Naniwa Seimen Homare Shoten

Recently, one of my friends moved near Bishoen Station, southeast of Tennoji. Normally I would have no reason to go over there, but a tsukemen shop from Juso made the move too, and now I had two reasons to visit. Just a couple days after opening, Naniwa Seimen Homare Shoten offered their signature tsuke soba at a discounted 500 yen.

最近友達が美章園駅の近くに引っ越ししました。普通は行く理由は全くありませんけど、十三にあったつけ麺屋さんが移転したので遊びに行きました。ニューオープンセールがあったのでなにわ製麺誉商店の名物のつけそばを５００円で買えました。

The Bowl
A sweet and salty gyokai tonkotsu tsukemen, with medium, slippery noodles left me satisfied though not impressed, but Naniwa Seimen's unique feature is the zosui that follows. After finishing the noodles, my friend and I received a hot stone and a bowl of rice to mix together with the remaining soup. Just in case there was a chance you were still hungry, this congee-like rice porridge will fill you up. The combination brought back memories of Cho Tonkotsu Nodo 8 and Fujiyama 55 (may it rest in piece), which is a good thing.

甘くてしょっぱい魚介豚骨つけ麺と滑りやすい中太麺で満足でしたけど、この店の特徴は食後の雑炊です。麺を食べてから、ご飯と焼石をもらって残っているスープと一緒に混ぜます。まだおなかすいていたら、おかゆみたいな雑炊で絶対おなかいっぱいになります。そんなものを食べると「超豚骨濃度８」と「フジヤマ５５」（残念ながらつぶれました）の思いが浮きました。

Would I Go Again?
Probably not, it's far.

遠いので多分また行きません。

Should You Go?
If you're in the area, it's a good shop to have.

その辺りにすんでいるなら、行った方がいいです。

Information
なにわ製麺 誉商店

Koboruto Basic

Nothing says time has past like a new shop at the seasonally changing Ramen Gekijo. This time the shop was Koboruto Basic, a shop whose theme was having standard styles of different kinds of ramen. They offered a chuka soba, a tonkotsu, a gyokai tonkotsu tsukemen, and a special clam shio. They recommended the tonkotsu, so I went with that.

拉麺劇場で新しい店が出ると「やっぱり時間が経ったな」と思っちゃいます。今回「こうぼるとBASIC」という店ができました。スタンダードなラーメンがテーマなので中華そば、豚骨らーめんと魚介豚骨つけ麺と特別なあさり塩を売っていました。豚骨をお勧めしてもらったのでそれにしました。

The Bowl
And basic it was: a thin, foamy tonkotsu; not light by any means but not too rich either. The noodles were thin and chewy, and the chashu too was standard. Only the egg stood out as being extra creamy.

やっぱりベーシックな豚骨でした。とろみがない目こってり系で麺は細くて柔らかかったです。チャーシューも普通で絵したけど味玉が特にうまかったです。

Would I Go Again?
I will when it changes shops; I don't feel the need to try Koboruto again.

また店が変わると行きます。

Should You Go?
This was solid, standard tonkotsu, but I can't advise it when there's other very good tonkotsu nearby.

いい豚骨らーめんでしたけど、その近くにさらにおいしい豚骨らーめん屋さんがあります。

Information
こらぼるた

Mitsukabozu

Over my time in Osaka, I've been able to go to most of the shops that I've wanted to. One that has evaded my reach is the legendary miso shop Mitsukabozu. Partially because of the dearth of miso in Kansai, Mitsukabozu's name reaches far in the prefecture. I had a chance to go to their Umeda branch as soon as that opened, but now, as a stopover on the way to a soccer game in Banpaku Park, I was finally able to visit the flagship shop in Toyonaka.

With white miso, red miso, and spicy miso soups, it was difficult for me to decide what to order. I wanted to get mini bowls of all of them, or better yet, to come back multiple times and try them all. After consulting with the waitress, she advised I go with the KANSAI, an assari fish ramen without any meat. It's not what I would have gone with on my own, but who am I to question the masters?

