Ramen in Umeda

My cousin and her husband were passing through Osaka last weekend and I am always looking for a reason to make the 2-plus hour trip down from the land of cows and onsen to the hustle and bustle of the nation’s third largest city. We headed down the night before and hit a few bars to relax from the week. Anytime I’m out drinking until 3 in a city, I ALWAYS have a craving for ramen afterwards. That doesn’t mean I want a full serving with gyoza on the side to add food coma to my alcohol-induced collapse, but the steamy, salty stuff always seems to help blunt the impact of the inevitable hangover.

After the bar, we hit Yousukou (揚子江), an extremely popular place in Umeda. They’ve got a couple branches in the area, and this one was packed to the gills. It’s a tiny place, just an round-ish counter that seats maybe 15 if you pack in. On this night, it was full of red-faced salarymen, young construction workers, and feathery-haired hostess types. After a 7 or 8 minute weight, we plopped into newly opened seats and ordered the basic ramen.

Known for its assari taste, the shio broth is perfect after drinking. The chashu was nothing to write home about, and the noodles were fairly average, but that soup will clear your head and open your eyes. I’m not typically a fan of lighter soups, but it was perfect for the situation. If you ever have the chance, give it a shot. The fried rice also looked delicious, and the serving was gigantic.

The next morning around 10, we ventured into Nishimatsuya（西松家）. It’s a 24 hour joint that serves tsukemen as well as ramen, and does each in 4 flavors (shio, shoyu, miso, tonkotsu). It also allows you to choose the spice level of your miso soup, how many pieces of pork you want, and a number of other options. My companion chose the tonkotsu ramen and I got the miso tsukemen at the recommendation of the chef. Mine came first, a pile of 200 grams of cooler-than-room-temperature noodles topped generously with negi, menma, and my 2 slices of chashu. The soup was burning hot, a layer of oil preventing the steam and heat from escaping until I dipped my spoon in to taste. My first mouthful of noodles was fantastic, the springy, starchy noodles holding the flavor of the broth well from bowl to mouth. The pork was fatty, but firm, yet I was left unhappy with the flavor combination as the miso overpowered a somewhat subtle pork.

The tonkotsu ramen was just ok. A layer of tiny chunks of fat used to be a far more welcome sight, but as my tastes move in the direction of better strained bases, I don’t look forward to slurping it down as much as I used to. Nothing about it jumped out at me, a very average entry.