Shi43ya

Despite the fact that I had a filling bowl of tsukemen earlier in the day, I found myself in Osaka at night and hungry. It was pretty late, and although usually I would prefer takoyaki at times like this, there was a new hot late night ramen shop I wanted to try.

Shi43ya (pronounced Shijimiya) is named after shijimi, a shellfish featured in their main shijimi shio ramen.  It's hidden in an alley by a bunch of bars, so it's hard to notice. I was tempted to go for the shijimi miso ramen, but for my first time I had to stick with the classic shio.

その日に前こってりのつけ麺を食べたのに結局夜に大阪にいておなかすいていました。夜遅かったので普通はラーメンよりたこ焼きを食べたくなりますけど、新しい深夜ラーメン屋さんに行ってみたかったです。

Shi43屋（シジミ屋という意味）は結構穴場って感じでいろいろなバーと隠れている横町にありました。シジミ味噌ラーメンを食べたかったですけど初めて行ったのでおすすめのしじみ塩ラーメンにしました。

The Bowl
This was shio ramen at its simplest, yet with the unusual twist of a bunch of clams thrown into the mix. The broth itself very light, salty, and clear; kind of like a thin clam soup, as opposed to some of the richer shios I've had before. I would generally prefer something a bit deeper, but for late night post (or mid) drinking, the simple soup, chewy noodles, and clams are a refreshing way to hopefully keep that hangover away.

こんなラーメンはすごいシンプル塩系です。透明なスープはめっちゃあっさりで薄めのしじみスープの感じがしました。普通はもっと濃い塩が好きですけど、飲んでからのラーメンにとって、これは最高でした。もちもちな麺といっぱいのしじみを食べると二日酔いがないといいですね。

Would I Go Again?
Yeah maybe, if the conditions were just right.

また深夜にそんなラーメンを食べたければまた行きます。

Should You Go?
If you like late night shio, this place is for you.

しめ塩ラーメンが好きなら行った方がいいです。

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Shi43屋

Tsukemen Man

As a continuation of cherry blossom season, I took an all-too-rare visit to Kyoto to go to another hanami event. With an opportunity like that, though, I decided I needed to stop and get a bowl of ramen on my way there. Nearby Demachiyanagi there's not a ton of shops; but there is one I've had my eye on: Tsukemen Man. They embraced their name and offered up a specially made rich gyokai tonkotsu tsukemen.

まだ桜の季節なので花見のイベントのために京都に行きました。せっかく京都に行くならそこら辺のラーメン屋さんで食べてみたいと思いました。出町柳に店があまりありませんけど、一つ気になる店がありました。「つけ麺マン」に入って特製濃厚つけ麺を頼みました。

The Bowl
The broth was a mostly by-the-numbers thick gyokai mix; though it was a bit too rich and salty. The noodles made up for that as they were thick and shiny, easy to pick up yet resilient enough to take in a lot of soup and add a light egg flavor of their own. The chashu was good, though like the soup too, a bit salty, and over time it became harder to finish the bowl.

スープは普通の魚介豚骨ですけど結構かかったです。でも麺が太くて食べやすくてちょっと玉子の味がしたのでうまかったです。チャーシューもおいしかったですけど、濃かったです。全部濃すぎて最後の割スープでも飲みきれませんでした。

Would I Go Again?
I'll try another place in Kyoto next time I'm there.

次回京都に行ったら別の店に行きます。

Should You Go?
If you want some tuskemen in Demachiyanagi, otherwise go somewhere else.

出町柳でつけ麺食べたければ行ったらいいです。

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つけ麺マン

Mensho Keiji

Spring is the time for cherry blossoms. Everyone in Japan loosens up, grabs some beer or umeshu at a convenience store, and brings it to the park to sit under the trees and relax. The only thing more enjoyable than this, is making sure you have a full stomach to take it all in. With that in mind my friend and I headed to Menya Keiji, a shop by Osaka Business Park, not far from Osaka Castle.

Menya Keiji had a variety of tonkotsu and gyokai tonkotsu bowls; they ranked them by their popularity among guys and girls. The gyokai tonkotsu ramen looked the most interesting to me, so I ordered that one, which was the #1 ramen picked by girls.

春は桜の季節です。日本のみんなは休みを取って、ビールか梅酒をコンビニで買って公園に行って木の下で飲みながらのんびりします。そうするならその前に食べないと危ないので友達と一緒に大阪ビジネスパークにある「麺屋慶次」に行ってみました。

いろいろな豚骨と魚介豚骨のラーメンがあって、男と女の人気さでソートされていました。わたしは女の一番人気の魚介豚骨ラーメンにしました。

The complimentary appetizer

お通し

The Bowl
The broth started out as a good mix of deep tonkotsu flavors and a balancing gyokai soup. It was a good combination that's seen much more often in tsukemen, so I was happy to have this in ramen, even if the thick, wavy noodles would have been more suited to a thick tsukemen broth. The main issue creating a ceiling for this ramen, though, was the salt content. What started out as a tinge of salt underneath the double soup slowly crept up and by the end prevented me from drinking any more of the broth. I'm glad I was on my way to get some drinks afterwards, because it was tough to wash my mouth out of all that sodium.

スープは一口でこってり豚骨と魚介のだぶるスープの味がしました。よくできているコンビで普通はつけ麺にあるのでこんな味のラーメンがあるとよかったです。太縮れ麺もよかったですけど、やっぱりラーメンよりつけ麺に合います。一番気になるのが塩分でした。最初にちょびっと塩の味がしましたけど、最後にほとんど塩しか味しませんでした。

Would I Go Again?
I don't plan on it.

また行かないと思います。

Should You Go?
It's alright, and it's one of the only shops in the area, so it's passable if you're at Osaka Business Park.

大阪ビジネスパークにそんなにラーメン屋さんはないのでそこにいるといいかもしれません。

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麺匠 慶次