This was one of my most memorable accidental finds. Butanchu Ramen was just outside Green World Zhong Xiao hotel where we stayed for a week in Taipei. We were leaving for the airport and our taxi was arriving in 15 minutes. So we dashed into Butanchu for a quickie lunch - otherwise, an overseas chain restaurant is the last thing we want to eat in Taipei 😄
From Kyoto Japan, Butanchu literally means "pig people". It's a tiny ramen joint with a few bar seats ringing the open kitchen. We quickly squeezed our way into the inside corner and made our orders.
Friendly chef don't speak Mandarin or English. I know quite a few Japanese words - Suzuki, Yamaha, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Honda, even arigato etc. So, we couldn't have any conversation 😂 It's a one man operation in the kitchen. The busy chef cooks all the orders and kept turning around to stir that large steamy pot of simmering tonkotsu broth with a kayak paddle made of steel.
There were 3 choices of noodles - normal straight slender, medium thickness wavy, and "sky dragon" like wavy ribbon pasta (fettucine). I wasn't feeling very adventurous that day, so I opted for straight slender.
The menu on one sheet of paper. I can't read much of it 😂
I don't know lah... between a flurry of gestures and stuttering mangled Mandarin, the correct order landed in front of me 😄
We don't have much time. Our bags were still in our rooms and the taxi was arriving anytime now.
So, first things first.
One mouthful of the rich, creamy tonkotsu broth and it was wow! 😮
It felt thick and heavy on the tongue almost like a gruel or porridge with tiny bits of soft pork and fat suspended inside. The flavour was deeply savoury salty but I could still taste the underlying porky sweetness. (Taiwanese pork is among the world's best.)
The noodles were done nicely al dente with a nice tender crunch to the bite. The strands were smothered with the thick savoury salty porky gruel, so every slurpy mouthful was full of tactile pleasure and robust flavours.
I didn't like the chashu though - for ramen chashu I like mine to be almost soft, juicy and fatty. This one was a little stiffer than I like and had almost no fat.
My buddy was more adventurous - he went for the medium thickness curly noodles. It actually had better bite than straight slender. It pays to be willing to try new things. Next time, I shall go for the thicker noodles.
Recommended for you 👍 Though it was a crazy 10 minute dash, I enjoyed Butanchu Ramen a lot. Love the kick butt flavour and thickness of the tonkotsu broth. I will go for it again whenever I see another Butanchu outlet anywhere. I hope the brand will come to Singapore and Malaysia. (They have other stock but this traditional thick tonkotsu broth is perfect for me.)
Restaurant: Butanchu Ramen 豚人
Address: No. 10號, Alley 5, Lane 170, Section 4, Zhongxiao East Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10688
GPS: 25°02'26.9"N 121°33'04.5"E 🌐 25.040812, 121.551248
Nearest MRT: Zhongxiao Dunhua
Tel: +886 2 8773 9380
Hours: 11:30am - 9:00pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 7 Sep 2019
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