I've been craving ramen for a long time and finally, out of the blue, my partner said he'd treat me to ramen one Sunday night.
Since we moved to Tokyo, I rarely eat ramen. I know, I'm in Japan and I could have eaten tons of ramen everyday but that's not really the case for me. My partner is super picky with ramen, probably because he was raised in Nara Prefecture and had the best ramen in the Kansai region. He would often compare the ramen here in the capital to the ramen in Kansai, and of course, the ramen outside Tokyo always wins.
Out of all the ramen shops in Tokyo, there's one that we both love but it's far from our place so it's not super accessible. We tried to look for a replacement that's within our reach and we decided Kamukura Ramen it is.
Kamukura Ramen started as a small shop in Osaka in 1896 and now it has a lot of shops all over Japan. TBH when I was in Osaka, I would often pass one of their branches but never really had the guts to dine in. My partner though went to Kamukura Ramen shops many times, in Nara Prefecture so he is so familiar with the taste.
The Kamukura Ramen shop we went to is in the red light district of Tokyo, Kabukicho. You would often see me blogging about this place, it's kinda near our home. It's not so visible because the shop isn't on the main road, but a slight look to your right when you enter the premises, you'll find this shop with its not-so-bright lights.
I ordered their Chashu Ramen and gyoza. I believe ramen should be eaten with gyoza, so I would always order this side whenever it's available. My partner wanted to try their new menu which is beef cold ramen but in the end, he order the signature Oishi Ramen but with addon chashu. He got the set though which has ramen, karaage (or Japanese fried chicken), and rice.
We ordered from this ticket machine outside the store. Good thing we had cash as this machine doesn't accept cashless payments except for IC cards. After we got our tickets, it's time to enter the shop!
This isn't our first time in this shop so we were surprised to see lots of people and a bit noisy environment at this time. There were a bunch of tourists than Japanese in the shop and it's fun to hear them talk in English. My partner and I would often exchange stares whenever we hear something interesting. Marites English version 😆
Within a few minutes of waiting, our orders arrived. They serve the ramen in a big bowl like this. Oishi Ramen is indeed oishii which means delicious in English. My Chashu Ramen is the same as Oishi Ramen, but with more pork so it's still kinda their signature dish.
Their gyoza and karaage were both good. I didn't manage to eat a lot of fried chicken because I'm avoiding deep-fried food but my partner was able to finish them all, as usual. Their gyoza was fine, as always but I would want it to be a little bit more cooked.
We added the egg to the ramen because there's none to their signature ramen. They won't mind breaking it in half just like you'll often see in ramen photos but it's still good. There are also a bunch of other toppings, vegetable toppings, but we're already fine with what we ordered.
This is actually the first time that I managed to almost finish my ramen in this shop. I was that hungry I guess. Even my partner was surprised. 😆 But I think their ramen improved compared to the last time we were here.
Out of all the ramen shops I've been, I'd give this ramen a 7.5 out of 10. Probably the broth wasn't to my liking..? Or probably too much cabbage? I'm not entirely sure but I know something's missing.
It's not really my favorite ramen but I'll still be coming back whenever I need a ramen fix. 😊 If you would come to Japan, would you try the Kamukura Ramen?
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
With love,
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.
