Rekishi wo Kizame

I'm not in the mood for Jiro-kei ramen every day, but every once in a while I enjoy giving it a try. This time I stopped at maybe Osaka's most famous Jiro-kei shop, the Teradamachi branch of Rekishi wo Kizame. It was a greasy, messy place, filled with young men and the smell of garlic and oil. I ordered the aptly named "ramen".

毎日次郎系の気分じゃありませんけど、たまに食べたくなります。今回大阪の中にかなり有名な法の「歴史を刻め」の寺田町店に行ってきました。ごちゃごちゃな店で、少年とニンニクのにおいだらけでした。ただの「ラーメン」を頼みました。

The Bowl
The broth was a sharp, garlicky shoyu, captured at its best by the chunky, curly, glutinous noodles. The chashu was enormous too, but didn't quite capture the essence of the bowl the same way the noodles did. I was destroyed by the oil and raw amount of food, but I don't regret it.

濃いめのニンニク臭い醤油スープで、極太くて縮れ麺と一緒に食べるのがバランスが良くてうまかったです。チャーシューはデカかったですけど、やっぱり麺のバランスのほうがお気に入りでした。最終的に油と量がしんどかったですけど、食べる甲斐がありました。

Would I Go Again?


Should You Go?


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ラーメン荘 歴史を刻め

Karakuchi Abura Niku Soba Hirudora

Hirudora, a spicy ramen shop, has appeared and disappeared from Nipponbashi, but a version in Tsuruhashi appeared recently. I went by shortly after opening, and ordered this shop's specialty: the spicy shoyu niku soba.

辛いラーメン専門店「ひるドラ」の日本橋本店ができたり閉まったりしていますけど、最近鶴橋支店ができました。できてからすぐ行って、名物の辛口炙り肉ソバ醤油を注文しました。

Opening orchids from Kinsei

きんせいから開店記念の胡蝶蘭

From Mugiyu and Buta Kong

麦ゆとぶたコングから

From Dogyan

どぎゃんから

From Wasshoi

わっしょいから

The Bowl
As promised, this bowl was full of spice. It was covered in oil too; the whole thing smelled and tasted of hot pepper. The noodles were thick and square strands of pepper, essentially. Not to be bested by the oily soup, there was tons of fatty pork, too. There was a piece of juicy stewed pork, in addition to some thin but tougher pork rib. In fact, the whole thing was covered in pork back fat, which tempered the spice and oil of the soup.

期待した通りスパイシーでした。唐辛子臭くて、油もすごかったです。麺は中太くてしかくて胡椒の味がしました。スープだけじゃなくて、油っこいチャーシューもありました。ジューシーな角煮をはじめ、硬め豚バラがいっぱい乗っていました。背油も遠慮なく散らばっていて、それでちょっとだけ辛さが収まれました。

Would I Go Again?
I might, if I'm feeling a little spice and a lot of oil.

辛くて、油っこいものの気分にまた行くかもしれません。

Should You Go?
I would recommend Hirudora for anyone making the rounds on the spicy ramen circuit.

辛いラーメン専門家におすすめです。

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辛口炙り肉ソバ ひるドラ

Fukuryu Wadachi Sohonke

Wadachi has been a recent favorite shop of mine, and on this day I visited their second shop in Teradacho. A change up from my visits to the main shop, I ordered the sardine ramen.

最近轍がかなり好きで、今回寺田町支店に行ってみました。本店の定番と違って、特製煮干ラーメンにしました。

The Bowl
This ended up being similar if a tad lighter to a shop I love, Nagi. The oil-covered broth was hot, and covered in fish powder to give it that extra punch. The noodles stood out as well, thick and gleaming, covered in pork fat from the broth.

東京の大好きな凪に近かったですけど、ほんのり飲みやすかったです。スープの上に油が多くて、熱くて、魚粉が抜群でした。麺も気になりました。太って、背油を拾って、キラーとしました。

Would I Go Again?
Yes.

はい。

Should You Go?
You should go to at least one branch of Wadachi.

轍の支店または本店に一回行くべきです。

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ふく流らーめん轍 総本家

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。

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麺屋 和人

Tuna

In Uehonmachi, a new shop, "Tuna" has opened. Their name is 綱, pronounced "tsuna" in Japanese, but I guess they chose "Tuna" because they make seafood ramen? Wrong. Straight up shoyu chuka soba for this joint, but what's in a name, anyway?

