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Tagged: kyoto best ramen, noodles, ramen
Thanks for the recs! My thoughts:
Ramen is not traditional Kyoto food, but there is good ramen to be had in Kyoto, and something of a local style (see next post).
Top recs:
None of these are very “Kyoto” ramen – the first two are top national chains, while Mamezen is much more of an innovative tofu restaurant (its ramen is more a twist on presenting tofu, rather than it being a special ramen).
Others:
Places to ‘Ramen’ in Central Kyoto
Ippudo Nishiki-koji Store (一風堂 錦小路店)
— excellent, excellent ramen —
Ippudo came to Kyoto about five years ago from Hakata, Kyoto and has been a big hit. Ippudo is located on the north side of Daimaru Department Store near the Shijo-Karasuma intersection in central Kyoto. It is one block south of Nishiki Market (shopping arcade).
http://www.ippudo.com/shop/26kyoto.html
Gogyo, Kyoto (五行 京都)
— great Kyushu ramen in historic Kyoto machiya house —
New and elegant ramen restaurant in Kyoto. Gogyo offers other ‘ippin’ dishes lots of drinks.
http://ramendining-gogyo.com/shop_kyoto/index.html
[Now Closed, Nov. 2011] Takaraya Ponto-cho Store (宝屋 先斗町店)
— original, elegant ‘Kyoto’ ramen–
Takaraya is located near Sanjo Bridge in Ponto-cho neighborhood. No ramen lover would want to miss Takaraya’s ‘Sumashi Ramen’ while they are in town. If you can handle underdone eggs, do try their ‘Demachi-no-Tamago-kake Gohan’.
KyotoFoodie review: http://kyotofoodie.com/takaraya-ramen/
Ponto-cho Store: http://www.takaraya.info/shops/pontocho.html
JR Kyoto Station Store: http://www.takaraya.info/shops/kyotosb.html (*this location does NOT offer Sumashi Ramen)
Kyoto Ramen Koji (Little Ramen Street) – Kyoto Station
— seven of the best regional ramen flavors in Kyoto —
Located on the 10th floor of the Kyoto Station Building, this is a great place to take your pick from 7 of Japan’s regional tastes of ramen.
Japanese language site only: http://www.kyoto-ramen-koji.com/towa.html (photos and graphics give you the idea)
Samata Oike Ramen
I just put a review of a very ‘Kyoto’ tasting ramen shop up on OpenKyoto. This shop has a very interesting history, it started out as a night stand ramen cart and moved to a sit down location about 10 years ago. It is located just north of the Kyoto Gosho Imperial Palace, near Doshisha University.
The interior is cleverly designed. The design of the main table recalls the ramen cart.
Samata’s ramen soup includes skim milk and evaporated milk among other novel ingredients. If you are in Kyoto and want to taste some unique and Kyoto style ramen, this undiscovered shop ought to be on your itinerary!
Ramen Shops NOT in Central Kyoto (But worthy of consideration)
Inoshishi Ramen Captain Kyoto North Mountain Wild Boar Ramen!
Recently I tried what I have come to think of as ‘lumberjack ramen’ in the north mountains of Kyoto. It was good ramen but fairly conventional in taste, just more oily. The wild boar didn’t really taste ‘wild’. The only downside of visiting this restaurant is that it is about an hour by car from the city. If you are a REAL ramen fanatic, it is probably worth visiting.
KyotoFoodie article: http://kyotofoodie.com/kyoto-wild-boar-ramen/
Genya Ramen Sake Brewery District Ramen!
Genya Ramen uses sake kasu (sake lees) in their ramen broth. Conceptually I like it a lot but the sake kasu taste is just too understated for me. Sake kasu tastes good and I want to taste it! If you have a few days in Kyoto and are interested in sake, going down to Fushimi is well worth it. Fushimi is very historic and you can tour many of the sake breweries and taste sake.
KyotoFoodie article: http://kyotofoodie.com/fushimi-sake-kasu-ramen/
Mamezen Soba Soy Milk Ramen
Mamezen offers a very nice soy milk based ramen, that is very unlike conventional ramen. While the ramen is very good and worthy of your attention, Mamezen is very often closed without notice. Call the ‘Zen master’ owner on his mobile phone before you go and make a reservation!! 090-1153-5297
KyotoFoodie article: http://kyotofoodie.com/mamezen-soba-soymilk-ramen/
Now, as for Kyoto-style ramen. Perhaps surprisingly, Kyoto-style ramen is typically strong and thick, often soy-based, and the most distinctive feature is the Kujō negi (9th street scallions, a Kyoto varietal – sweet and fat) as a topping. When going to Kyoto-style ramen, ordering extra negi (“negi ōme”) is recommended.
There is in fact a (Japanese) wikipedia page on this topic: 京都ラーメン (admittedly, in Japanese, but listed noted restaurants and references).
Of these, the most notable (AFAICT) are as follows. None are exceptional, but they’re all ok.
A big national chain:
Two diner-ish places, next to each other, by Kyoto station (go east (right) from street in front of terminal building, then south (right) at first big intersection – there’s a massive sign for 新福 that’s very visible), each with a devoted following, and usually lines out the door. These are both small, v. casual, fast service places – think “diner”. The food’s not great at either, but it’s ok, and you may like the atmosphere.
Two others that Wikipedia mentions (but I’ve not checked out) are:
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