GO RAMEN!®

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Sapporo Ramen Kyowakoku (札幌らーめん共和国) - Sapporo Station, ESTA Building 10F

If you don't get a chance to leave Sapporo (or the station for that matter), the 10th floor of the ESTA building, within the confines of Sapporo Station, has a ramen park called Sapporo Ramen Kyowakoku. It is here that you'll find 8 ramen shops from around Hokkaido ready to serve the best ramen in perhaps all of Japan. Choose carefully and vote wisely.

The 8 shops will change every year or so depending upon your vote. The current lineup as of April 2009 can be found here. There's also a gift shop where you can find all of your ramen goodies. It's the next best thing to traveling throughout Hokkaido for ramen.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Ezo Fukurou (えぞ梟) - Mitsuwa Umaimono Gourmet Fair 2009

In the midst of my recent Sapporo posts, Ezo Fukurou zooms into LA for the weekend with perfect timing. Occupying a space in the Mitsuwa Food Court during this year's Umaimono Gourmet Fair, this ramen-ya from Hokkaido (?) brings it's Sapporo-style miso ramen with a fat slice of butter and a handful of corn. There's also a nori-tamago gohan for $1 if you feel like eating rice. Anyway, I arrived around 1:30pm and was shocked to see so many people. It took at least 40 minutes to wait in line, order, and pick up my ramen. Was it worth it? I guess so...

Miso Butter Corn Ramen: Described as "たっぷりコーンの味噌バターらーめん", which translates as "a sh**load of corn on top of miso butter ramen", this ramen was...pretty good. I mean, I've been a little spoiled lately so I wasn't really expecting much. And it was good to see that they still wok'd the soup (a miso ramen tradition) with all the ingredients right before pouring it on top of the noodles. I didn't see much corn on top, but most of it just sank to the bottom.

The butter really mellowed out the flavor. It's sort of like putting padding on the outfield wall. It lessens the impact of the miso but you can still taste it. I personally prefer it without the padding and enjoy the sting. You can also feel the butter coat your lips as you slurp. Sort of like kissing a girl (or guy if you prefer) who's wearing too much chapstick.

The thick, 2x4 pieces of menma were sadly disappointing. They were too hard and it felt like I was chewing on raw sugarcane. Okay, maybe not that hard but it was very stringy. The chashu had good flavor but it felt a little too chewy. Alright, I've definitely become too picky.

Alas, the noodles. I love Sapporo-style noodles. Good stuff! And the corn...is just sweet corn.

Fyi: I wrote that ? above because a search of Ezo Fukurou using the Ramen Database didn't turn up any results. Does anyone know where the honten in Japan is?

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Mitsuwa Umaimono Gourmet Fair - 2009

Thanks to the ever-dependable edjusted for first breaking the news last night. The Mitsuwa Umaimono Gourmet Fair is back! For more info click here and if you can't read Japanese, then click here for Mitsuwa's translation.

Here is the rundown:

Chibakiya: Featuring Shinasoba.
6/4(Thu) - 6/7(Sun) Costa Mesa Store
6/11(Thu) - 6/14(Sun) New Jersey Store

Ezo Fukurou: Featuring Miso Butter Corn Ramen.
6/4(Thu) - 6/7(Sun) Torrance Store

Tsukasa: Featuring BBQ Beef Tongue.
6/4(Thu) - 6/7(Sun) Costa Mesa Store

Takoya Kukuru: Featuring Takoyaki.
6/4(Thu) - 6/7(Sun) Torrance Store, Costa Mesa Store
6/11(Thu) - 6/14(Sun) San Jose Store, Chicago Store, New Jersey Store

I guess San Diego was left out again! I guess they think it's not too far of a drive. Anyhow, hope you can still make it. See you there!

Nitori No Keyaki Susukino (にとりのけやきすすきの本店) - Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Japan (Hokkaido)

When the shopkeeper (店主) claims to reach all 5 of your senses with his ramen, it better be darn good. And darn good it was! The soup is made with pig fists, back fat, several vegetables, and special free-range chicken from Niigata. It is then boiled for at least 10 hours depending on the day. The noodles are your typical Sapporo-style that can withstand the heat. All of this combined with their 3-miso blend is what they call a miso ramen specialty shop. In other words, you'll only find miso ramen here. In all there is a regular miso ramen, miso corn butter ramen, chashu miso ramen, spicy miso ramen, negi miso ramen, and garlic miso ramen. I had the miso corn butter ramen. It was very smooth.

From Susukino Station (Namboku Line) walk three blocks South and make a left. It'll be on your right. It's exactly one block South of the Ramen Alley. Open everyday from 10:30am to 4am. Grab a seat and wait for the dude to take your order.

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Other sites that mention Keyaki Susukino Honten:

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Sumire Honten (すみれ札幌本店) - Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, Japan (Hokkaido)

As you may already know, Sapporo is known for their miso ramen. And miso ramen may as well be synonymous with Sumire. If you're in the vicinity, then the Sumire Honten (headquarters) is a MUST visit. Don't care much for miso? Then get ready to be blown away! You WILL burn your tongue and you WILL like it. The thin layer of oil keeps everything scorching hot and the tantalizingly tangy miso is unbelievable.

The closest station is Nakanoshima on the Namboku Subway Line. From there take Nakanoshima Street south and follow the bend to the left until you hit the next main street. Cross it, make a left then follow it until you see a small road that goes down parallel to the main street. Sumire will be at the end. There's plenty of parking and plenty of seats. They open at 11am and close at 9pm.