上本町に「綱」という店ができました。綱の字何ですけど、英字で「TUNA」と書いてあります。魚系ラーメンだからかな？違います。中華そば専門店です。でも、名前は何でもいいじゃないですか？

The Bowl
This ramen was reminiscent of Takaida-kei bowls, the super dark and salty shoyu from the east of Osaka. Unlike those bowls, though, Tuna's broth was much smoother, making it easier to drink, but with the downside that the smooth, ropey noodles were a bit too thick for the soup.  The menma were a bit peppery, an unusual but welcome addition, and a single thin slice of juicy chashu topped the bowl.

けっこう高井田系ラーメンに似ていました。でも、普通の高井田系と違って、スープがまろやかで飲みやすかったです。その一方、麺がちょっと太くて味がうすかったです。メンマに黒こしょうがかけられて意外とうまかったです。最後に、ジューシーチャーシュー一枚が乗っていました。

Would I Go Again?
Maybe, it was solid but I'm not in a rush to return.

おいしかったですけど、また行くかもしれません。

Should You Go?
This shop would be good for anyone who wants to try a version of Takaida-kei ramen that is very drinkable.

けっこう飲みやすい高井田系ラーメンなので、それに興味ある方におすすめします。

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麺処 綱（TUNA）

Togyushi

One lazy Sunday evening I wanted to try a new bowl, but was tired of heading in the direction of Umeda. Some looking on ramendb led me to Togyushi, a beef bone bowl by Shitennoji. Not knowing much about it I went in, and was offered my choice between a clear shoyu and a shio paitan. I ordered the paitan.

のんびりしている日曜日の夜に新しいラーメン屋さんに行ってみたくて梅田の方まで行きたくなかったです。いろいろ検索して牛骨専門店「闘牛志」が出てきました。あまり知らなくて入りました。透明な醤油と塩白湯があって塩にしました。

The Bowl
A swirl of milky shio ramen with a base of beef. The salty broth was a bit too oily, and didn't stand above the better use of beef in the bowl, the beef tendon topping. The tendon was sweet and tender, a succulent contrast to the soup. The ramen was served with bean sprouts and chives on the side; they made the ramen taste more generic, but I suppose I appreciate the option.

牛骨のベースでクリーミーな塩白湯でした。スープが油っぽくて塩っぱかったですけど、柔らかい牛肉トッピングがめっちゃうまかったです。もやしとニラも追加できましたけど、入れようとしたら特徴がちょっと抑えられたのでないほうがうまかったでs。

Would I Go Again?
The ramen was edible, but certainly not worth a return visit.

まあまあおいしかったですけどまた行くと思いません。

Should You Go?
Non-pork eaters might have something to visit here, but otherwise you can skip it.

牛肉が好き人ならいいんですけど、それじゃなければ行かなくていいです。

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闘牛志

Menya Murata

It was a lazy Saturday and I decided to walk to famous shio shop in Imazato Kibariya. As has happened all too many times before, though, it was mysteriously closed, and I was forced come up with a new plan. I randomly had come across new shop Menya Murata, so without knowing anything about it, I went in and ordered their standard rich tonkotsu shoyu ramen.

のびのびの土曜日で今里にある氣ばりい屋という有名な店に行こうとしていました。よくありますけど、閉まっていました。どうすればいいかを迷いながらつるはしでたまたま通った店を思い出しました。それで、麺屋むら田に行って濃厚豚骨しょうゆラーメンを頼みました。

The Bowl
The broth was rich and porky; not quite stomach-killing as a lot of tonkotsu shoyu tends to be, but instead very thick, like a sauce marinating the soba-like firm noodles. It was contrasted by the thin if fatty chashu and light egg. It was a solid bowl, but not an all-time great.

スープはやっぱ濃厚で「豚」って感じがしましたけど、家系とかと比べると軽かったです。でも、ドロドロでソースっぽかったです。太麺はめっちゃ固くてそばみたいでした。逆にチャーシューが細くて玉子はちょっと薄めでした。

Would I Go Again?
I don't think I'll head back.

多分また行きません。

Should You Go?
If you're all about tonkotsu shoyu it's worth a stop, otherwise you can skip it.

豚骨醤油が好きな人なら合います。

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麺屋 むら田

Tsukemen Suzume

It was a Sunday night and I was hungry for some tsukemen. I've hit most of the places close to where I live, so I looked south to a branch of a shop that I visited before and had high praise for. Tsukemen Suzume has delivered high quality tsukemen before, and two and a half years ago I settled for the standard tsukemen, but this time I made sure to get the spicy one. Their spice scale goes from 1x to 15x, and though the waitress recommended 5x, I had to be stupid and go for 10x.

