Blogspot - Ramenz Kitchen

UNIHOLIC Food porn alert! Uniholic opened recently in Roppongi. The concept is, as expected, sea urchin cuisine. The shop goes all in, and everything on the menu is uni-centric. Small plates. Rice bowls. Tsukemen. To be honest, the tsukemen, made with clams and a light dipping broth, paled in comparison to the rice bowl. Uni is such a trendy food these days, especially for people who love to photograph and post their eats. Uniholic took this into account, and the shop is very Instagramable. Not cheap, but not too pricey either. If you want uni in the area, and have 4000 yen to burn, do check out the Honmaruan soba shop.

栄屋 本店 Made it! Sakaeya is probably the most famous shop in Yamagata City, and perhaps even the prefecture. To be honest, I don't know any real draw for this part of Japan, other than some nice outdoor areas and a few temples that show up on temple nerd's radars. That, and ramen. According to this site , Yamagata Prefecture has the most ramen shops per capita. It's one of the least populous prefectures as well, so don't look too much into the data. More fun facts, Yamagata has a few distinct styles of ramen; spicy miso, fish, and cold ramen. Cold ramen served year round. You don't see this often; health checks. As I turn 40 I'm reminded that I should cut 100 calories a day. Not interested. Back to the ramen. In 1952, Sakaeya invented this new style of chilled ramen to combat the summer heat. You might not see it in the photo, but there are actual ice cubes made of soup in there. This is different from hiyashichuka, a cold style of ramen invented in Tokyo that is ...

麺藤田 I was up in Yamagata City for the first time in my Japan life, and knew that a bowl was in order. I've been around Yamagata Prefecture before, just not the main city. Sakata has a famous ramen style (I didn't like it!) that I tried not just once , but twice . They also have famous spicy miso shops in the Prefecture. Well, the city of Yamagata is known for their cold ramen, especially at Sakeya. That shop was closed. Standard tsukemen, open late. Decent bowls for the late night drinking crowd. If anyone has any advice about this part of Japan, let me know. I found this city dreadfully boring at first glance, but there is usually something awesome in this Japanese minor cities.

潮くろ㐂 Incredible shio ramen, filled with all kinds of seafood. But before I go further, I have to tell you that this shop is now closed. Kuroki isn't closed, they still operate one of Japan's most revered shio ramen shops, but this particular Friday-only, ocean-inspired ramen is no more. When I spoke to Kuroki-san, he just said that he will try something new. He also said that he will change his regular shop's recipe drastically. I'm not sure if that was meant to be between myself and him. Don't tell anyone. So there you go. I apologize that Ramen Adventures has a backlog of around seven months. I've just been crushing too many great bowls and keeping the twice-a-week upload schedule. The limited bowl here would rotate different shellfish each week. This time was clam from Northern Japan. Incredible. To be honest, just go to Kuroki anytime for a great bowl. He always does limited things, and it is always something special The guy is one of Tokyo's biggest ram...

五福星 Ufushin was so good, I went twice! Even though it is technically a pain in the ass to get to for those without a car. From Sendai, take the Namboku subway line to the end. Then walk another 20 minutes to the shop. You could always take taxi. I have met the master many times in Tokyo. Hayasaka-san is a legend in the ramen world, and has offered support to many top shops. He knows stuff, and his views on health and ramen are substantial. I didn't realize that the menu was this deep at dinnertime. The ramen is a heavier-than-normal pork soup with options for extra meat and extra local wakame seaweed. The side menu is all over the place. I was drawn to their jumbo gyoza with a spicy sauce. Super nice. The master mixes tofu into the gyoza mix, and they instantly become double the size. Nice technique! The ramen has plenty of seabura back fat, matched with a soup that keeps everything in line. The noodles are made on site. All-in-all one of the best bowls I've had in recent years...

らーめん天神下大喜 Daiki is one of Tokyo's classic shops . I went a few times, back when I dared blog about the same shop twice . It was a solid introduction to simple, classic ramen in one of Tokyo's oldest neighborhoods. Well, they moved. What more can I say? This is a classic bowl. What is there to say about this one? It's clean, smooth, and has a nice umami. It's not part of the mega-refined shoyu styles that are all the rage these days, but it's a must-slurp in my opinion. Website here .