Mitsukabozu

Over my time in Osaka, I've been able to go to most of the shops that I've wanted to. One that has evaded my reach is the legendary miso shop Mitsukabozu. Partially because of the dearth of miso in Kansai, Mitsukabozu's name reaches far in the prefecture. I had a chance to go to their Umeda branch as soon as that opened, but now, as a stopover on the way to a soccer game in Banpaku Park, I was finally able to visit the flagship shop in Toyonaka.

With white miso, red miso, and spicy miso soups, it was difficult for me to decide what to order. I wanted to get mini bowls of all of them, or better yet, to come back multiple times and try them all. After consulting with the waitress, she advised I go with the KANSAI, an assari fish ramen without any meat. It's not what I would have gone with on my own, but who am I to question the masters?

大阪に住んでいる間にほとんど行きたい店に行けています。まだ行けてないのが一つがあって、うわさの「みつか坊主」です。ラーメンが詳しい人なら、絶対にその店知っています。梅田支店ができたときにすぐ行って、今回サッカー試合のために万博記念公園に行く途中に豊中によって本店に行きました。

白・赤・辛みそラーメンがあったのでめっちゃ迷いました。全部ミニ盛りで食べてみるか何回か行って全部頼みたかったでした。店員さんと相談してからKANSAIというメニューにしました。あっさり魚介系味噌ラーメンでした。わたしは勝手に決めるんだったらそれを選びませんけど、店員さんにお勧めしてもらったのはどうかな？

Minoh beer is the sign of a good shop

箕面ビールがあるならきっといい店です

The Bowl
Normally I'm a fan of rich miso, but as Shiogensui showed me with shio ramen, Mitsukabozu proved to me how powerful a light miso can be. In many ways it tasted like a light seafood miso soup, but the underlying miso flavors were much more like the miso tare found in ramen, as opposed to the style used in miso soup. The soft and delicate noodles matched the soup, pulling up the subtle flavors in just the right dose. The thick, chewy menma provided contrast to the bowl as a strong palette cleanser, while the chashu fit the theme of the bowl, being thin and balanced in flavor. If there was one thing I didn't like about the bowl, it was that there was a bit too much of the chives. They were good in small doses, but towards the end of the bowl their garlicky flavor overwhelmed the rest of the soup.

普通は味噌といえばこってりが好きですけど、塩元帥に塩ラーメンについて教わったみたいにみつか坊主によくできているあっさりラーメンがめっちゃうまいことを教えてもらいました。魚介系の味噌汁みたいでしたけど、味噌の味が味噌汁よりラーメンらしい味噌だれの味がしました。柔らかい麺はスープに合って微妙な風味を吸収しました。太いメンマが強い味がして、スープと違ってよかったですけど、チャーシューも麺みたいに薄めの美味がありました。ニラはよかったですけど、ちょっと多めだったので最後の味はちょっとニンニクっぽかったです。

Would I Go Again?
Yes.

はい。

Should You Go?
Yes.

はい。

Information
味噌らーめん みつか坊主