Ramen Happiness: 雪山行きたい: Bowl #3

My work day ends a whole thirty minutes earlier than usual on Thursdays (8:30pm instead of 9:00pm) and I was intent on trying out a new shop for my third bowl of the challenge. In the magazine I noticed the name of this particular restaurant 雪山行きたい (Yukiyama Ikitai) which means "I want to go to the snowy mountain"and instantly knew Husband, a diehard snowboarder, would be on board. As well as Ramen, 雪山行きたいoffers お好み焼き (okonomiyaki); a kind of cabbage, meat, and batter pancake that is grilled and covered in sauce. Husband loves お好み焼き, so this was just another selling point. The shop also stays open until 10:00pm unlike many others in the area that have an average closing time of 8:00pm.

We had the place to ourselves when we arrived and promptly ordered a bowl of their house chashu-men and pork with kimchi お好み焼き which was to then be grilled by us on the teppanyaki fixed into the middle of the table. The proprietress was very kind and asked if we had cooked our own お好み焼き before, and even though we said we already had experience she helped us through the process. Once it was grilling away she brought out the Ramen.

The broth had a hearty chicken flavor that was not too fatty, or not fatty enough. My childhood love of chicken noodle soup was awakened and I would definitely welcome a bowl after a long day of snowboarding. Not to sound cheesy what with the name of the shop and all, I’m sure this was just what they were going for.

Nice fatty slices of chashu were arranged around the bowl, they were juicy and flavorful. Menma and strips of seaweed completed the toppings. The noodles were chewy and firm, a nice combination. I can remember being so disappointed with my instant Ramen when the noodles were forgotten in the pot, or sat in the broth for too long, and became soggy piles of mush so it is so nice to be eating noodles that have been carefully made and correctly cooked to perfection.

All in all it was a good dinner. We chatted with the owners about snowboarding for a little while after our meal (they commented on Husband’s Volcom Stones tattoos on his arm) and then I received my third stamp in my book. Unbeknownst to me at the start of this challenge, there is also a quiz question posted at each participating shop. Answering the yes-no question in the stamp book after reading the question adds to the prize yield once the challenge is finished. This shop’s question asked if there are teppanyaki grills in the center of the tables, the answer obviously being “yes”. Only three question answers are required by the challenge and I am looking forward to figuring out the next one, which is more of a challenge for me what with having to try and accurately translate it!