大阪に住んでいる間にほとんど行きたい店に行けています。まだ行けてないのが一つがあって、うわさの「みつか坊主」です。ラーメンが詳しい人なら、絶対にその店知っています。梅田支店ができたときにすぐ行って、今回サッカー試合のために万博記念公園に行く途中に豊中によって本店に行きました。

白・赤・辛みそラーメンがあったのでめっちゃ迷いました。全部ミニ盛りで食べてみるか何回か行って全部頼みたかったでした。店員さんと相談してからKANSAIというメニューにしました。あっさり魚介系味噌ラーメンでした。わたしは勝手に決めるんだったらそれを選びませんけど、店員さんにお勧めしてもらったのはどうかな？

Minoh beer is the sign of a good shop

箕面ビールがあるならきっといい店です

The Bowl
Normally I'm a fan of rich miso, but as Shiogensui showed me with shio ramen, Mitsukabozu proved to me how powerful a light miso can be. In many ways it tasted like a light seafood miso soup, but the underlying miso flavors were much more like the miso tare found in ramen, as opposed to the style used in miso soup. The soft and delicate noodles matched the soup, pulling up the subtle flavors in just the right dose. The thick, chewy menma provided contrast to the bowl as a strong palette cleanser, while the chashu fit the theme of the bowl, being thin and balanced in flavor. If there was one thing I didn't like about the bowl, it was that there was a bit too much of the chives. They were good in small doses, but towards the end of the bowl their garlicky flavor overwhelmed the rest of the soup.

普通は味噌といえばこってりが好きですけど、塩元帥に塩ラーメンについて教わったみたいにみつか坊主によくできているあっさりラーメンがめっちゃうまいことを教えてもらいました。魚介系の味噌汁みたいでしたけど、味噌の味が味噌汁よりラーメンらしい味噌だれの味がしました。柔らかい麺はスープに合って微妙な風味を吸収しました。太いメンマが強い味がして、スープと違ってよかったですけど、チャーシューも麺みたいに薄めの美味がありました。ニラはよかったですけど、ちょっと多めだったので最後の味はちょっとニンニクっぽかったです。

Would I Go Again?
Yes.

はい。

Should You Go?
Yes.

はい。

Information
味噌らーめん みつか坊主

Fukuryu Ramen Wadachi

Honmachi is not known for its ramen shops, but every once in a while, an interesting one pops up. This time the new shop is Fukuryu Ramen Wadachi, by the Yotsubashi side of Honmachi Station. I didn't know much about it, so I walked over there and sat down for a bowl.

本町はラーメン屋さんで有名といわれていませんけど、たまに面白い店ができます。今回ふく流らーめん轍という店があって、何も知らずに行ってみました。

The Bowl
Their standard bowl was a super creamy tori paitan. Underneath the deep chicken flavors were subtle accents of yuzu, and a pepperiness that I couldn't quite put my finger in, but may have been Szechuan peppercorn. The medium, firm noodles carried the yuzu flavor, and reminded me of Bokkoshi in how pasta-like this ramen was. Mixed up with a light yuzu-strip of chashu and a creamy half-boiled egg, this ramen left me in the state that much good ramen does: wanting more.

スタンダードのラーメンは鶏白湯でした。深い鶏の味があった上に薄めのゆずと山椒みたいな美味も気づきました。ぼっこ志みたいにラーメンよりクリーミーなパスタの風味がして、ゆずの味が入っているかた麺がよくできていました。うまいチャーシューも味玉もあったのですぐにまた食べたくなってきました。

Would I Go Again?
Yes.

はい。

Should You Go?
Yes.

はい。

Information
ふく流らーめん 轍

Shi43ya

Despite the fact that I had a filling bowl of tsukemen earlier in the day, I found myself in Osaka at night and hungry. It was pretty late, and although usually I would prefer takoyaki at times like this, there was a new hot late night ramen shop I wanted to try.

Shi43ya (pronounced Shijimiya) is named after shijimi, a shellfish featured in their main shijimi shio ramen.  It's hidden in an alley by a bunch of bars, so it's hard to notice. I was tempted to go for the shijimi miso ramen, but for my first time I had to stick with the classic shio.

その日に前こってりのつけ麺を食べたのに結局夜に大阪にいておなかすいていました。夜遅かったので普通はラーメンよりたこ焼きを食べたくなりますけど、新しい深夜ラーメン屋さんに行ってみたかったです。

Shi43屋（シジミ屋という意味）は結構穴場って感じでいろいろなバーと隠れている横町にありました。シジミ味噌ラーメンを食べたかったですけど初めて行ったのでおすすめのしじみ塩ラーメンにしました。

The Bowl
This was shio ramen at its simplest, yet with the unusual twist of a bunch of clams thrown into the mix. The broth itself very light, salty, and clear; kind of like a thin clam soup, as opposed to some of the richer shios I've had before. I would generally prefer something a bit deeper, but for late night post (or mid) drinking, the simple soup, chewy noodles, and clams are a refreshing way to hopefully keep that hangover away.

