Noodles and Rice

In memory of a Ramen shop I loved

by Tom on May 27th, 2007

Last weekend I drove past a building site near my home and it wasn’t until after I was well past it that I realised that it used to be a Ramen shop and a block of apartments.  Now this sort of thing happens all of the time in Japan.  Build it… demolish it… build it again.  This time was different, though, because I really liked the ramen shop that was now just a hole.

This prompted me to write an introduction to ramen shops, one of the most popular styles of restaurant in Japan.

Ramen was originally a Chinese dish, but has become one of the most popular fast foods in Japan today.  It can be made in about a million different ways but it always involves noodles (usually Chinese style wheat noodles) in soup.  From here the variations fan out from miso based soups to  meat or vegetable stock and soy based soup.  The ramen is often categorized by what else is involved in the bowl.  Often there is sliced pork or beef.  Sometimes there is seafood or seafood products like chikuwa (fish sausage).  You can buy ramen with tempura on it or even curry ramen.

The biggest downside to this choice, for someone who finds reading Japanese difficult is getting what you want.  The wall of a ramen restaurant will typically have the menu written up (or should I say down) in posters.  It will often be written in a combination of hiragana, katakana and kanji, with the price at the bottom.  This means that you can randomly choose and point, but what you will get is anyone’s guess.  The good news is that there is probably nothing on the menu that you won’t like, the bad news is if there is anything you are particularly looking out for you may have a hard time finding it.

Ramen shops are typically mum and dad type businesses and so they often have quite a personal atmosphere.  There may well be a pile of magazines to read and the TV is often on.  Some shops have benches and stools, some have conventional tables, some have sit on the floor type tables on low platforms and some have a combination. 

The ramen is served in a big bowl with chopsticks for the noodles and big bits, and often a Chinese or bamboo spoon to help with the soup.  Ramen goes well with beer and so most restaurants will sell either bottled or nama (draft) beer .  You can often get Gyoza (Chinese dumplings) and a few other dishes but don’t expect much else when you go there.  There are no deserts on the menu, no frills, no bookings, and no pretension. 

With a ramen shop what you see is what you get.  They sometimes look old and crumbling, and you will often find the owners look the same way.  But they are usually very good and 9 times out of 10, you will get a great meal at a great price and see a bit of the real modern Japanese lifestyle.

Ramen!

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POSTED IN: Chinese, Fast Food, Japanese, Noodles : Asian, Soups and Stews