaurant areas in a couple of the malls and decided on Kumagoro.

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らーめん熊五郎ステーション店
10-48 Hideninchō

The Bowl
The broth was a light, fishy, shoyu. It was simple and passable, but there was nothing special about it. The noodles were medium, and OK, and the thin slices of chashu were a little bland. I wish there was more to say about this bowl, but it was neither very bad nor very good.

Would I Go Again?
Nope.

Should You Go?
Nope.

Tosai Nishiki Ramen

It was a Sunday evening, and for some reason I felt like walking to Tennoji.  There's a few places around there, and I picked one that looked pretty good (and happened to be open).

The place is tiny and there was just one other person in the shop: the old woman who ran it.  She was very kind and after chatting with her for a little bit I ordered the Nishiki Ramen.

Information
当才 にしきらーめん
Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Abeno-ku, Abenosuji, ２丁目４−４８

The Bowl
The broth was a fairly standard tonkotsu.  It was hot and oily, and had a bit of a roasty flavor to it, similar to ra-yu, though it wasn't spicy.  The noodles were very thin and soft, and in addition to menma and onions, there was some pretty good, tender chashu.

Would I Go Again?
Nishiki wasn't super special but it was pretty solid.  I'll probably go to the other shops in Tennoji first, but when I run out of those I'll come back here.

Should You Go?
If you're in Tennoji, there's a few decent places you can go.  This is one of them.

Kyuji

I spent a long day traveling in Asuka, a small town in Nara, so when I got back to Osaka I was pretty hungry.  The train came back to Tennoji, so after walking around for a while, I found this baseball-themed tsukemen shop, which was relatively new and had a ramen magazine posted outside advertising for it.  I went in.

You could choose from a number of flavors and thicknesses, but I went for the ultra-thick Kyuji tsukemen, with everything in it.

Information
つけ麺 球児
Ōsaka-fu Ōsaka-shi Chūō-ku Nanba ４丁目２−７
It's in the restaurant section of one of the malls right outside the station.

The Bowl
The soup was ridiculously thick.  It's almost hard to call it a broth; it was much more of a dip.  I love my super thick tsukemen with the fat noodles that Kyuji served, though, so it was pretty good.  They barbecued the chashu on a grill right behind the counter, and it came out nice and juicy like a good piece of American pulled pork.  My main complaint was that although it was thick and fatty, the broth didn't have a ton of flavor.

Would I Go Again?
I'm not going to rush, but I would be interested in trying the other varieties of tsukemen.

Should You Go?
If you like really thick tsukemen, then this place will be up your alley.  I don't know all that much around Tennoji, but this is a decent place in the area.