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Nagoya Cent Air - Tonkotsu Ramen

Japanese Ramen as Comfort Food

Perhaps, one of the things that my wife and I have something in common is we both love Japanese ramen and even consider it as comfort food. Ramen is originated in China but gain popularity in Japan and eventually made their own version to suit their Japanese tastes.

We have been to different places and there are many good ramen here in Japan. And we love to try every kind that will caught our attention and that seems delicious.

Nagoya & Hamamatsu
(left) Tonkotsu Ramen’s specialty at Mentatsu in Nagoya Cent Air; (right) Having a chinese noodles at Ramen Shuka Ekimen in Hamamatsu Station Shizuoka. To view their menu visit:
Mentatsu – http://www.mentatsu.co.jp/
Ramen Shuka Ekimen – http://r.gnavi.co.jp/n020226/lang/en/

Each restaurant have their original cooking styles and techniques that makes their noodle special. Perhaps the secret of its rich, deep and strong flavored soup is the slow cooking process to produce a perfect dashi or soup stock made with pork bones, dried fish katsuo, dried seaweed konbu, dried shiitake mushroom simmered with sake (Japanese cooking wine) and mixture of different spices.

Most ramen are garnish with toppings such as vegetables, leeks, nori (dried seaweed pressed into sheets), chashu (pork belly), and egg. Common ramen that you can buy are:
醤油ラーメン(shoyu ramen) – soy sauce-base soup noodles; 味噌ラーメン (miso ramen) – miso-base or bean paste noodle soup; とんこつラーメン(tonkotsu ramen) – simmered pork belly and bones with creamy soup; チャーシューラーメン(Chashu ramen) – toppings of sliced pork belly noodle soup; 塩ラーメン(shio ramen) – salt or chicken stock base noodle soup; 野菜ラーメン(yasai ramen) – similar soup base as shio ramen but with vegetable toppings such as cabbage, carrots, and bean sprout; 担々麺 (tantan-men) – Szechuan dish of noodles made with sesame paste and chili oil

Photos below were taken when we were in Nagoya Central Airport.

Nagoya Cent Air - Tatay&Mommy at Mentatsu
Me and my wife eating our usual Tantanmen and Tonkotsu ramen at Mentatsu Restaurant – Chochin Yokocho inside Nagoya Central Airport
Nagoya Cent Air - Tonkotsu Ramen
Perfect combination of Tonkotsu ramen with gyoza and boiled egg at Mentatsu restaurant in Nagoya Cent Air.
For floor guide map of Japanese zone restaurants (Chochin Yokocho) in Nagoya Central Airport, click this link: http://enjoy.centrair.jp/en/floor-map/flm-4/flm-lantern/index.html

The good thing to hunt for a nice ramen restaurant is to look for free oomori where you can upgrade your regular amount of noodles up to 1.5 times. Some also offers okawari or you can ask for another round of noodles for free! We also had this restaurant in Toyota Station in Aichi that offers eat-all-you-can nama tamago (raw egg) and free rice if you buy any of their noodles menu. My wife always shares to me her favorite Arauma ramen restaurant in Osaka where they offers a bottomless mugi tea, and eat-all-you-can of menma (fermented bamboo shoots) and kimchi (Korean fermented dish made with vegetables and seasonings).

Photo Courtesy of gourmet_walkerplus_com
Store photo of Ramen Araumado in Osaka. Just 5 min walk from JR Osaka Station.
For details about their menu and coupons visit: http://gourmet.walkerplus.com/164079279001/

While here in Saikan Ramen restaurant in Toyota offers 50% discount of all noodle menu every 10th, 20th, and 30th of the month.

Toyota - Tatay eating ramen and gyoza
Eating Ramen and Gyoza at Saikan in Toyota
For details about discounts visit their site at http://www.ra-mensaikanito.com/

If you are after for a volume, you might be satisfied with this big bowl in Takadanobaba.

Takadanobaba - Tatay at Yoshi Maru
Chashu-men in miso base at Yoshi Maru Ramen

And what else you can think of a better partner for your delicious ramen? It’s gyoza!

Toyota - Tonkotsu Ramen and Gyoza
A bowl of Ramen plus Gyoza Set

Another type of Japanese noodle soup is the tsukemen. There’s a difference between a ramen and tsukemen. The differences are, Tsukemen is served with thicker soup and has a stronger taste; they also used thicker noodles; and lastly – it’s how you eat tsukemen. You will be given a separate plate for noodles and a bowl of soup where you can dip the noodles in the soup and eat them. Usually, after you’re done on noodles, you might stil have left-over soup in your bowl. You might not want want to waste that delicious broth. Because of the soup’s strong flavor, you may add lighter broth called gyodashi(fish broth) or toridashi(chicken broth) before you sip it. Try to put a right amount into your bowl of left-over soup and finish it off down to the last drop. So amazingly delicious! The photo below is one of our favorite tsukemen restaurant.

Shibuya - Tsukemen Restaurant
Our favorite Tsukemen restaurant at Tsukemen Daijin in Shibuya. (left) Weekend lunch out for these Japanese people falling in line waiting for their turn to eat delicious tsukemen; (right) Me and my wife enjoying our tsukemen

The ramen served at restaurant near our place in Shin Yurigaoka Station also tastes good. We purchased these bowl of noodles half the price using Groupon. One bowl of ramen and side menu of negi meshi for only ¥525.

L MyLord Shinyuri - Ramen at Santouka
(left) Shio ramen – Santouka’s signature noodle soup that has mild and creamy soup seasoned with salt; (center) Negi Meshi – rice topping of dried seaweed, onions, and dried katsuo powder; Kara Miso Ramen – mild chili flavored miso noodle soup
For other ramen menu of Santouka, visit them at http://www.santouka.co.jp/en/index.html

This is another restaurant we tried at Shin Yurigaoka. A bowl of flavorful soup noodles and big slices of juicy pork belly.

Shin Yurigaoka - Tatay&Mommy at Asahikawa Ramen Ooyukiken
Delicious Hokkaido ramen of Asahikawa Ramen OoyukiKen at Shin Yurigaoka
Visit their website at http://www.daisetsuken.com/

If you are concerned with the price and quality of the food and demand for food reviews, stop by at tabelog or websites that offers discounts and coupons such as groupon, hotpepper, and gourmet walker.

This is our first purchase of ramen Groupon which we enjoyed our bowl of chashu-men and gyoza set at a low price.

Itabashi - Ramen Groupon - Wa?
Full pack of chashu or pork belly ramen and Gyoza Set for only ¥580 at Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen Wakura located near Shin-Itabashi Station

And if you happen to stop by on Tokyo station, you can as well enjoy and choose kinds of Japanese noodles at First Avenue Tokyo Station – Tokyo Ramen Street. Explore different kind of noodles, which was already brought near to you in Tokyo from all over Japan.
Visit their official site at http://www.tokyoeki-1bangai.co.jp/ramenstreet/

I hope you also enjoy eating ramen as we do. It’s difficult to list the best for there are hundreds of ramen restaurant all over Japan to choose from. Every person has their own taste and has their own favorites as well. The good thing is – you can eat them anywhere and anytime you want in every corner here in Japan. Discovering your own favorite is the exciting part. So the next time you go for a ramen adventure, look for the one that matches your taste and mood.
Happy ramen hunting!

Our next ramen adventure is to visit Yokohama Ramen Museum!

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