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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.

M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Okonomimura’: The Okonomiyaki Village

August 29, 2023January 31, 2024Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

Picture this. You’ve grown ravenous, bordering on feral, from the previous night’s drinking festivities in Hiroshima. 13 Sapporo draft beerus is the limit, you’ve tested it thrice over, just to make sure. You stumble outside of your hotel right off Hondori Shopping Street to a pitch black night sky and take a deep breath (like Frank in the ending scene of Nicholas Winding Refn’s ‘Pusher’). You put your head down and veer down a back alley, only to be confronted by a gaggle of grotesque monsters in red robes.

A robe slips off one of them. Only this time they aren’t the village elders attempting to create a bizarro-world 19th century enclave to protect you from the outside world. They are hulking, menacing, behemoth…grilled wheat flour pancakes stuffed silly with cabbage, yakisoba noodles, and seafood, topped with a fistful of green scallions, Japanese mayonnaise (for some), and descendent of Worcestershire sauce.

[The screen cuts to black]

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).

Dream a Little, I’ll Dream on Taiga: Italian Cuisine With Japanese Precision

August 12, 2023August 25, 2023Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

Dream on, dream on. I dream on. Dream a little, I’ll dream on Taiga… I had been forewarned (whatever the positive of forewarning is though) that Italian-Japanese fusion cuisine was an actual thing in Japan. And that it was all the rage. At first, I was afraid, I was petrified. I was skeptical. I didn’t believe it.

However, after learning that Japanese-Italian cuisine, commonly referred to as ‘Itameshi’, had a cultural and recent-historical significance behind it, I warmed up to the idea and now I can’t live without it by my side. I’m not exactly sure why I was hesitant about Italian cuisine when I had learned very quickly during my three-month stint in Japan that they are/were renowned for absorbing the best parts of every other cuisine in the world and refining it/turning it into a science.

Takoyaki Umaiya: 60 Years of Minimalist Octopus Ball Bliss (Sans-Mayo)

August 11, 2023August 25, 2023Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

I loathe mayonnaise. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a thousand more times. Mayonnaise is my kryptonite. So you can imagine I was crippled with dejection and bouts of FOMO after landing in Osaka and realizing that most major Kansai-region specialties, namely takoyaki and okonomiyaki, are topped and/or coated in this globby, abominable mixture.

However, my heart fluttered, my palms began to sweat, and I jumped up and down while shrieking with excitement like Buddy the Elf when he heard that mall-Santa was coming the next day when I learned of ‘Takoyaki Umaiya’ – the second oldest takoyaki shop in Japan (established in 1953), serving up grilled, golden brown octopus balls sans-mayo.

Doing the Neigh Neigh at a Horse Meat Restaurant in Osaka

August 8, 2023September 4, 2023Asia, Food, Japan BigBody Leave a Comment

As the dirty South rapper turned murderer ‘Silentó’ of the viral tune and dance craze once sang, “Now watch me whip, whip, watch me nae nae.” As I bounced down the streets of Osaka blaring this banger in my headphones while doing a bit of the stanky leg for good measure, I passed by a restaurant I thought was a popular duck and soba noodle spot. I popped my head into the restaurant, added my name to the registry for the night, and embarked on my daily constitutional (a 5km run around Osaka Castle).

After working up an appetite of one thousand American pygmy shrews (absolutely voracious eaters those little guys are), I returned to the restaurant and took my rightful spot at the bar – overlooking the kitchen. I must have been disoriented from my run and not capable of putting 2+2 together as I saw a Kanji character that I knew all too well. However, it didn’t register and I placed an order for their signature assorted sashimi platter.

Upon arrival, there was something different about it. I couldn’t quite place it. The texture was something I had never seen before. It was such a pinkish hue that even inspector Jacques Clouseau would struggle to solve the mystery behind its coloring. I suddenly caught a laminated placard with a diagram of a horse out of the corner of my eye and I put it all together. “Now watch me whip, whip, watch me neigh neigh,” I whispered under my breath as readied my chopsticks and took my first bite.

Cơm Gà Xối Mỡ Su Su: Vietnamese Fried Chicken You Didn’t Know You Needed

August 6, 2023August 13, 2023Asia, Food, Vietnam BigBody Leave a Comment

If you checked out my other article breaking down my foray into the world of mookrata in Bangkok, then you know just how much Thai fried chicken caught me by surprise. Well, that was until I experienced the glorious world of Vietnamese waterfall fried chicken. This is the real deal (and the true definition of a hole-in-the-wall spot).

And there aren’t many better spots in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for fried chicken than at Cơm Gà Xối Mỡ Su Su in District 1. Add on some of their addictive garlic soy sauce, infused with chicken drippings (I seriously don’t know if I’ve ever had a better sauce in my life), chase each bite with a spoonful of orange fried rice, rinse and repeat, and you’re in for an absolute fowlin’ good time.

The Meat & Cheese Georgian Triumvirate of Bangkok: Khachapuri, Khinkali, & Tolma

August 6, 2023August 13, 2023Asia, Food, Thailand BigBody Leave a Comment

“I’ll take cuisines that you would never see in Bangkok, Thailand for $100, Alex.” “This popular dish features unleavened bread formed into a boat shape and filled in its center with cheese, eggs, and sometimes meat.” “What is Georgian food, Alex?” “That’s correct. In last place, we have Big Body who has just correctly answered his first question of the day and now has the board.”

I can thank ‘Avra’, a popular Georgian and Greek restaurant-hybrid in Bangkok for giving me this knowledge that keeps me from getting shut out in my imaginary Jeopardy! Debut. Even in my dreams, I’m the worst contestant on the show.

A Scrumptious Seafood Congee in Bangkok’s Buzzing Chinatown

August 5, 2023August 13, 2023Asia, Food, Thailand BigBody Leave a Comment

I went on several eating marathons in Bangkok. But I offset them by walking everywhere. My most arduous and longest journey of the one-month stint I did in Bangkok had to be walking from Sukhumvit 11 out to Chinatown. I was a man on a mission. Other than getting to Chinatown in one piece and without having soaked through my t-shirt (I failed), I had no real plans or idea of what to do (or where to go) when I got there.

However, like a light bulb turning on (insert whatever cartoon resonates with you where a lightbulb flashes on over a character’s head when they get an idea) I knew I found what I was looking for after passing by a small outdoor food stall with cafeteria style foldable tables and three silver-haired Thai men hovering over bowls of fresh squid.

Enter ‘Khao Tom Pla Plaeng Nam’ – a fresh seafood Teochew-style congee spot near Yaowarat in Bangkok’s bustling Chinatown. This place is a congee institution. And I found out why.

All Day Mookrata, Everyday Mookrata: A Korean BBQ & Chinese Hotpot Love Story

August 3, 2023August 5, 2023Asia, Food, Thailand BigBody Leave a Comment

I can’t believe that I had lived 32 years of my life never having heard of mookrata (also known as ‘mu kratha’). I love Korean BBQ. I love Chinese hotpot. I love Japanese motsunabe. Mix them all together and you have an unrivaled Frankenstein’s monster of flavor (and fun) that the villagers aren’t chasing out of the village with pitchforks.

Instead, they’re cozying up to this gastronomic monster, giving it the love that Victor never did.

So, you can bet I was in for a huge surprise after being recommended a popular mookrata haunt not far from the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok – Everyday Moo Krata & Cafe. “Like a virgin, grilling for the very first time.” Plus, I went with one of my best roll-dawgs which is how mookrata should be enjoyed.