Kikanbo ramen - DEVIL LEVEL!!

Much has been written about Kikanbo ramen and their spicy ramen.  I have been there a couple of times and even tried their double devil level spicy ramen once.  That time I finished all of the toppings and noodles but failed to finish off the soup.  The numbing spice (山椒), sansho, was too much for me.  Now there is one guy whose videos I always watch on youtube.  He does videos about food and travel.  His name is Mark Wiens and he loves spicy food.  He made a video about Kikanbo ramen where he attempted their double devil level ramen and finished it soup and all.  You can find his video about it here.  Watching this video motivated me to want to go back and try it again so recently I met up with good friend, and occasional blog companion, Jarrett and we made our way to Kanda to battle the beast again.

Luckily for us there was no line-up (go there between lunch and dinner times and you won't have to wait long) and we made our way to the ticket machine which (thank you Kikanbo) has English also.

After choosing which ramen and toppings that you want you  hand your tickets over to the staff and they will ask you what spice level you want.  You can mix and match both chili spice level (on the left of the photo) and the numbing spice level (on the right).

Of course I was here for the double DEVIL LEVEL (onilevel at the bottom) for which you pay an extra 100 yen each.  The staff gave me a smile and then the spice magicians went to work.

I had some time to look around and admire the decor as they went about their work.

Appropriate that the place is decked out in devil masks and clubs and the music is taiko (Japanese drums).  After a short wait, it arrived.

I had ordered the basic bowl with extra baby corn (I love corn!) plus double DEVIL LEVEL spice.  Just look at that craziness!  I started thinking already "What the Hell are you doing Jason!!".  It was too late to turn back, I had already written my own fate.  With Jarrett looking on in amusement I started.  From the first mouthful, the numbing spice was building.  After having attempted it before I welcomed the numb because that numbed the mouth against the chili spice.  It was because of this that I was able to keep going.  One thing I have to say is that this ramen is so incredibly delicious.  The stand outs are the miso based soup and the mouthwaterling (used too much but definitely true here) tender charsui (pork chunks)!  I didn't have much time to enjoy that as all too soon the mouth became numb and the whole inside of my mouth started tingling.  I soldiered on.

Halfway through and I was experiencing a personal heatwave.  Each mouthful of (refreshing?) water felt like a thousand needles were exploding in my mouth!  I had to continue.  I couldn't let Mark Wiens and the double DEVIL LEVEL ramen defeat me!  Bunkering down, I continued on.  I finally reached the barrier that defeated me the first time.

Toppings and noodles finished I had only the soup remaining.  With the memories of this point defeating me the first time I tried it, it now spurred me on.  Each mouthful of soup was like a furnace burning not only my mouth, but my nose and my entire face!  I had to keep wiping the sweat away to stop it falling into and contaminating the soup!  After what seemed like an eternity I took my final mouthful of soup.

Battered but not defeated I had won the battle.  Job done!

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the post.  You can find a little video of me eating the ramen here on Youtube  .Feel free to leave a comment below and add your email to the right side of the screen to get an update when I upload another post.  Also, if you know people who would like to read, you can share via Facebook and twitter from the dropdown box at the top left side of the page.  Feel free to share my pain!  See you soon.

Kazu (かず) in Kasukabe

Once a week I teach at a university in Saitama, north of Tokyo.  I was walking around Kasukabe with 4 of my students (Hi Hiroki, Mao, Ayaka and Natsumi) and we walked past a ramen shop.  Hiroki (a ramen expert) told me that they make good miso ramen there.  So after leaving my students I decided to go and check it out as I do like miso ramen!

No ticket machine in this place, just a Japanese menu with no pictures, however, if you have the Google translation application, you can take a photo of the Japanese and it will translate it for you!  They had 2 menus, the first was the full menu and the next was a ranking of their most popular ramen dishes.

I went with number 3 on their rankings list which was described as a homemade miso ramen (the one priced at 800 yen)

So, after you order your ramen, you can get to choose thick or thin noodles

and for the bowl that I chose, you can select the spicy level you want from 0 - 3.

