Ramen Archives - Pale Ale Travel

Sometimes You Just Have to Crush a Narita Airport Ramen

December 20, 2024December 20, 2024Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

If you’re reading this, I’m already in the U.S., home for the holidays to see family, drive the icy backroads that saw me intrepidly eat Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches while on the way to Catholic school homeroom, and catch up with old friends.

All of this is great. However, there’s one glaring gastronomic problem in my small New England state – an egregious lack of authentic and quality Japanese cuisine.

So, on my route back from Hong Kong, stopping in Tokyo Japan at Narita International Airport for a 4-hour layover, you know I had to get one final Asian cuisine fix before touching down in the land of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chicken tenders, and lite beer.

And, with my stomach bloated and gurgling from the previous night’s undigested gyros, I knew I had to go with old faithful – ramen.

Sometimes, you just have to crush a Narita Airport ramen – especially when that ramen is by Ginza Kagari.

Ganso Tsukemen’s Lobster & BBQ Pork Tsukemen is What Dreams Are Made Of

November 23, 2024November 23, 2024Asia, Food, Hong Kong BigBody Leave a Comment

If you know this Big Body, then you know that gun to his head, he is choosing tsukemen, the pungent, savory dipping ramen, over traditional ramen, noodles served in a piping hot broth, any day of the week.

This is not a slight to the glory that is everything ramen. In fact, tsukemen is classified as ramen so it’s actually a celebration – a celebration of ramen in a lesser consumed form.

Look at me acting like Gary from 6th grade in his JNCO jeans and Bathing Ape hoodie when he obnoxiously always made sure to differentiate himself by proclaiming to everyone how he only listens to alternative music because mainstream radio edits are for “unoriginal posers.”

The point is, I’m #TeamTsukemen.

I must have latched onto tsukemen as my default ramen amalgam because I’m secretly a masochist who loves fumbling to pick up room temperature noodles with chopsticks followed by splashing its dark shoyu (soy sauce) broth all over the only nice button-down I own. The struggle is real. But that also makes it taste that much sweeter (saltier?).

Well, in my pursuit of finding the best tsukemen (and ramen) in Hong Kong, this Big Body was pleasantly surprised after stumbling on an unassuming ramen joint in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui for a coveted Thursday night hang with one of his top dawgs. Better yet, it was a spot serving up a noodle dish that appealed to both his gustatorily high-brow and prurient interests – that’s right, a lobster and BBQ pork tsukemen.

Here is why Ganso Tsukemen’s lobster and BBQ pork tsukemen should absolutely be on your ‘Hong Kong ramen radar’.

A Tempestuous, Tonkotsu Tryst at Ramen Bari-Uma in Central

November 2, 2023November 10, 2023Asia, Food, Hong Kong BigBody Leave a Comment

After three months back in Hong Kong (post-Japan stint), to say that I’ve been on a ramen kick is an understatement. I’ve touched on this in several other posts but other than ramen, I find most Japanese cuisine in Hong Kong to be exorbitantly priced. This Big Body wants consistent, high-quality, affordable Japanese fare (and nama beerus) that brings me back to my days falling off izakaya bar stools and waking up naked in the hallway of my Tokyo hotel (I wish I was joking).

Well, I found it and am thankful to Ramen Bari-Uma for delivering that shameful, delicious nostalgia in a piping hot bowl of tonkotsu-based ramen loaded with fat slabs of char siu. I like big cuts of char siu and I cannot lie.

By now, I’ve almost eaten through the entire menu at this bustling Lan Kwai Fong ramen haunt. Initially, I was in it for Bari-Uma’s spicy, rich tonkotsu ramens with thick cut slabs of fatty char siu (that I’d have to dial down a tad with nori slices by the dozen). But as I worked my way through, I found several new favorite dishes that have kept me coming back, at minimum, one per week for the last 3 months. Because of this, it’s only right that I dedicate an entire ~~love song~~ post to this ramen joint that should definitely be on your radar.

Ramen Taniseya: A Gargantuan Cauldron of Iekei Ramen in Shinbashi, Tokyo

September 24, 2023September 24, 2023Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

There aren’t many ramen joints in Japan that made me feel as if I was a true Japanese salaryman 9-5’er more than Ramen Taniseya in Shinbashi, Tokyo. The biggest difference between me and them at the time was that I was dead sober while most patrons were 10 Chuhis/draft Suntory Premiums deep. It was also the first night I met an ex-partner of mine for what was meant to be 10 days of rekindling requited love.

Come to find out in less than 48 hours that the requited love we both hoped for was deeply offset by annoyance, resentment, and incompatibility to the nth degree (I’m still glad we gave it a go). We parted ways shortly after. However, I would not have consumed one of the best bowls of tonkotsu-based ramen (Iekei-style) during my self-imposed exile to Japan if it weren’t for taking the Friday morning Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo to meet her.

Here’s why Ramen Taniseya’s gargantuan cauldron of Iekei ramen is a late-night ramen haunt that I will be sure to return to next time in Tokyo.

Hiroshima-Style Tsukemen That Will Put Some Hair on Your Chest

September 2, 2023January 31, 2024Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

If you’ve read my post (and failed screenplay – thanks a lot M. Night) on the iconic, bustling food-theme park ‘Okonomimura’ in Hiroshima, then you already know just how memorable a time I had in this city.

