Ramen Happiness: 宝来軒: Bowl #12

Since the weekend hosted three days in a row of Ramen-eating adventures, the Husband and I took a couple days off before the next haul. This week, my schedule offered me an evening off that allowed time to go out to a restaurant. Of course, we chose Ramen. Within walking distance from my school is a small shop that was first recommended to me by one of my students. Aware of my love for Ramen, she wanted to share her favorite places to eat noodles in the downtown Joetsu area.

On our first trip 宝来軒 (Hourai-ken), we must have walked past it three or four times before realizing the Kanji on the sign said the name we were looking for. Tucked into the side of a larger building, its entrance not clearly visible from the main road, this small shop is pretty well known and popular with the locals. There are no more than eight tables in the dining area and two people working the whole place. Having been open for many years, the décor is a somewhat outdated and the whole place looks a little worse for wear, but the food more than makes up for these minor downsides.

Our first time to 宝来軒 was earlier in the summer. After receiving the recommendation, and finally locating the shop after passing it by, we both had a thoroughly enjoyable meal. It was with pleasure and enthusiasm that we returned for another go, and to gain another stamp toward the challenge. Clearly having just missed a dinner rush when we arrived a little before seven, Husband and I sat down at one of only two clean tables. The menu is comprised of their offerings printed on computer paper, cased in plastic document sleeves, and held together in flimsy binders.

Not wanting to mess with the success from our previously enjoyable meals at this shop, I chose to order つけ麺, same as on our very first visit. This was the つけ麺 I had been looking for since arriving in Japan. Thick and chewy noodles lay in a pile that was perfectly proportionate to the bowl of rich savory dipping soup. While other つけ麺 dishes offered just an oily bowl of liquid and toppings on the side, at 宝来軒 the soup comes with hidden extras. Delicious chunks of their juicy pork can be found submerged at the bottom of the bowl, constantly soaking up, and adding to the broth’s rich flavor. Also present in the soup bowl was my favorite extra, a boiled egg. Because of the method of dipping noodles into broth and then eating them, the soup was very strong. A small teapot accompanies the soup and noodle bowls, it is filled with piping hot water that is used to dilute the broth in order to make it drinkable after one is done eating.

Husband’s order of トクラーメン (toku-ramen) had some of the same flavor elements as the つけ麺, but instead of two separate dishes for noodles and broth, both were combined in the more traditional style. The soup had a nice flavor; rich and porky, but not at all as strong or concentrated. The noodles were different. Where my つけ麺 had thick noodles that were meant to grab the broth and bring a flavorful mouthful with each bite, the noodles in the トクラーメン were much thinner and were missing the delicious coating of soup. The star of the dish was also the fatty pork pieces. 宝来軒 definitely has their meat recipe perfected.

We both enjoyed our repeat visit to宝来軒 and it is surely not our last time eating there. For a Thursday night out (that doesn't happen so often) it was a nice treat to go somewhere that we already knew would not disappoint. After cashing out, the book was rewarded with the 12^th stamp. I also took note of the bonus quiz question as宝来軒 may very well end up being one of the top three favorite shops in our town. This weekend looks to be filled with many new bowls of Ramen and hopefully we can push past the halfway point in the challenge!