This is a followup to my earlier post that I made about a ramen place in Fukuoka. This past Tuesday, a couple of students and I went to a new ramen place that opened up in Nagoya about a month ago. It’s popular (there’s usually a line outside) and they serve Kyuushuu-style ramen. Well, hearing about it, it started to sound a little familiar: they use a shokken (a little vending machine where you buy tickets) to make your basic order; you have to fill out a slip of paper to more specifically describe the way you’d like your order served; each seat is divided by a small wall, and you’re not supposed to talk while eating. Of course, this sounded just like the place I visited in Fukuoka. And as it turns out, it’s the same chain.

This time, though, it was a little bit different. First of all, we went to this Spanish restaurant first, where we ate some paella and tapas. It wasn’t clear to me that we were still going to the ramen place on the same night (my listening comprehension is still that bad; I had for the longest time thought we were going to try it on another night). So I was actually full before we went. Second, the ambience was ever-so-slightly different. The lights were a bit brighter, and the dividing walls were a bit smaller, so it didn’t have the same “peep show” feel. And it was a brand new place, so it didn’t have the same antique kind of feeling. So the actual bowl, although it was excellent, didn’t have nearly the same impact that the Fukuoka bowl had. (BTW, I circled the exact same ” 基本 ” items that I had before, to make it a good comparison.) But this bowl seemed to have a sweetness that I don’t remember before, and it was slightly more watery. Now, it’s quite possibly that it had the exact same consistency and flavor as the stuff in Fukuoka (though I doubt it). Eating a bowl of ramen on a full stomach (not something I try to do very often) makes a big difference from being halfway to starvation, as I had felt on January 2nd. Anyway, I will investigate this place further, as it is quite convenient. Another example of my lack of Japanese skill - my friends were somehow under the impression that I liked the ramen so much that I ate two bowls in Fukuoka, and they kidded me about wanting another one here. I could never hope to eat two bowls of ramen at one time, even if I were starving for a week, I think. It’s another example of how much work I have yet to do on my language skills. One more point to note - the basic bowl is 100 yen more than the one in Fukuoka. I think that might have contributed to my disappointment. Anyways, I give this Rating: 4.5 Godzillas