It's past midnight and we're driving around the countryside. Unlike Tokyo or Osaka, driving at this time in the countryside is a bit scary. You won't know who or what will come out any minute in the road but despite that, my partner was speeding up. We probably watch too many Japanese horror films. We're on our way to the 24h opened supermarket when we decided to stop by a convenience store and there, we just blurted out:
At this time, I want to eat ramen.
I'm thinking the same thing.
So we ditched our grocery shopping and went to the ramen store famous around this area in Nara Prefecture.
The ramen I initially wanted to go to was already closed but there's this famous ramen in the area that's open til 3 AM. It's not the best in this place but it's more than average, as per my partner. He's from around here, so I was letting him tour me around, probably not the best time to tour around though. 😅
I was surprised that we parked in a Pachinko parlor building. Wait wait, we're not here for Pachinko, I don't gamble and so does my boyfriend. We're not here for the entertainment center at this building too. We're here for the ramen restaurant on the first floor.
This is Kappa Ramen. It apparently originated in Osaka's Sennichimae and later on, expanded its business in nearby prefectures like Hyogo and Nara. We're here at their branch in Nara Prefecture, a prefecture in the Kansai Region, the same as Osaka.
I really thought kappa means turtle. I'm wrong. 😂 If you've watched One Piece, there's this character who is a kappa - he is Kawamatsu but in the One Piece fandom website, it says that he's a large Japanese puffer fish-man often mistaken as a kappa.
Then I realized he's not really a turtle. So what's a kappa anyway?
A kappa (河童, "river-child")—also known as kawatarō (川太郎, "river-boy"), komahiki (駒引, "horse-puller"), with a boss called kawatora (川虎, "river-tiger") or suiko (水虎, "water-tiger")—is a reptiloid kami with similarities to yōkai found in traditional Japanese folklore. Kappa can become harmful when they are not respected as gods. They are typically depicted as green, human-like beings with webbed hands and feet and turtle-like carapaces on their backs.
Kappa are said to be roughly humanoid in form and about the size of a child, inhabiting the ponds and rivers of Japan.
source: Wikipedia
So a kappa is a mystical entity from the Japanese folklore.
And in the posters of the ramen restaurant we went to, I see this kappa but it's cute and adorable, not so scary at all. This kappa is in almost all pages of the menu as well!
We ordered the chashu ramen, of course. We love meat and we're not ashamed of it. 😂 You can apparently choose which flavor, mine's the normal one and my boyfriend got the black soup. The thickness of the noodle can also be customized so we chose a little bit thicker. We love our noodles like this.
While waiting, they gave us kimchi for free and their signature dish - the fried garlic. The fried garlic alone could already save you from hunger. It's very delicious! You shouldn't miss it.
Our ramen came a few minutes after.
My ramen had a very rich broth. I was trying to save it so I could get the free noodles refill but then I realized this serving is enough to get me fatter and fatter so I stopped thinking of the free refill and drank the soup.
The black soup ramen is also covered with chashu same as mine. My boyfriend already ate some when I took this photo. I wanted to have a sip in his soup but I forgot as I was busy with mine. He said it's great and he could have gotten another refill of the noodles if he's in his best condition. He's kinda sick and the strong aircon in the restaurant didn't help.
Probably next time when we come back, I'll get the black soup. There's red soup too and I think that's spicy. Spicy lovers should probably get that.
Of course, because this is ramen, gyoza is a must. For my partner, ramen with karaage (Japanese fried chicken) is his must.
Their gyoza recently had a renewal and it tasted like my favorite gyoza in the gyoza place I often go to when I was still living in Osaka. My partner was surprised their gyoza was so tasty, he wasn't expecting it.
Their karaage was so flavorful too! I took a big bite but couldn't finish one or else my diet will be ruined more. 😄 If I wasn't on diet, I would have the karaage for sure.
Actually, I got the gyoza set with my ramen which includes the ramen, gyoza, and plain rice. My partner ate all of the rice. 😁 He didn't forget that he ordered the yakimeshi (fried rice or chahan) set but it came late and he was already eating my plain rice.
I wasn't really planning on eating the rice even when it came with the set I ordered but seeing the yakimeshi changed my mind. Don't you think it's tasty?! It looked appetizing and so inviting that I just had to take a spoonful. It didn't disappoint! Glad I stopped myself from eating more or my weight would increase again.
We could have stayed longer in the restaurant and chat like what others were doing but from where we were seated, it's just too cold and my partner wasn't feeling well anymore. He managed to finish all his food though, including the rice. 😆
I'm sure you won't be hanging around in the countryside and in this part of Nara, but this ramen restaurant has branches in Osaka and Hyogo that you could go to. I hope you'll come and taste their yummy kappa 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.