日曜日のやるでつけ麺を食べたかったです。家の近くにある店にほとんど行ったことありますから天王寺のほうにある好きな店の支店に行きました。二年間前食べたのは普通のつけ麺なので今回絶対辛いつけ麺にしようと決めました。店員さんに５辛にお勧めしてもらったので１０辛にしました。

The Bowl
A thick, spicy gyokai tonkotsu like I expected. It was spicy, but not super spicy; maybe I should have gone with the 15x spiciness. The noodles were super thick, and there were spicy pieces of chashu littered in the hot soup. After filling myself on noodles and pork, I poured the yuzu-based wari-soup in for one final, citrus kick.

期待していた通りとろみがある辛い魚介豚骨でした。辛かったですけど激辛じゃなかったので１５辛にしたほうがよかったかな。麺がめっちゃ太くてスープに入っているチャーシューも辛かったです。麺と豚肉を食べてから、最後に柚割りスープが楽しめました。

Would I Go Again?
I have before and I will again.

また行きます。

Should You Go?
Yes.

はい。

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つけ麺 雀

Tomako

Sometimes you have to eat some crazy ramen. I was walking to a shop in Uehonmachi that recently opened by an ex-chef of Tamagoro. Although their site guaranteed they would be open for lunch, the sign in front of their shop disagreed. Luckily, I had a backup nearby.

Another recently opened shop, Tomako is a tomato ramen shop located in the not-so-fashionable Uehonmachi Hihi Town mall. I've had my share of tomato ramen before and enjoyed it, so I wanted to try something interesting. I asked the employee there what she recommended, and she mentioned that they had a hot pepper bowl, but it would be too spicy for most people. Well, you can't say that and expect me to not get it.

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とまこ
Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Tennōji-ku, Uehonmachi, ６丁目３−３１

The Bowl
I was promised a bowl of hot peppers and a bowl of hot peppers is exactly what I got. The broth was fatty, oily, hot and spicy. Oh yeah, and there was lots of tomato in there too. There were chunks of onions and tomato floating around as well. The soup was pretty spicy and reminded me of rayu a bit; the noodles were thin and oily, but their spice was a bit more digestible. To top it off, there was some basil in the ramen - this was great and I wish there had been more of it.

The employee gawked at me as I not only drank the soup, but ate most of the hot peppers. Probably not a great idea for my stomach, but I don't regret it.

Would I Go Again?
It was interesting, but I still have some other tomato ramen places to try, so I won't be back.

Should You Go?
If you're crazy enough to eat hot pepper tomato ramen, then give it a go, but otherwise you're probably better off sticking with one of the other tomato shops in town.

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.

Yottekoya

I was pretty hungry after leaving work, and was in the mood to try something good.  One of my coworkers had told me a lot about Tokiya, a shop in Nishinakajima Minamikata, north of Umeda that has very good tsukemen.  Ramen Walker and ramendb agree.  I had looked it up beforehand, so I knew there would be no problem, and I headed north.

By now, if only because of the title of this post, you've probably realized that I didn't make it to Tokiya that night.  A mere three days earlier they had changed their hours; they were no longer open at night.  Well, my bubble was burst, and I knew it would be hard for me to get there what with work five days a week.  I stopped in a nearby bookstore, browsed through some magazines and discovered Yottekoya, a shop with a branch by Tanimachi Rokuchome.  The magazine advertised a deal that involved curry ramen, which is all I needed to know to be on my way.

I got there and looked at the menu.  No curry ramen.  This wasn't the first time this happened, and as previously, I was saved by tantanmen.

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よってこや
Ōsaka-fu Ōsaka-shi Tennōji-ku Uehonmachi１丁目１−１８
Yottekoya is on the southeast corner of the intersection between Nagahori Dori and Uemachi-suji.

To start I had the original tantan-gyoza.  I've never heard of such a thing before, so I had to order it.  They were solid gyoza, and the tantan-flavor, onions, and sesame really did make it taste like a weird blend between gyoza and tantanmen.

The Bowl
It was no curry, but it had been a while since I had some good tantanmen, especially the standard kind where the noodles are already in the broth.  The soup was a thick and oily tantan soup; it tasted very similar to the gyoza and clearly was made with the same kind of tantan sauce.  There were meat and green onions littering the bowl, entangled by the curly, chewy noodles.  The egg was especially good; tender and a little spicy like the soup.

Would I Go Again?
The tantanmen was pretty good, and the gyoza were wacky, so I'm curious to see what kind of ramen they're offering up next.  Yattekoya is a chain, so if I go again I'll probably check out a different branch.

Should You Go?
It's not on my list of the best places in Osaka, but it's solid and worth stopping by if you're in the area.

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.

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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.