Local Guides World
William T
6 reviews on 1 places
Iwamotoya, a large Reinan chain of ramen shops, offers various limited monthly specials. This time, I tried their Hokkaido Hotate Soba (Scallop) for 980¥. As always, regular, large, and extra large noodle portions are all the same price! This I had to try! As with their other ramen, you can customize it a bit to your liking.
And it did not disappoint. The broth had a nice, deep, and rich scallop and seafood flavor. It was creamy, rich, and savory… somewhat reminding me of a Seafood Cup Noodle, but in a good way! The three scallops from Hokkaido on top were small, but they were decently fresh, with a nice, soft and springy texture. The slice of slightly rare chashu, too, is always a treat, though I wished for a bigger piece.
Iwamotoya is always worth coming back often to check out.
And it did not disappoint. The broth had a nice, deep, and rich scallop and seafood flavor. It was creamy, rich, and savory… somewhat reminding me of a Seafood Cup Noodle, but in a good way! The three scallops from Hokkaido on top were small, but they were decently fresh, with a nice, soft and springy texture. The slice of slightly rare chashu, too, is always a treat, though I wished for a bigger piece.
Iwamotoya is always worth coming back often to check out.
Their menu has six total variations: Black, Red, White, Chinese-style, and Black and White varieties of Tsukemen “dipping-style” ramen. Their Black is what they recommended at 850￥ for the regular and 1000￥ for the large, I ordered the large along with an unusual curry rice side for 190￥ more.
I was actually surprised at the strong, flavorful broth, with their Black so named because of the charred garlic oil-based broth, combined with tonkotsu. This gave it a creamy savoriness from the pork bone soup with a salty, rich, and deep garlic taste. Mixed together and the broth was sublime, a bit on the heavy and oily side, but amazingly delicious. The plentiful, thick, and soft egg noodles soaked up and carried all the broth flavor. The chashu was also quite flavorful and would be worth ordering an additional topping of it next time. The only minor downside was the egg which was salty and tasty, but a bit overdone.
As you can tell, I quite loved their ramen and I will definitely leave it on my list to try again in the future.
I was actually surprised at the strong, flavorful broth, with their Black so named because of the charred garlic oil-based broth, combined with tonkotsu. This gave it a creamy savoriness from the pork bone soup with a salty, rich, and deep garlic taste. Mixed together and the broth was sublime, a bit on the heavy and oily side, but amazingly delicious. The plentiful, thick, and soft egg noodles soaked up and carried all the broth flavor. The chashu was also quite flavorful and would be worth ordering an additional topping of it next time. The only minor downside was the egg which was salty and tasty, but a bit overdone.
As you can tell, I quite loved their ramen and I will definitely leave it on my list to try again in the future.
Sasa no Kiwami is another restaurant that specializes in Tsukemen dipping ramen and soupless Abura Soba. I went for the full-topping Special Tsukemen for 1050￥ which included extra chashu, bamboo shoots, and a half-boiled egg.
I was pleasantly surprised at the beautiful slices of chashu and plump noodles, as they were both quite delicious. There was a decent portion of the soft chashu, but I really wished there were more noodles for the base price, as I wasn't quite satisfied afterwards. (You can opt for more for only 50-100￥ more.) The soup, while very tasty, was a bit of a letdown, as it was slightly too watery to adhere to the dipped noodles and it was more salt than the umami, savory flavor it should have. The best part, though, had to be the bamboo shoots, as it was nicely soaked in flavor.
Overall, not a bad spot and it definitely is popular around the area for good reason. Though the next time I stop by, I'll go for their Abura Soba instead!
I was pleasantly surprised at the beautiful slices of chashu and plump noodles, as they were both quite delicious. There was a decent portion of the soft chashu, but I really wished there were more noodles for the base price, as I wasn't quite satisfied afterwards. (You can opt for more for only 50-100￥ more.) The soup, while very tasty, was a bit of a letdown, as it was slightly too watery to adhere to the dipped noodles and it was more salt than the umami, savory flavor it should have. The best part, though, had to be the bamboo shoots, as it was nicely soaked in flavor.
Overall, not a bad spot and it definitely is popular around the area for good reason. Though the next time I stop by, I'll go for their Abura Soba instead!
Ikedaya is yet another heavy "Jiro-style" ramen I went to, but in Fukui City. As you can see, the bean sprouts and meat are piled high over the bowl in massive, mouth-watering quantities. You can have all this for only an unbelievable 1030￥... and they have larger portions.
The soft, huge chunks of chashu were quite satisfying compared to almost every other ramen I've had. The loads of garlic really added a lot of depth to the soup, which otherwise was just your "average" heavy soup. The noodles were thick and quite good. For the value, you really can't beat it. Bring your appetite, because let's just say even I had difficulty trying to polish off this massive mountain of food.
The soft, huge chunks of chashu were quite satisfying compared to almost every other ramen I've had. The loads of garlic really added a lot of depth to the soup, which otherwise was just your "average" heavy soup. The noodles were thick and quite good. For the value, you really can't beat it. Bring your appetite, because let's just say even I had difficulty trying to polish off this massive mountain of food.
I ordered at the machine the Makuriya Special which has all of their available toppings for 1000¥. Being the hungry fatty I am, I also paid 120¥ ahead of time for an extra order of noodles. The staff take your ticket and offer you two choices: noodle thickness and hardness. (I opted for the thin noodles and the soft noodles.)
The ramen came quickly and it is easy to see it is tonkotsu based. The soup was quite creamy and smooth, but lacked a true depth of flavor. The noodles, though I asked for soft, were a bit on the hard side initially until it soaked into the soup for a few minutes. The three things that really wowed me were the amazing egg, the chashu, and the quail egg. Both eggs were well soaked in a strong shoyu broth flavor and were evenly soft in the center. The chashu, as you might surmise, was grilled so it had a nice smoky flavor with a bit of firmness where it was grilled and softness on the other side. A really great bowl… if only the noodle and the meat portions were more generous. But I was quite glad to have come by and I would do so again.
The ramen came quickly and it is easy to see it is tonkotsu based. The soup was quite creamy and smooth, but lacked a true depth of flavor. The noodles, though I asked for soft, were a bit on the hard side initially until it soaked into the soup for a few minutes. The three things that really wowed me were the amazing egg, the chashu, and the quail egg. Both eggs were well soaked in a strong shoyu broth flavor and were evenly soft in the center. The chashu, as you might surmise, was grilled so it had a nice smoky flavor with a bit of firmness where it was grilled and softness on the other side. A really great bowl… if only the noodle and the meat portions were more generous. But I was quite glad to have come by and I would do so again.