Kaisugi Ramen

This ramen place has been on my list for some time now, and I finally made it! What took so long, you ask? Well.... they don't open until 1900 and I'm usually starving by then. I need to eat by 1800 or 1830 at the latest, or I become slightly cranky. Okay. Maybe a little bit more than just slightly. My good friend, Tina, was leaving me though and she really wanted to eat here so we made plans to try it out before she flew out.

I wasn't sure where it was located, but I got the pin from their Facebook page and headed towards downtown Iwakuni. I knew where I would park and figured it would be a short walk from the parking lot. As soon as I started to make the turn into the parking lot though, Google maps stated that I had arrived at my destination. What??? Tina and I started laughing and looking around, and there it was! Right next to the pay parking lot I was pulling into.


Yay! We found it! -

Once we sat down, I picked up the menu and started looking it over. The menu is pretty simple, but I wanted to try everything on it. Tina already knew she wanted spicy ramen, and I decided on the chashu ramen. Chashu is the pork slices you usually find in ramen. While I was looking over the menu I also noticed that they have handmade gyoza. A lot of ramen places I have been to use frozen gyoza (the kind you can buy in a grocery store) so I get very excited when I see that a place makes their own!

When my ramen came to the table, I couldn't wait to dig in! BUT, I did wait long enough to take this picture -

...aaaand when they brought Tina's, she was kind enough to wait so I could take a picture of hers too -

You can choose your level of spiciness for your ramen. Tina ordered a level 1.


The gyoza -

The ramen was delicious and the chashu was so tender and flavorful! Tina really enjoyed her spicy ramen too, and we both loved the gyoza. I think I have found a new favorite place to get my ramen fix! I just wish they opened before 1900!!!

The prices were very reasonable too. Our total bill was a little over 2,000yen which was less than $20 at the time.
They only accept yen.

Hours: 1900-0300
Telephone: 0827-22-1000
Address: 麻里布町6丁目2-1, Iwakuni 740-0018

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Tonkotsu Ramen: Yamabiko

I am not a big fan of cold weather....unless I am playing in some beautiful, fluffy snow. BUT, I do like that cold weather means RAMEN SEASON! Not that you can't eat ramen any other time of the year. There is nothing like a nice, hot bowl of ramen on a cold wintry day though. Well, except maybe a nice, hot bowl of udon. I'm a big fan of both!





So, I have passed this place many times and have been wanting to try it, but I just never did. Until last week! I went for lunch and it was pretty tasty so I went back with my camera for dinner less than a week later.



They have an English menu!! I didn't see it when I went for lunch, but I think it's because I spoke Japanese when I walked in. When I went back for dinner, I didn't say anything and they brought over an English menu. Yay! Of course I took a picture of it!!


AND


I think the menu is pretty self explanatory, but I do want to let you know that the "special pork ramen" is just thicker sliced pork pieces. The "pirikara-men" is a slightly spicy ramen. Haha! I just realized that it looks like "spicy men"....kind of. I'm very easily distracted... and apparently, very easily amused. The "goma dango" is a very yummy fried mochi ball covered in sesame seeds, with sweet bean inside. Mmmmm!! One of my favorites!!!

I went with a couple of friends so we each ordered a bowl of ramen and then we got one order of the fried rice, and the gyoza to share. Their fried rice and their gyoza was pretty tasty. I still prefer the gyoza at Nagahama Ramen (I blogged about this yummy place already), but the ramen here is pretty tasty. The soup and the noodles are definitely different from the other ramen places I have blogged about.

Here are some pictures of the yummy food -


Yummy fried rice!!



Gyoza!


And now for the most important dish.....

Doesn't that look good???? If you don't like green onions or the pork, you can order it without it.


If you go during lunch, they offer a lunch special for 900yen. You get a bowl of ramen, one rice ball, two pieces of gyoza, and two pieces of fried chicken. I believe they do a similar set for dinner, but it doesn't start until 6pm. I will also warn you that the fried chicken is typical Japanese fried chicken. With the skin and the fat. I pulled mine apart and just ate the meat. I do suggest pulling it apart and not just biting into it or else you might get a fatty surprise. It's not very pleasant.

Ramen is going to taste different at each restaurant. There are different types of soups and different types of noodles, and each place typically has their own special recipe for the soup. Yamabiko is a tonkotsu style soup so it is pork based. I thought the soup was very good and light on flavor. There are condiments on the table you can add to your rament to boost the flavor or spiciness if you want. So while I really did like the ramen here, you might not like it as much as Nagahama or some other rament place you've been to in the past. This is why I think it's a great idea to try them all! I have blogged about two other places in this area that you can try out.

