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 Having been open for many years, the décor is a somewhat outdated and the whole place looks a little worse for wear, but the food more than makes up for these minor downsides.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!

宝来軒 (Hourai-ken)

つけ麺 - Rich broth with tasty toppings next to a bowl of thick, chewy noodles.

トクラーメン - The same delicious broth, just less concentrated. 

つけ麺 - Step one: Grab mouthful of noodles.

つけ麺 - Step two: Dunk in broth.
Step three: Enjoy!

吉祥: Bowl #11

The train pass we purchased for the weekend of traveling only works on Saturday and Sunday, so, unfortunately, today we stuck a little closer to home for some Ramen. On the way up toward the mountain towns is what can only described as a rest area near the highway toward Nagano. I have come to notice that whenever there is a holiday weekend (like this weekend was) droves of people flock to these roadside restaurant and gift areas. Today’s Ramen shop was tucked in the middle of the area and we were lucky enough to find a parking spot among the fleet of family minivans.

吉祥 (Kissho) was quite a large shop with a variety of seating options. There was a wait for small tables as well as the traditional Japanese kneeling tables, but we were able to be seated right away at the counter area which is Husband’s favorite place to sit. The menu was a little confusing, there were many options to choose from and it took a few minutes to translate what was written and then decide on what to order. Since the magazine promoted the 塩 (shio), or salt ramen, it seemed only appropriate to try it out.

Sitting at the counter area did not afford us a clear view into the kitchen as there was a pretty high partition between us and the action. Husband did stretch to sneak some peeks over the wall and around the piles of bowls that lined the top of the ledge. With the dream of opening our own Ramen shop someday, he likes to glance into as many kitchens as he can to view their operation. With quite a large kitchen, 吉祥 had a lot to take in. From giant stock pots of simmering stock to flat top gyoza grills, this kitchen was set up to offer more than just one type of dish. There were also no less than six people working this expansive kitchen all at the same time, quite a difference from some of the small, two-man, mom and pop shops we have previously been in.

With so many people working to serve the rushes of customers, it was no surprise that our food did not take very long to arrive at our seats. The塩 Ramen boasted a light, clear broth with definite notes of seafood added to the combination of the chicken and pork based soup. While all around flavorful, this was definitely not a heavy, rich broth. The noodles were ho-hum; thin and chewy, but at least they held the broth well. The meat was a nice surprise. At first glance the chashu looked to be the dry, flavorless little bricks that have been seen floating atop some standard bowls of Ramen, but 吉祥 offered some juicy, tasty slices of flavorful pork.

Having been pleased with his last two bowls of ramen, Husband decided to be adventurous again and order something he hadn't tried before.  This time Husband opted for trying out the 焼き味噌つけ麺 (yaki-miso tsukemen), or grilled miso tsukemen dipping noodles, in his attempt at experiencing variety.  The bowl of cold noodles was the perfect size as were the pieces of menma.  The noodles themselves were thinner and a little stuck together forcing Husband to wiggle each bite apart with his chopsticks before dunking them into the piping hot miso broth.  Two slices and two chunks of well marinated and braised pork lay atop the noodle pile as well as the usual sheet of nori.  Just like the regular Ramen, the meat also looked as if it was going to be plain and boring, but to a welcome surprise was moist and flavorful, complimenting the broth nicely after a quick splash.

Husband wasn't sure what to expect from yaki-miso flavored broth, but it only took one bite to know he had made a good choice, describing the onion and ground pork filled liquid as “a mildly savory, Japanese take on Thanksgiving” as it had an almost turkey dinner quality to it. The 塩 Ramen had great balance and was not overbearing or too filling after a weekend full of rich and savory bowls of soup.  This made three bowls of noodle goodness in a row after a small slump during the work week, as well as granting the stamp book its eleventh mark. Now for a couple days off from the challenge before we have another great weekend full of new cities to be explored and new bowls of Ramen to be eaten. 

吉祥 (Kissho)

Shio Ramen with piled on toppings and extra chashu.

Yaki-miso tsukemen.

肉ばか: Bowl #10

Day two of the first travel weekend found the husband and me on a train to Niigata City. It is really too bad that the city is a two hour train ride away or we would go there more often. This trip was not solely for the sake of Ramen, it was originally planned as a birthday gift for Husband as Niigata is home to the closest Mexican restaurant. Husband loves Mexican food, and it is probably the thing he misses most from home (besides our beloved Bulldog, Margo). Once we arrived in the city we attempted to orient ourselves with where the Mexican restaurant was, but ended up walking around for an hour in the wrong direction instead. Finally we located where we needed to go after going back to the station and starting over. The food was delicious, but much smaller than the platters of food you receive in America, or Mexico for that matter.

