夏のラーメン (Summer Ramen at Nishio)

西尾中華そば

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I was living at hotel resorts for a summer camp job in decidedly ramen lacking areas of Japan.

Here's Nishio's summertime special.

Ice cold, literally. The addition of a scoop of slushy broth keeps things temperature controlled. Other additions are a scoop of what tasted like Hawaiian poke and some brightly colored peppers.

Nishio is in my top 10. Good vibe, cool owner, and excellent shoyu ramen. Go if you have a chance.

September is going to be an interesting month for ramen. Can a long distance backpacker survive on ramen and energy bars for a week? Stay tuned.

鶏の穴 (Torinoana in Ikebukuro)

鶏の穴

Roughly translating to "Chicken's Hole", Torinoana was on my list for a long time. I adventured out with a new ramen friend I met at my recent kid's summer camp. No, I'm not hanging out, slurping noodles with 4 year olds. With the recent departure of Daniel, and the upcoming departure of Nate, I'm in need of new ramen friends!

It's ramen time!

The soup here is a thick chicken broth, very potage like. Very excellent. Very chicken-y. 2 kinds of chicken meat and an egg. I often have a problem with too much chicken oil, but it was fine here.

The spicy bowl adds just a little kick, nothing major. Flip a coin, you'll be fine with either.

"May the slurp be with you"

It took my 5 minutes to think of that. I'm not happy with myself. Give me a minute...

"You are part of the ramen alliance, and a noodler!"

You do better! Moving on...

A cold summer bowl looks appealing. Umeboshi and fresh shiso leaf. It will be gone at the end of August though.

By the way, if you bring your own chopsticks, you get a free topping.

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こうや (Koya in Yotsuya)

支那そば屋 こうや

Ramenate has a knack for meeting eccentric Japanese people. A large portion of that group tends to be as a result of late night drinking in Golden Gai, Shinjuku's shady yet colorful drinking district. Months ago he met an ancient ramen master, and we'd been itching to get to this shop since. Goramen was along for the adventure as well.

In their inebriated states, Nate and the master spoke about how he takes random trips across the globe in the name of research. A few weeks in Cambodia to check out the local peppers? Sure, why not.

The won ton ramen looked perfect. Some of the biggest I've had in Tokyo. Everything is solid at Koya. Not just the food, but the vibe as well.

The atmosphere is great. This shop is massive, with seats for up to 80 people. It's also staffed by half a dozen elderly ramen veterans. The waitress, somewhere in her late 60s, warned Nate about his bowl in the best English she could muster.

"Very hot"

Sure enough, those mysterious spices from far away lands were abundant in the spicy ramen. We speculated some sort of habanero.

By the way, there is a more complicated dinner menu. I'll be back to try some of the more unique creations. And stay tuned to Ramenate for a more detailed, properly researched writeup... someday!

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