豚とろ (Tontoro in Kagoshima)

鹿児島ラーメン豚とろ



Tontoro was recommended by the nice fellow at Kagoshima's red light district 7-11. He sang their praises  The pork was, apparently, amazing.



Like most ramen shops in Kagoshima, they had a cheap option. For only 450 yen, you can have a mini bowl of their signature tonkotsu ramen. They also had the obligatory counter-top daikon pickles and tea.



Another disappointment. The chashu, an obvious draw, was almost pure fat. In the pork's defense, it was silky smooth fat, but 90% fat nonetheless.



I was also accosted by a very drunk dude who called me a lady for not ordering the big size. Bro, I just ate a bowl at another place five minutes before! And that was after a full-sized dinner with my coworkers! Then he tried to lift up my shirt to look for my breasts.



Yeah, that happened in Kagoshima.

Official Site Here


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鹿児島県鹿児島市山之口町9-41
Kagoshima-ken, Kagoshima-shi, Yamanokuchicho 9-41
Closest station: Not too far from Kagoshima station, closer to Takamibaba

Open 11:00-3:30am

のり一 (Noriichi in Kagoshima)

のり一ラーメン



The last road trip of the season (my other job is as a children's event performer) was to the southern tip of Kyushu; Kagoshima.



Kagoshima is well known for it's Berkshire Pork, kurobuta. I really recommend checking out one of the many kurobuta shabushabu shops in town.



Kagoshima's other famous product is imoshochu, a potent liquor made from potatoes. After a bottle of the stuff, I went ramen hunting.



Ok, so Kagoshima ramen always comes with hot tea and daikon pickles.



This was a boring bowl. The soup had a slight onion kick, but was otherwise just hot liquid. The pork was barely edible. The noodles were alright.

At just 400 yen, I could see why there was a crowd at 1am. This is post-drinking food, and I was in the drinkiest part of town.

So if that were the case, stumbling-home-drunk-and-hungry food, then I guess this one works.




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鹿児島県鹿児島市山之口町9-3
Kagoshima-ken, Kagoshima-shi, Yamanokuchicho 9-3
Closest station: Not far from Kagoshima station, closer to Takamibaba

Open 11:30-3:00am
Closed Sundays

四麺燈 (Shimendo in Ogikubo)

四麺燈



The first thing I noticed was the smell. There are two kinds of ramen-shop smells that I don't mind. Of course, an odorless shop is fine by me. The other is one that stinks from a mile away. At least you know what you are getting into.



Maybe it was the ramen sandals on the wall, but this place stunk after I sat down. Funky.



After a bite of all that garlic, you won't be smelling much anymore. By the way, the above is a half size order of ramen. Yeah, this is ramen for dudes who like this exact kind of ramen.



I am not one of those types of guys, so this one wasn't for me.



I always expect a backlash when I speak out against these pork and garlic shops, but no one seems to mind.



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東京都杉並区上荻2-40-11
Tokyo, Suginami-ku, Kamiogi 2-40-11
Closest station: Ogikubo

Open 11:30-24:00
Sundays and holidays until 22:00