Not feeling completely full, and not wanting to waste an opportunity for a Ramen stamp, we headed out to a shop whose pictured bowl had us pretty excited. The walk was much longer walk than we anticipated, as the maps provided in the magazine are not equal to each other in scale, but we finally arrived at 肉ばか (Niku-baka) ready to try their showcased dish. The restaurant was busy and we had to wait a short while for a table. After ordering, Husband went to the bathroom and came back claiming that there were no less than 32 toilet paper rolls lining the wall of the men’s room. Intrigued, and since he forgot his phone to snap a picture, I went to investigate the women’s restroom where I found the same setup.

Back to the Ramen! Since one lunch had already been eaten, I wanted to avoid completely doing myself in and stuck with the standard Ramen. The bowl came out steaming, glistening with just enough fattiness, and topped with a nice array of extras. The first sample of the broth offered a hearty flavor with strong notes of pork and something else that couldn’t quite be placed. The rich, savory taste of the soup was followed by an almost sweet aftertaste. The noodles were alright; thin and squared off, but cooked well. Clearly the star of the dish was the chashu. The regular edition of肉ばか’s Ramen came with thin slices of fatty, juicy pork that tasted incredible when doused in the flavorful soup.

Husband knew he would be ordering the bowl from the magazine when he first saw it pictured on the page. Similar to the standard edition, it had the rich soup and thinner noodles, but lying in almost a complete circle around the perimeter of the bowl was a single, large slab of braised pork belly. From the moment the bowl hit the table, we knew that strip of meat was going to be quite a tasty treat. Husband had the same things to say about the rest of the dish, from the broth to the noodles, but the chashu was certainly the star of his second lunch. He was kind enough to let me sample a couple (small) bites and there was no denying the succulent, savory and slightly sweet pork belly was the reason this shop calls itself肉ばか, which roughly means “meat-fools”.

With two lunches in the bag, the long walk back to the station was not sounding very appealing. Instead, we hopped the bus back up the road and had time to peruse the multitude of shops in the area before our train departed. Swaying back and forth on the train lulled us into a food coma, giving both of us a nice rest after a day full of walking and eating. Even though I would have liked to have gotten more than just the one stamp in Niigata city, no way could our bodies have handled it. That one solitary stamp did bring us to ten out of thirty bowls or a whole one-third of the way through this challenge!

肉ばか (Niku-baka)

Ramen with thin sliced chashu pork and various other toppings.

The special chashu Ramen complete with slab of pork belly.

Close up of the noodles and glistening broth.

Part of the toilet paper wall in the women's room
(my phone camera cut off the 4th column).

万太郎: Bowl #9

Since we are running out of local shops it is time to start the traveling phase of this challenge, so tonight we set off for 十日町 (Tokamachi). Thankfully, there is a two day pass for our prefecture that lets you ride the trains as much as you want for Saturday and Sunday. Because we plan to go to Niigata City on Sunday, we figured it would be a good idea to use it as well on Saturday and get the most out of the two days. Tokamachi is a small city about an hour away from Joetsu and has three participating shops in the Ramen Rally. We arrived just as the dark had crept in and our first thought was that the small map provided for this particular city might not be the easiest to navigate with no daylight. This assumption was correct.

After wandering in what was thought to be the right direction, we decided to veer off in search of a main street to take us the rest of the way to the larger shopping area where two of the three Ramen shops were located. Taunting us in the distance were the lights of the stores and restaurants as we walked parallel to the street we needed, separated by a neighborhood of dark streets. Finally, thinking we would just end up cutting through to the main road, we dove into the neighborhood and headed in the necessary direction. Instead of a shortcut through to the other side, we ended up emerging into a giant rice field. Following the small farmer paths we eventually blazed our way through to the opposite edge and into the busy shopping area, all the while trying to not to think of how many snakes or other creatures we had just passed over.

With all that hassle behind us, the first participating Ramen shop we encountered ended up being where we had dinner, and we are so pleased with this result. Nestled in among a book store and an arcade was the Ramen shop, 万太郎 (Mantaro). Figuring out what to order from their many options took a little longer than usual, followed by locating the correct button out of the many on the ticket machine. There was hope we would have time to try out two different shops in Tokamachi, so two “mini” sized bowls of the regular shoyu Ramen were selected. Mini pretty much means normal sized at this shop. Some customers near us had the standard size and that was a lot of soup.