From the most flavor-packed and savory oyakodon I’ve ever tasted (in the basement of a shopping mall) to sweet, battered, thick corn dogs at the Hiroshima Carp baseball stadium (the most raucous fans in all of Japanese baseball), to a thick, nutty and mince meat-topped dan dan noodles served while macabrely watching the Titanic, I did not have a single bad meal in my week-plus in the “City of Water.”

Rounding out this eating and baseball-fueled trip of mine was a popular ramen staple, unique to this resilient and historical city, Hiroshima-style tsukemen – cold boiled noodles topped with shredded cabbage, cucumber, and green onions, served with a dry chili oil (and chili pepper) and vinegar dipping broth, garnished with sesame seeds. This can be one spicy papacito (depending on the level of heat you choose).

3 Ramen Restaurants in Kyoto That Make My Heart Sing

August 31, 2023September 1, 2023Asia, Food, Japan BigBody 2 Comments

I mentioned in a previous post that I had written Kyoto off relatively early in my travels – a mistake and miscalculation I fully acknowledge at present day. I was wrong about Kyoto. Please forgive me (me speaking to Kyoto the city). I think it was because I first arrived during the jam-packed Golden Week, in the midst of a rough work week, unable to find a stable workspace to post up, and deep in the throes of worry about falling out with my newly established routine (and life) in Osaka.

But then I found you, Taiho Ramen (I sound like Joe from the Netflix series ‘You’). If you’ve already checked out my post on Taiho Ramen – Kiyamachi, then you know that this is my absolute favorite ramen I encountered in all of Japan (not just the Kansai region). However, there were two other ramen restaurants in Kyoto that caught my attention in my combined three-plus weeks here.

Here are three ramen spots in Kyoto (including Taiho) that made my heart sing and have me excited about my second stint in the Kansai region in 2024.

6 Ramen Spots in Central, Hong Kong to Get Your Noodle Fix

August 27, 2023August 28, 2023Asia, Food, Hong Kong BigBody Leave a Comment

I’m not sure I would have ever written this piece if I hadn’t spent the last three months in Osaka, Japan. Ramen became a regular staple in my diet. Over three months in Japan, I ate at approximately 30 ramen restaurants (and countless more noodle shops – e.g. Soba and udon) and wrote a guide on 21 of my favorite ramen spots in Osaka. Even though I’ve lived in Hong Kong for a combined six-plus years, I had never paid much attention to ramen here.

But like a newborn lamb with a fresh set of eyes and palate, I’m here and free of noodle sin, ready to become a Hong Kong ramen martyr so that you can get your fix.

During my three-month stint in Osaka, something clicked genetically and gastronomically, to where I’m now at a point where I need a bowl of ramen at least twice per week. And, in a beleaguered city where some lunch and dinner prices can have you wondering exactly where your money went, ramen is an affordable, convenient, and filling option that should not be slept on.

In no particular order, here are six ramen spots you can’t miss in Central, Hong Kong. All have various branches spread out across Hong Kong but for the manageability of this article, I’ve only provided their Central location addresses.

21 Days of Ramen in Osaka: My Summer Love Story

August 25, 2023July 16, 2024Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

I genuinely believe Osaka is the single greatest city on earth for eating. “Japan’s Kitchen” as it’s aptly named, even birthed one of my favorite phrases ever, ‘kuidaore’ – literally translating to “Eat until you go broke.” Based on this alone, you know you are in for a hell of a ride the second you step off your respective plane, train, or automobile, and into ANY pocket of the city. Osaka epitomizes this mantra to the nth degree. And, at the heart of it are its estimated 2500-plus ramen shops or roughly 10% of all ramen joints in Japan.

Here are 21 of my favorite ramens that I downed during my three months in Osaka (Arthur Miller would be proud).

Taiho Ramen-Kiyamachi: a Late-Night, Kurobuta Ramen Institution in Kyoto

August 16, 2023August 25, 2023Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

If you’ve read my guide on 21 days of ramen in Osaka, then you already know that I’m the self-proclaimed Tyrone Biggums of ramen. Except, instead of white shiny rocks of ‘kryptonite’, my addiction is fatty, smoky char siu and shoyu (soy sauce) ramen broths. And I can’t get enough of it.

I hate to admit it but I wasn’t particularly sold on Kyoto at first. I know. That’s crazy of me. I chalk it up to the fact that I first arrived right during the hectic and overpriced ‘Golden Week’, where families from across Japan flood the streets, shops, and restaurants, and every shrine or temple feels as if you were the 3,000th visitor of the day. I only really warmed up to Kyoto during my second stint there where I was finally able to ease into a comfortable, workable, predictable routine (this Big Body likes predictability).

But there was one constant that remained through the thick and thin – from my first tumultuous moments getting muscled to the back of the line by a horde of Eastern European tourists at Family Mart to my solo treks up Fushimi Inari at night and serene runs along the Kamogawa River – ‘Taiho Ramen – Kiyamachi’ – a vibrant, late-night hole-in-the-wall ramen shop serving up a rich, thick shoyu-based broth that is packed to the brim with Kagoshima Berkshire char siu (pork).