Monday, August 10, 2020

幸陽閣 (Koyokaku in Saga Prefecture)

豚骨ラーメン 幸陽閣

That bright orange egg yolk is a signature at Kyokaku, another famous shop in Saga Prefecture, Kyushu. To some, it's just another, darker shade of tonkotsu. To others, it is a local legend that came, went, and came back again.


Beautiful orange egg to match my beautiful orange bike, helmet, and camera case.

The menu is very simple. Ramen, ramen with egg, ramen with extra pork, and ramen with extra pork and an egg. At only 650 yen for the recommended 卵入り, locals have nothing to complain about. On a side note, ramen in Kyushu tends to be the least expensive in Japan. Many locals I've spoken with say that if it is more than 500 yen, it isn't ramen!

Green onions are sourced from local farmers. Yet another bowl that really did it for me. A bit meatier, though that might have been a placebo effect from soup's color. Either way, a fantastic, inconvenient (what legend shops in Kyushu aren't?) bowl.


The shop's master trained at popular Ikkyuken (一休軒本店) since 1975 before it shut down in 2008. Business just wasn't good enough to stay open. The chef moved on to make yakiniku barbecue. Five months later and his former customers had had enough. They wanted their ramen back, and they got their way.

The current master is Yoshida-san, the son-in-law of the original Kawakami-san. In a textbook story of master and apprentice, people said that when Yoshida-san first took over, the flavor fell, but eventually rose to a level that makes this one of Saga's top shops.


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