I went with 2.  The place feels quite classy with wood everything, counters, tables and chairs.

They also have some condiments for the ramen.  Some extra heat

and some minced garlic.

Before I knew it, the bowl was place in front of me!

The first thing that you have to do is to taste the soup by itself.  As I said, I chose level 2 spicy which seemed not so spicy.  The soup had a very mild miso flavour, not strong, not too salty or creamy.  The toppings consisted of bean sprouts, spring onions and garlic shoots.  The noodles were flat and cooked a little soft.  They were very similar to little udon noodles.

For me, they worked well with the rest of the bowl.  I got half way through the bowl and suddenly realised that the heat had crept up on me!  It was nice!  With only the soup left, I put in 2 scoops of garlic which was just enough.  I was able to still enjoy the flavour of the soup with just a hint of garlic.

Job done!  Thank you Hiroki for the recommendation!

Thanks for reading.  Please add your email to the email list on the right side of the screen so you get an email when I put up another post and if you know someone who likes ramen, feel free to share via Facebook and twitter from the top left side of the page, the dropdown box.  See you back here for another update soon.

Location here.

https://goo.gl/maps/sXmgkN5bMVm

Chiranai Sakura in Okachimachi (チラナイサクラ)

Hi, and welcome to my first ramen post!  I thought long and hard about which place would be my first post and finally decided on Chiranai Sakura in Okachimachi which is right next to Ueno.  Chiranai Sakura translated into English roughly means everlasting cherry blossom.  Now this shop, in the past has been known for its all female staff dressed in yukata (a casual form of kimono), which is why the name is as it is.  When I went there this time there were a couple of guys working too, but also some ladies dressed in yukata.

Once you get to Okachimachi (which is on the Yamanote line)just punch Chiranai Sakura into your google maps and it will be easy to find.  It is only 2 minutes from the station.

Yep, I went there at night.  Not too busy.  The inside is interestingly decorated.

Sorry, I didn't take a photo of the ticket machine, but the machine has photos and the one that I went for was on the far right of the top row of the ticket machine.  There are also different condiments to add to your ramen and gyoza if you choose to order that too..

After a short wait, it arrived and what a thing of beauty it was!  It was a warm and quite humid evening and as I started eating a rivulet of sweat ran quickly down my forehead and into the soup before I could stop it!  I was hoping that it didn't affect the flavour profile too much.....

The charsui (pork) was all meaty with no fat and tasted great.  The soup is a shoyu (soy sauce) base and all of those little black specks, black pepper.  Now, if you area fan of black pepper(as I am) this is a bowl that you will love.  There is an strong black pepper flavour to the soup that just sets it apart from other shoyu ramen.  I usually don't go for shoyu ramen, but this is an absolute exception!!.

The noodles were almost like an al dente spaghetti!  

They must use a different kind of wheat to make the noodles compared the the regular kind.



After the noodles were gone, it was down to the soup, spring onions and menma (bamboo shoots).

The bamboo shoots were cut thin and were medium firm (just the way I like them) and the spring onions were medium firm and had a nice sweet crunchiness to them.

Now I don't usually drink all of the soup (due to high blood pressure) but this one deserved finishing.

Look at that black pepper!!

Job done, first bowl finished! If you have any recommendations, please leave a message!

See you next time!

Google map link here.

https://goo.gl/maps/Tw2zCVeKVgJ2

Intro

Hi, my name's Jason.  I'm from Australia but I have been living in Japan since early 2013.  I am not a foodie, I am not a ramen expert, but I love ramen and have been inspired to start this blog because of Brian Macduckston who writes Ramen Adventures which is the English guide to ramen places in Japan.  Now I won't be updating every week or twice a week as I, unfortunately, have high blood pressure and too much ramen is not good for me, but expect updates maybe twice a month.

I also have another blog that I write about places, events and other food in Japan.  It is called A Life Less Normal which is more about places, events and other food in Japan.  Feel free to check that one out too.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my musings here about ramen on just another ramen blog, or JARB for short.  I know that food loving is very subjective so please understand that these are simply my thoughts about the ramen that I try.

Cheers and see you back here soon.