The Ramen arrived with a single piece of nori lying across the contents of the bowl, hiding the goods from first view. After peeling it away and immersing the sheet in the broth, the sight of the rest of the toppings was mouthwatering. Green onions, menma, steamed greens and delicious-looking slices of chashu were a welcome sight sitting atop a pile of delectable noodles. The wonderfully meaty aroma of the broth wafted to the nose, and after a sampling it was confirmed that the soup packed a strong pork flavor. A scoop of noodles proved them to be the thick, chewy style that we favor. The chashu was juicy and had great flavor that was enhanced by the heartiness of the soup. All in all, it was a perfectly well-rounded bowl of Ramen.

Once every last drop of broth was consumed we realized that, since we had such a glorious adventure trying to find our way to the right area, we unfortunately did not have enough time to make it to another restaurant. Another visit will have to be made to the town of Tokamachi as there are two more shops there that offer tasty looking Ramen, as well as stamps for the book. Sticking to the main roads offered a much nicer return trip to the station where we had just enough time for an overpriced beer before hopping the train back home. 

万太郎 (Mantaro)

"Mini" Shoyu Ramen.

Showing off the delicious noodles that were hiding under all the toppings.

たんぽぽらーめん: Bowl #8

Today’s two hour lunch break offered more time to venture a little further out of town, so Husband and I set off for たんぽぽらーめん (Tanpopo Ramen). Being an avid fan of the 1985 movie of the same name had me a little excited just for the sake of being in a Ramen shop called たんぽぽ. If you haven’t seen this old movie, you should. It is classified as the first “Ramen western”, which is playing at the genre of “spaghetti westerns” about the American Old West. The main story is about two truck drivers, Goro and Gun, who stop in a run-down Ramen shop owned by a widow named Tanpopo. After sampling the shop’s subpar noodles, getting a fight with some rough regulars, and admitting to her that the Ramen isn’t good, Tanpopo begs the guys to stay and train her to be a real noodle cook. There are several other side stories, some funny and some very strange, but the central focus is on the relationship we share with food. It is a great movie that I highly recommend.

 This たんぽぽらーめん is located in a small town about ten minutes from ours and afforded us our first travel experience, as well as our first time having to hunt and find a shop with a small, inconveniently placed sign. After pulling over and looking at the miniscule map in the Komachi magazine we found the restaurant nestled in a neighborhood amongst family homes and parks. After being welcomed inside and sitting at the counter, we ordered our lunch. Not being very hungry I ordered their standard Ramen, while Husband went for the Black Shoyu Ramen. You can never really go wrong with eating Ramen, whether you are really hungry or not much so, there is a bowl of soup for every appetite.

Our seats at the counter allowed Husband to watch as they meticulously prepared our meal. Each move perfected down to a perfect rhythm. Another great plus about Ramen is that it never takes very long to get your food. Since most of the elements are prepared ahead of time, all you really have to wait for is the noodles to boil and the assembly to take place.

The standard Ramen boasted a light and flavorful broth and just the right amount of toppings. The noodles were yellow and a little firm, but they had great texture and a nice coating of soup. A topping that I love that hasn’t been seen yet on this adventure is the soft-cooked egg. It is always a treat when an egg comes with Ramen and doesn’t have to be ordered as an extra topping. たんぽぽ had this to offer. Another main plot line from the movie is the main character’s quest to create the best broth for regular noodle eaters. Nothing fancy, nothing outlandish, just the perfect soup to compliment her noodles. They judge the quality of the broth on if the customer finishes their entire bowl, including drinking the soup. Well, I thought our nearby たんぽぽらーめんhad some great broth and I pretty much finished every drop.

Interested in tasting new styles of ramen, Husband will often seek out a bowl he has never tried before.  Today’s choice was the Black Shoyu Ramen.  Watching the chefs prepare the order we could see that this ramen was made up of a combination of canola oil, dark soy sauce, the same chicken broth as the regular ramen, and the same toppings including the egg (which he always gives to me).  Black Shoyu was a dark and menacing bowl of what Husband hoped would be a rich soy sauce flavored treat, but in fact was a bit of a letdown.  The broth and noodles we both only luke warm and did not carry much of the soy flavor past the oil.  The noodles were good for being the tiny kind and held the dark liquid quite well, but would have been better in a much hotter soup.  This ramen came with one slice of pork that was a great thickness and texture, but didn’t have much flavor beyond the taste of well, pork.  In all honesty Husbands favorite part about this dish was the ration of noodles to bean sprouts. Too often the sprouts out way the noodles and ruin the dish completely.  Despite being unimpressed, Husband still finished his ramen, leaving only oily broth behind.

