Mutekiya

Another day in Tokyo means another day of continuing to try places I loved when I lived there.  Next up is Mutekiya.  Back about two and a half years ago when I first arrived in Tokyo, I didn't know that much about ramen, and I had not eaten at that many shops.  I did a little bit of research, and one of the first "good" shops I went to was Mutekiya.  It was a huge step above the random places I had been to, and it instantly became my favorite.  Even after trying a number of other good shops, there has always been a special place in my heart for my gateway to ramen, Mutekiya.  Now how would it hold up for my first visit in almost two years?

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麺創房 無敵家
1-17-1 Minamiikebukuro

The Bowl
One of the more vivid memories I had of Mutekiya was the absurdly fatty broth.  And in this way, my memory did not disappoint.  It was a rich, tonkotsu with little globules of fat floating to the top.  The noodles were straight and thick, but a little too firm as they came apart without even needing to bite.  The chashu was very thick, but a bit too tender as it fell apart in the soup when I tried to grab it with chopsticks.  Overall the bowl was solid but not amazing; I understand why I liked it so much when I first had it, but since then I've had many better bowls.

Would I Go Again?
I always have a special place in my heart for Mutekiya.

Should You Go?
The line is long and there are better bowls in Ikebukuro, so you don't need to.

Kururi

A three day weekend means it's time for a trip, and this time, a trip to Tokyo.  A trip to Tokyo means Tokyo ramen.  Last year when I visited Tokyo, I used it as an opportunity to try ramen shops I hadn't had a chance to go to when I lived there.  This time so much time has passed that I've used it as a chance to revisit shops I thought were great, and see if they hold up.

Kururi is a famous miso ramen shop near Iidabashi.  I had been to the main shop and the Takadanobaba branch when I lived in Tokyo, and both were amazing.  Kururi stood tall as one of my favorite ramen shops in all of Tokyo.  How would it fare on another visit?

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くるり
4-13-10 Takadanobaba

The Bowl
Just as amazing as I remember!  The broth was a thick, hot, rich miso that is almost more like a sauce than a soup.  I remember when I first came here I was a little put off by the fact that the soup was so thick that it could barely be drank, but it's so good that it didn't matter in the end.  The noodles were fat, similar to the kind you would expect to see in a thick tsukemen.  The chashu slices were super tender and pretty tasty.

Would I Go Again?
My time in Tokyo is limited, but this place is so good that I hope I can go back.

Should You Go?
Yes.

THE EIGHT

Wow, I seem to have amassed a sizable collection of curry-themed restaurants and ramen shops in Kansai.  Nothing to complain about.  Add one more, with the recently opened bar-and-curry joint, THE EIGHT.  There menu was full of things ramen and non-ramen, and aside from the golden curry tsukemen I ordered, the main item that stood out to me was the super-spicy punch ramen.  I love spice...but I came for the curry.

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THE EIGHT
1-22-14 Shinmachi

The Bowl
The broth really stood out compared to the other curry noodle dishes I've had recently.  It was a hot, thin curry, but it was spicy and actually tasted a bit more like Indian curry than the standard Japanese stuff.  The noodles were medium and firm.  The menma and chashu were both very good, and matched the curry's taste well.

Would I Go Again?
Yeah, this place seemed like a cool place to get a drink, and also delicious curry tsukemen.

Should You Go?
Yeah, it's worth the short trek westward.

Ajidono

Osaka is the third most populous city in Japan.  The first is obviously Tokyo, but what is the second?  It's Yokohama, the port town that's close enough to Tokyo to absorb a chunk of the people who want to live near the big city.  Yokohama has to its name a Chinatown, a baseball team, and most importantly, a style of ramen.

Yokohama style ramen, called "iekei", has tonkotsu shoyu broth, seaweed as a topping, and the customer can choose a few things about the ramen, like the hardness of the noodles and how rich the broth is.  I've eaten iekei bowls in a few places in the Tokyo area, including the home of the style, Yoshimuraya.  Iekei is all but unheard of in Kansai, so I hadn't had a chance to try any in Osaka.  Until today, when I found that there is a new shop replacing the late Nipponbashi branch of Tsuboya.

