My 2016 bucket list of ramen, a list you can find here, is sadly undoable by the end of the year. I blame Fukuoka. The prefecture's top ranked spots are all in remote locations, with odd hours, and none of them match their days off. So on a recent road trip, I picked one shop, Kanadaya, the highest ranked shop, to check off the list.
Actually, they exist overseas in London. Hey, I recognize that car!
I had very high hopes for this one. It was 2016 that would change my mind about tonkotsu ramen in Kyushu. I'd never, in the eight or so years of Ramen Adventures, had a stellar bowl. Plenty of great ones. Eights and even nines, but never a ten.
I had my first ten at Genki Ippai. I had my second at Kanadaya.
This was pork perfection. The soup is buttery and smooth, without any funk. Chashu sliced so thin that it would dissolve if it wasn't lovingly placed on the sides of the bowl. Just a touch of the standard green onion and kikurage mushroom.
The egg was next level.
I'm sorry to say that this shop isn't so convenient. About an hour from any major city, and that is if you take the bullet train. Even longer if you take a wallet-friendly local. But if you want the best, you have to work for it in Kyushu.
Actually, they have a couple branch shops in Koba (here), Hiroshima (here), and central Hakata (here). I love the vibe of the main shop, in the middle of nowhere.
福岡県行橋市大橋1-4-3
Fukuoka-ken, Yukuhashi-shi, Ohashi 1-4-3
Closest station: Yukuhashi
Open 11:00-15:00. 17:00-20:00
Closed Thursdays