こんなラーメンはすごいシンプル塩系です。透明なスープはめっちゃあっさりで薄めのしじみスープの感じがしました。普通はもっと濃い塩が好きですけど、飲んでからのラーメンにとって、これは最高でした。もちもちな麺といっぱいのしじみを食べると二日酔いがないといいですね。

Would I Go Again?
Yeah maybe, if the conditions were just right.

また深夜にそんなラーメンを食べたければまた行きます。

Should You Go?
If you like late night shio, this place is for you.

しめ塩ラーメンが好きなら行った方がいいです。

Information
Shi43屋

Tsukemen Man

As a continuation of cherry blossom season, I took an all-too-rare visit to Kyoto to go to another hanami event. With an opportunity like that, though, I decided I needed to stop and get a bowl of ramen on my way there. Nearby Demachiyanagi there's not a ton of shops; but there is one I've had my eye on: Tsukemen Man. They embraced their name and offered up a specially made rich gyokai tonkotsu tsukemen.

まだ桜の季節なので花見のイベントのために京都に行きました。せっかく京都に行くならそこら辺のラーメン屋さんで食べてみたいと思いました。出町柳に店があまりありませんけど、一つ気になる店がありました。「つけ麺マン」に入って特製濃厚つけ麺を頼みました。

The Bowl
The broth was a mostly by-the-numbers thick gyokai mix; though it was a bit too rich and salty. The noodles made up for that as they were thick and shiny, easy to pick up yet resilient enough to take in a lot of soup and add a light egg flavor of their own. The chashu was good, though like the soup too, a bit salty, and over time it became harder to finish the bowl.

スープは普通の魚介豚骨ですけど結構かかったです。でも麺が太くて食べやすくてちょっと玉子の味がしたのでうまかったです。チャーシューもおいしかったですけど、濃かったです。全部濃すぎて最後の割スープでも飲みきれませんでした。

Would I Go Again?
I'll try another place in Kyoto next time I'm there.

次回京都に行ったら別の店に行きます。

Should You Go?
If you want some tuskemen in Demachiyanagi, otherwise go somewhere else.

出町柳でつけ麺食べたければ行ったらいいです。

Information
つけ麺マン

Mensho Keiji

Spring is the time for cherry blossoms. Everyone in Japan loosens up, grabs some beer or umeshu at a convenience store, and brings it to the park to sit under the trees and relax. The only thing more enjoyable than this, is making sure you have a full stomach to take it all in. With that in mind my friend and I headed to Menya Keiji, a shop by Osaka Business Park, not far from Osaka Castle.

Menya Keiji had a variety of tonkotsu and gyokai tonkotsu bowls; they ranked them by their popularity among guys and girls. The gyokai tonkotsu ramen looked the most interesting to me, so I ordered that one, which was the #1 ramen picked by girls.

春は桜の季節です。日本のみんなは休みを取って、ビールか梅酒をコンビニで買って公園に行って木の下で飲みながらのんびりします。そうするならその前に食べないと危ないので友達と一緒に大阪ビジネスパークにある「麺屋慶次」に行ってみました。

いろいろな豚骨と魚介豚骨のラーメンがあって、男と女の人気さでソートされていました。わたしは女の一番人気の魚介豚骨ラーメンにしました。

The complimentary appetizer

お通し

The Bowl
The broth started out as a good mix of deep tonkotsu flavors and a balancing gyokai soup. It was a good combination that's seen much more often in tsukemen, so I was happy to have this in ramen, even if the thick, wavy noodles would have been more suited to a thick tsukemen broth. The main issue creating a ceiling for this ramen, though, was the salt content. What started out as a tinge of salt underneath the double soup slowly crept up and by the end prevented me from drinking any more of the broth. I'm glad I was on my way to get some drinks afterwards, because it was tough to wash my mouth out of all that sodium.

スープは一口でこってり豚骨と魚介のだぶるスープの味がしました。よくできているコンビで普通はつけ麺にあるのでこんな味のラーメンがあるとよかったです。太縮れ麺もよかったですけど、やっぱりラーメンよりつけ麺に合います。一番気になるのが塩分でした。最初にちょびっと塩の味がしましたけど、最後にほとんど塩しか味しませんでした。

Would I Go Again?
I don't plan on it.

また行かないと思います。

Should You Go?
It's alright, and it's one of the only shops in the area, so it's passable if you're at Osaka Business Park.

大阪ビジネスパークにそんなにラーメン屋さんはないのでそこにいるといいかもしれません。

Information
麺匠 慶次