Ramen Sou Rekishi wo Kizame Osaka Nipponbashi • Jirorian Cult Noodle ラーメン荘 歴史を刻め 大阪日本橋店 ☎ +81666957576

Ramen_Sou_Rekishi_Osaka_Nipponbashi_Jiro_Noodle ラーメン荘歴史を刻め大阪日本橋店

After spending the day at Tsutenkaku 通天閣, we roamed slightly out of the tourist belt to look for a hyperlocal ramenya (ramen restaurant).

When we arrived three minutes after opening time, Ramen Sou Rekishi was already full house and there was a queue of about 12 - 15 waiting outside in the drizzle.

Cutting the long story short, I found out that on arrival we had to go inside the restaurant first, buy a ticket for the ramen we want, then go out again to join the queue outside for a seat. (The ticket machine was only in Japanese.)

Ordering was not complicated but need to be aware of the protocol.

While waiting, a staff will come out to take our ticket(s), get our preferences.

When a seat becomes available for us, the staff will usher us inside to it.

Though I could not speak any Japanese, everyone was very friendly and helpful.

Inside, there were counter seats for about 12 - 15 pax. I like the energetic and exuberant vibes. The kitchen and wait staff shouted cheerfully occasionally but I couldn't understand what they were saying. It liven up the dining atmospherics. The background music on the TV was high energy too.

When I saw my small portion I was glad that I made the right choice 🫢 (There was a choice of small, medium, large - all the ingredients are the same, just different amounts of noodles.)

This was my first Jiro 二郎 style ramen. Ramen Jiro was founded by Yamada-san in 1968 in Tokyo. Yamada-san developed the Jiro-style ramen in the 1970s - the huge portion and intense flavours soon grew a cult following, especially among students and salarymen.

Since then, Jiro style ramen became its own genre of the iconic Japanese noodle, and ramenyas sprouted emulating Yamada-san's creation.

Ramen Sou Rekishi is one of them.

I opted for small amount of noodles.

"Small" was a mountain of noodles topped with a heap of bean sprout, hefty chunks of pork, chopped raw garlic, stewed onion, and everything half submerged in soup.

Not very prettily put together, this bowl was meant to feed young humans with huge appetites, not for social media 🫢

They only serve thick broad noodles which were cooked in batches (not individual servings), so there was no choice on the doneness.

Anyway, the heavy thick noodles were all cooked tender firm with a chewy bite. Good to me but there was still a lot of noodle to work through even for the "small" portion.

I caught a glimpse of another customer's large or medium portion and it frightened me a little 🫣 😄

The sloshy shoyu and pork soup was very salty and oily. The chef asked if I would like garlic, which I replied yes, so there was some subtle heat in my soup and noodles from a heap of chopped garlic.

There were at least five large chunks of boiled pork which were mostly lean.

They were quite firm, chewy and salty. Where there was some fat, there was some porcine sweetness.

Lots of bean sprouts, great if you love it - I do. Boiled till limp but juiciness and some crunch remained.

When I was leaving after my meal, the queue grew to around 30 to 40 queuing across the road in the unrelenting light rain. (A typhoon was lashing Okinawa in the south.)

Ramen Sou Rekishi obviously has a loyal following among Jirorians - it is quite different from ramen of more familiar chains like, let's say Ichiran or Ippudo. (Ramen Sou Rekishi is also a chain.)

Ramen Sou Rekishi reminded me of Ramen Benkei Asakusa in Tokyo in terms of a strong local following, hefty serving and intensity of flavours (mainly salty).

Another day, another lesson in culinary culture for me 🙏