Monjiro

It was a Saturday, and I woke up too late to go anywhere far.  These are the best days to go on a long walk with a bowl of ramen as the goal.  A look in Ramen Walker told me that there was a gyokai tonkotsu (seafood/pork bone) tsukemen place near Fukushima Station.  I hadn't been in that area since I moved here, and I hadn't had a good gyokai tonkotsu bowl for a while, so I decided to check it out.

The shop had both a spicy version and a normal version.  As always I was tempted to go for the spicy one, but an employee there convinced me to go for the normal.  I went for the tokusei tsukemen, which is regular tsukemen with extra toppings.


Information
紋次郎
Ōsaka-fu Ōsaka-shi Fukushima-ku Fukushima １丁目６−４
Monjiro is a bit south of Fukushima station, in an alley just east of the big Eneos.

This one happened to come with tamago-don which I didn't expect.  Bonus!

The Bowl
It was a very classic gyokai tonkotsu.  I love all gyokai tonkotsu and this bowl was no exception.  The soup was a little thin, which isn't ideal for the noodles, but it actually made it really easy to drink at the end.  The soup on its own was so good that I only put a little bit of wari-soup at the end.  The noodles were fairly thick.  The regular doesn't come with that many, but with the toppings, soup, and tamago-don, I was pretty stuffed afterwards.  Already in the broth were strips of pork, which were thick, juicy, and flavorful.  The pieces you see that I dipped myself were also pretty rich, but not quite as good as the ones in the broth.  The egg was made just perfectly so that the yolk was a delicious jelly that absorbed the flavor of the soup well.

Would I Go Again?
This was a very solid gyokai tonkotsu bowl.  It didn't do anything I hadn't seen before, and it's not as good as the best versions I've had, but everything worked well and the toppings especially were great.  I would definitely come back here if I was in the area or hankering for a good gyokai tonkotsu, and I'm especially curious to try the spicy version.

Should You Go?
If you're in Osaka and looking for gyokai tonkotsu tsukemen, here's your place.  If you're from Tokyo where gyokai tonkotsu tsukemen shops grow on trees, you can probably pass on this one.