Eating tsukemen ramen noodles in Osaka, Japan

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  • Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
  • One of the biggest surprise thing in life is to try something new. I was fortunate to stumble on this small Japanese ramen place as I walked back from Osaka Castle after waited for the sunset. I was walking back to the hotel, Hotel Forza Osaka Kitahama. It was roughly 2.5km walk. A nice pleasant evening walk alone. It was a good time to reflect what I did for the day and how much I did enjoyed my time in Osaka. Then I came across a softly lighted tiny place close to an intersection with no traffic and no noise. I stood and looked inside. It's a tiny place with 4 small tables separated by see-through partitions and 3 stools at the counter in front of a small kitchen. 2 cooks (men) in the kitchen and 1 female front of house staff. There was only 1 middle empty seat left at the counter. The place was filled with Japanese men after work when I was there. I went in. Fortunately the waitress is nice, friendly and speaks some English, as I wouldn't know where to start! She showed me the self service kiosk machine to order and purchase my meal. I chose a full set meal which was probably the easiest. Paid using cash by slotting into the machine and popped out a ticket for my order. I was impressed by their ordering system.
    I still didn't know what to expect after placing my order. What the food is going to be like and how it will be served. I sat at the counter in between 2 Japanese men. One in business suit towards my left and the other on my right in a casual jumper. Both my ears were tuned to a harmonous stereo system playing to the sound of SLURP SLURP SLURP. I was told that's how Japanese eat their ramen. It was quite amusing for me listening to them slurping away.
    When my meal came I was delighted to see what I've ordered. The noodle came on a separate plate from the broth in a bowl, and a side plate of beautifully charred thinly sliced pork belly "chasu" with a soft boiled egg sliced into halves called "hanjuku tomago". I watched how the 2 guys next to me ate their noodles to learn from them. I still didn't know the name of this type of ramen dish until I've left and googled the place. But I sure did enjoyed the rich complex flavoured broth and the thick chewy noodles. The broth was steaming hot. The noodle was at room temperature. I dunked the noodles in the broth and slurped like the Japanese men next to me. The slices of pork belly "chasu" was probably one of the best I've ever had in my lifetime. It was soft, tender, moist with a nice crisp charred flavour on its edges. It was superb! One of the best meal I've had in Osaka on this holiday. It was relatively cheap too as it was not in a tourist hotspot.
    I left feeling extremely satisfied with a happy stomach.
    The name of this restaurant is called Tsukemen Ide Honten in Chuo Ward, Osaka, Japan.

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