To get to Yamabiko Ramen, go out the Main Gate and go straight. You want to go to three corners (just go straight until the road comes to a T intersection....this is known as "three corners") and turn right. Continue on this road until it kind of comes to Route 2 (it will be the intersection after you go over some railroad tracks). Turn left here and you will see Mos Burger on your left and McDonald's on your right. Keep going straight. When you see a men's clothing store on your left, you should look on the right for the restaurant. I got there too late to get any photos of the outside from a distance (really bad traffic and too dark), but I did take a picture of what you might see when approaching the restaurant from this direction.


Look for this sign on the right and this is where you will turn. There used to be a guitar shop behind Yamabiko. Even though it is closed, they never took the sign down and this is what I used as my landmark when I first spotted this restaurant.


I did get one shot of the inside too...



They do have quite a bit of parking in the back so that shouldn't be an issue.

The next time you're in the mood for some ramen, give Yamabiko a try and let me know what you think!

Ramen

When it's cold outside, I like nothing better than a hot bowl of ramen. And I am not talking about the instant ramen that a lot of people think of when they hear "ramen". Let's get one thing straight. That is NOT real ramen. I guarantee that if you have real ramen, you will not be able to eat the instant ramen or admit that you ever did. You'll also become a ramen snob like me.

One of my favorite ramen places in Iwakuni is Nagahama Ramen. Every ramen place is different. The soup is made differently and in a lot of cases, the noodles are even different. You should try a few different places before deciding on a favorite. You might even find that you have a couple of favorites. I have a few favorites and all for different reasons.

Last week a few of us at work decided to go out for some ramen together, and I remembered to bring my camera! For those who have been following since my very first post, Dave blasted me on Facebook because we had gone to Ganesh and I didn't have my camera on me. So, I couldn't blog about it. Ha! This time I was prepared! I now take my Nikon with me everywhere I go because you just never know.

We decided to go to Nagahama Ramen since it was Wednesday. I ordered my usual Wakame Ramen and Gyoza. Their gyoza is awesome! Wakame is seaweed so my ramen had lots of seaweed in it. They also have their traditional Nagahama Ramen which is just green onions and pork slices. If you don't like pork you can order it without the pork. Their Wonton Ramen is also pretty good.

My Wakame Ramen

and my Gyoza...Mmmmmmmm

AND if you go on Wednesdays, it's free noodle refill day (now you know why we decided to go)!! You order one bowl and then you can request extra bowls of just noodles as much as you want for free up to 3 times (updated on 4/6/15). You will always have soup left over so all you really need are the noodles. I am usually pretty full after one bowl and my gyoza so I didn't order any extra noodles, but the guys sure did.

They just bring the noodles out to you in a bowl and you just put them in your soup.

For those who like a little spice in their life, they also have a spicy ramen. You get to choose your level up to 5. Dave chose level 3 and he said it was pretty spicy. Not sure what that means for anyone else since everyone has different levels of tolerance for spicy foods. I think for me that meant I would be running around with smoke coming out of my ears, looking for some ice water to dunk my whole head into. I am a spice wuss. It's not that I don't like spicy foods. I love the flavor! I just can't handle the heat. And when I say heat.....level 1 at Coco Curry is a little spicy for me. I'm not kidding.

Even though the menu is not in English, they do have great pictures on the menu. It also helps that it's a very small menu. The one at the top left corner is the "Nagahama Ramen". That is the original ramen.

Be prepared to wait if you go on a Wednesday. It's not always super busy, but it usually is. I try to go early for lunch to beat the crowd and usually, by the time I'm leaving there's a line of people waiting for a table. I've gone in the evenings and usually I don't have to wait very long for a table. It's usually only crazy busy on Wednesdays though.

To get to this wonderful ramen shop, go out Monzen gate turn right and then turn left onto the main road. After about 30 seconds (maybe less), you'll see a right turn. Take it and go over the railroad tracks (Yellow Hat should be on your left). At the light, turn left. Follow this road and at the third fifth light (I think it's the third one....there is an AU shop on the corner), turn right. Follow this road (you should pass a 7-Eleven on your left) and after a few minutes you will see a bright yellow sign on your right. You'll want to turn right there. It's like a mini shopping plaza. The ramen shop is to the right.

Do you have a favorite ramen shop in Iwakuni? Please share! If you are looking for a favorite ramen shop, make sure you give Nagahama Ramen a try!