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らーめん あじどの
1-4-11 Sennichimae

The Bowl
This was my first time in a while to get iekei ramen, so I decided to get all the options as standard.  The broth was an oily tonkotsu shoyu strongly reminiscent of the bowls I had in Tokyo, but this soup was a little bland.  The noodles were medium, and the chashu was standard but nothing special.  Overall the bowl didn't leave a large impression on me, but maybe the right answer was to ask for a richer broth.

Would I Go Again?
I'm not in a rush, but if I do, I'll customize the bowl more.

Should You Go?
If you're in Kansai, this may be one of the other places you can get iekei ramen, but you'd be better off trying it in Kanto.

Ramen Ukaan

A lot of Osaka's ramen is centered around Umeda or Namba.  Today I was lucky enough to find one in Horie, a posh area that is really convenient for me.  Ukaan is advertised in Ramen Walker for its shio ramen, but they also offer a miso-based tantanmen and miso tsukemen.  I love both of those things, so it was a trial forcing myself to order the shio.

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らーめん 羽化庵

3-10-6 Kitahorie

The Bowl
The soup was a light, refreshing shio with a slight chicken flavor.  It was like drinking a light chicken soup.  The noodles were thin and soft.  They clumped together, making it easy to eat piles of them at once.  The egg and menma were both pretty solid, and the chashu, while a little dry, was very flavorful.

Would I Go Again?
The shio was pretty good on its own, and I want to try the miso, so I will be back.

Should You Go?
Yes, if you can make the trek a couple stations west of Shinsaibashi.

Yasube

Once upon a time, I was new to Japan.  I knew the wonders of ramen from living in San Francisco, and as a newcomer to Tokyo, tried to eat it as much as I could.  I had heard of tsukemen, but it seemed crazy.  Why separate the noodles if you're just going to dip them anyway?  Why get the noodles cold?

A friend dragged me along to Yasube in Ikebukuro, and my questions were answered.  Sweet and spicy, this was my first bowl of tsukemen, and also the one that got me hooked.  Cut to August this year, and I discovered that the first Yasube outside of Tokyo was opened, and in my very own Osaka no less.

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Link here
2-4-4 Shinsaibashisuji

The Bowl
Light, sweet, oniony, and with a little bit of spice to it, like I remembered.  The noodles were fat and spongy, and the menma went very well with the sweet broth.  The chashu was very light but tender.  The wari-soup heated up the broth and tasted a bit fruity - a good finisher for a good meal.

Would I Go Again?
It's a solid tsukemen, and they have a miso on the menu I'm curious about, so yes.

Should You Go?
It's a Tokyo classic.  Check it out.

Gyukotsuo

Nothing beats a bowl of ramen on a hot summer day.  Barely being able to stand the heat and humidity of the outdoors, I chose to go to a place close to home.  I just discovered a section on the Ramen Walker website that lists new shops, and one of the more recent ones was Gyukotsuo.

In Nipponbashi, there is a shop called Ramen Gekijo, or ramen theater, where every three months, a new interesting shop is debuted.  The summer's specialty was a beef bone-flavored soup.  But in addition to that, they also offer a ramen battle, where the ramen from the current shop faces off against a bowl made by the head of Ramen Gekijo.  I ordered a set that came with a mini-bowl of each.  Gyukotsu vs Tonkotsu: who would win?

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拉麺劇場 人情麺家 牛骨王
4-10-9 Nipponbashi

The Bowl
Tonkotsu:
This was a serious tonkotsu bowl.  The broth was very rich and delicious, and the noodles were nice and chewy.  There were onions, kikurage mushrooms, sprouts, and an egg.  The chashu was a highlight; tender and very juicy.

Gyukotsu:
The broth was a pretty solid shoyu; not that salty and easy to drink.  There were pieces of beef tendon in the soup that were sweet and tender.  After sitting in the soup for long enough, the soup started to taste a bit like them too.  The noodles were alright, an dother toppings included onions, radish, and an egg.

Both were good, and though the gyukotsu bowl was more interesting and distinct, I enjoyed the tonkotsu one more, and cast my vote for that one.  In the end, the real winner was me, for being able to try both.

Would I Go Again?
This place was pretty good; I'll definitely be back in three months, and would even consider going back sooner.  There was some kind of beef tsukemen on the menu...

Should You Go?
Yeah, this place is good and interesting.