Despite having both ups and downs, our trip to たんぽぽらーめんwas still a good lunch and provided the 8^th stamp in the Ramen Rally booklet. This weekend looks to be promising with quite a few tasty-looking shops on the schedule, hopefully pushing the challenge past the 1/3 mark! With that, I will leave you with one of my favorite scenes from the たんぽぽ movie. The scene is actually a story being read aloud by Gun to Goro as they drive, you see them talking about the book for a short time in the middle of the clip. The wise old noodle master is teaching the younger man the proper way to eat Ramen and appreciate the perfection of the dish. Enjoy!

たんぽぽらーめん (Tanpopo Ramen)

Shoyu-Ramen

Black Shoyu-Ramen

New Private Domain Page

After a night of battling with computer tech stuff, I finally have my own domain. While I am a fan of this Google Blogger system, it feels a whole lot more real without ".blogspot" in the middle of my site address. It's like my little blog has grown up. Not that I expected to become a big sensation overnight, it was just a little disheartening knowing there was no one accessing my page because of a technical difficulty.

There have been no Ramen Rally shop visits in the last day and a half,  I simply wanted to write a post about the new page. It does seem a little unfair for this to be the whole point of a post, though, so here is something a good old friend of mine posted on Facebook that I will also share. It is a story from  Huffington Post's Taste section where the author shares 10 facts about that Instant Ramen that may not have been known. It's a quick read, but I love Huffington Post and their stories, and you can check it out at the link below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/10/ramen-facts_n_5784632.html


Enjoy the read, and this picture of our Bulldog, Margo (just because we miss her).

Gita: Bowl #7

Another late-night noodle craving took Husband and me out to the edge of town to a shop called こってりらーめんGita (Kotteri Ramen Gita). As mentioned in earlier posts, こってり (kotteri) means rich or strong and the picture of the bowl posted in the Komachi magazine looked as though it agreed with the name. It was about 9:15pm when we pulled up outside the shop and were pleased to see there were still quite a number of people eating for how late it was. We chose seats with a nice view into the large kitchen as Husband is really interested in the layouts and equipment in Ramen shops.

The menu offered a number of options including 醤油 (shoyu) Ramen, 味噌 (miso) Ramen, つけ面 (tsukemen) and Japanese curry and rice. The showcased bowl in the magazine was the rich and fatty shoyu ramen and I decided to stick with their recommendation while Husband chose to try the tsukemen dipping noodles. We also ordered a plate of 餃子 (gyoza), or little meat and veggie filled pot-stickers, and used one of the coupons that came in the magazine bringing their grand total to about one dollar.

Our dinner arrived quickly to our table and we surveyed all the food we had just ordered, a lot for not being very hungry. The soup smelled fantastic and had a nice splattering of fat coating the surface. The toppings were plentiful; menma, green onion, bean sprouts and a large piece of fatty chashu pork lying partly draped over the edge of the bowl. I took a few sips of the broth and confirmed that it was indeed quite rich and strong with porky flavor. I devoured my firm but chewy noodles and as many of the bean sprouts as I could handle before sampling the chashu. The pork wasn’t as flavorful as others I have tasted, it was clearly meant to soak up the soup for its taste and not stand on its own, but it was a fairly large piece so that was a plus.

Husband was a little let down with his dinner. There was a pretty decent sized pile of noodles in the bowl and surrounded by a plethora of toppings, but the broth, that is supposed to be strong and bold with flavor, was more on the weak side. Other orders of つけ面 we have eaten boasted rich and hearty soup that coats the noodles with flavor. Since you are not drinking the soup directly from a spoon, like is done with regular Ramen, it is important that the taste makes a statement. The つけ面 that Husband ate last night didn’t make such a lasting memory. The oily bowl of liquid tasted a little like garlic and pepper, and that is about it. He still finished his small mountain of noodles, but felt as though he was robbed a little of the strong flavors we have grown accustomed to when eating つけ面. The gyoza we had as a side dish were crispy, soft and bursting with juicy pork, they added to the meal and made up for some of the downsides.

It was finally time to head home and after paying for our dinner the book was rewarded with its seventh stamp. It is crazy that only one week has passed and already half of the restaurants that are participating in this challenge in my town have been visited. I will need to pace myself to not run out of places to visit that are within a twenty mile radius. This weekend looks to be our first travel weekend with a trip planned to Niigata city where there are many Ramen Rally shops to choose from and a few more stamps to be had. 

こってりらーめんGita (Kotteri Ramen Gita)

Shoyu-Ramen with fatty broth and casually draped slice of chashu.

つけ面 (tsukemen) noodles and toppings.

Misleading bowl of つけ面 (tsukemen) broth.

Side order of crispy, juicy gyoza dumplings.