Day 4 started off by heading to the Ramen Museum in Shin Yokohama. I know what you're thinking - is learning about ramen that interesting? The name of the place is deceiving. The museum is replica of a 1958 street, with everything built to look really old. The interesting thing about this street is that all they seemed to do back then is sell Ramen, because every building is
a Ramen shop!
The ramen is supposedly the most famous ramen from all around Japan and have been specially selected to demonstrate the quality and variety of Japanese ramen. Luckily, there were 'Mini' versions of these ramen so I was able to try several....
I had a Shoyu Ramen from Shinasobaya: May have jumped the gun on this one, it had no line and was the first shop I came across. The ramen was OK, nothing special. I think Shoyu is the least tasty soup anyway. 6/10.
Miso Ramen from Ryushanhai - Has been for 50 years, 3rd generation owner. I guess 50 years of experience counts for something cos this was really nice. It had a ball of chilli paste on top which gave it just the right amount of spiciness and the noodles were thicker here. 8.5/10.
Next was a Tsukemen, which is where the noodles and soup are separated and you dip the noodles into the soup. This was really yummy. It was not quite as good as Ryushantai, but definitely better than your average Sydney ramen, (e.g. Menya, ramenkan) 8/10.
Tonkotsu Ramen - As this was my 4th ramen, I was really starting to hit the limit. However, Tonkotsu being my favourite soup base, I had to power on. Besides the unique collagen goodness of a tonkotsu soup base, my lasting memory of this was the amazing fatty and smoky flavour of the chashu of this ramen. My state of fullness reduced the pleasure of this one slightly. 8/10 mostly cos i was so full..
At an average of 600 Yen per ramen, this was not a cheap meal by any means. I guess you can only justify the cost by considering the fact that otherwise you would have to travel t0 various regions of japan to get the same experience which could take days.
After this, I took my extremely full stomach on a walk to Yokohama Chinatown, one of the largest Chinatowns in the world.
On the way there, I went through Sakuragi-cho which is the "darling harbour of Tokyo". As it is Summer here, they had a swimming pool and a fake beach.
I continued onto Chinatown. It is definitely bigger than Sydney's chinatown, but there is a very different vibe here. In Sydney, Chinatown is full of Chinese people and the shops are full of Chinese waiters, cooks, shop assistants etc. In Japan, I'm told that while staff are all Chinese raised in Japan or FOBs, the clientele is predominantly Japanese. This means that the food is expensive and not authentic (they have altered traditional Chinese recipes for Japanese tastes) and expensive (Chinatown is quite the tourist trap). This is different to Sydney, where I would go to Chinatown for authentic Chinese food and a cheap meal...
Dinner was in Tsurumi, at the Soul Kitchen Sugar T - a "black music selection bar" and Okonomiyaki resturant!
For those who don't know, I love Okonomiyaki. Its the combination of egg, your choice of ingredient, the mayonnaise, the sweet okonomiyaki sauce, all in a pancake/pizza package. The best ones are where you are given the mix and cook yourself, which as far as I know, you can only find in Japan.
Inside, there are African American themed paintings/drawings/graffiti all over the walls.
The okonomiyaki came as a mix...
and then you cook it yourself...
we had three okonomiyakis there: mixed cheese, seafood and mochi.. all were very tasty! As the night went on, more and more regular customers entered, evidenced by the fact that they seemed to all know each other and the owner. The music was Mary J and other soul artists, which gave the bar/restaurant a very relaxed feeling. 8.5/10.Next: Hakone!
No comments:
Post a Comment