Le Sel Organic Ramen in Kyoto

Le Sel オーガニック

Recently opened Le Sel in Kyoto brings a choice of different bowls served as part of a small course. You'll get a couple Kyoto-style snacks, a rice dish, ramen, and a sweet. Check the video!

Conveniently located just down the road from Kiyomizudera Temple.

Everything here is top-notch. The shoyu ramen is made with five or six types of dried fish. The tori paitan made with 100% organic chicken. Some big chicken flavors going on here. At the time I went, the vegan option was a vegetable potage blended with soy milk.

High on my recommended list for Kyoto, it is a no brainer to tell tourists to hit this one on their Kyoto vacation. One tourist (though they are hopefully a local) that agrees is whoever gives Bib Gourmand award from Michelin. Le Sel was awarded a Bib Gourmand shortly after they opened.

スパイスらぁめん 釈迦 (Spice Ramen Shaka in Ikebukuro, Tokyo)

スパイスらぁめん 釈迦

Indian spice meets ramen at Shaka.

And like most shops in Tokyo that serve Indian curry dishes, the variety here is deep.

The shop is part of the MENSHO group. In line with everything Shono-san puts out, this one is unique. For me, I really wanted to try the インド式ミールスつけ麺, Indian Meals Tsukemen. I won't lie, this looked like a good one for the gram.

Noodles with a few curry dipping options on the side, as well as various chutney pickles.

In MENSHO fashion, the noodles are homemade and fantastic. Thick, flat things in the case of Shaka. Bits of whole-grain add some substance.

The curries may or may not change over time. This time the tsukemen came with a Northern Indian butter chicken and a Southern Indian pork curry. Along with this, a Sri Lankan coconut soup. Mango pickles, carrot salad, and a curried potato mix are a great bonus.

Countertop chutney if you want more flavor. Though the curries weren't so spicy, the chutney was.

If you prefer just one of these flavors, the shop offers some ramen choices using similar curries.

The Northern Indian is on the mild side, while the Southern Indian 天空 (heaven) is very spicy.

It wasn't anything you need to worry about heat-wise. Japanese spicy is low on the world spice scale.

Cool shop. As with all Shono shops, I can't recommend it enough.

大盛軒 (Taiseiken in Nakano, Tokyo)

大盛軒

My Japanese isn't terrible, but when I saw this shop on a map, I thought 大盛軒 was 大勝軒. The latter is famous Taishoken. The former nothing of the sort.

Located just outside the never-used east side exit of Higashi-Nakano Station, just by the cop box.

This is a teppan (鉄板) style, meaning you get something on a hot iron plate. How could this possibly tie in with ramen?

Boom! A simple bowl of shoyu ramen with a side of fried pork. Mix in a raw egg and some fried garlic chips, stir it up with the cabbage and slightly spicy sauce, and go to town. This is one serious meal. I love that the noodles are simple, while the topping situation is out of control.

The shop is old school, and the menu is quite large. Expect a rotating menu of sizzling dishes with different kinds of meats and seasonings. At the time, a ginger fry was what many customers were working on.

Official site here.