Reiwa's Gourmet King, Ryū Hamasaki, takes notice! A salt ramen of ramen specialty shop quality found at a soba restaurant in Kitashinchi

蕎斬

Hearing "ramen from a soba shop" might sound a bit unusual. But this bowl of ramen didn't fit into that category at all.

A clear broth with a powerful pork flavor, perfectly complemented by flat noodles.

This bowl of ramen was so well-made that I think it could easily compete as a ramen specialty shop on its own.

A bowl I ordered at a soba restaurant in Kitashinchi late at night.

Soba-Kiri is located on the first floor of a building in Dojima. It's a soba restaurant that's open until late at night on weekdays, and I visited late at night as well. I thought that ramen from a soba restaurant would be a light bowl that made the most of the broth. That's what I thought when I ordered.

However, my initial impression was quickly proven wrong. It wasn't just a case of "the ramen is good, even though it's a soba shop." It was a perfectly crafted bowl of ramen in its own right.

The rich flavor of pork washes over you from the clear soup.

It's a beautiful, clear soup. But with the first sip, you're hit with a powerful pork flavor that's far beyond what its appearance would suggest. The umami is quite intense, yet it fades away quickly after you finish drinking it.

This "strong yet not heavy" balance is the greatest appeal of this bowl of ramen. The rich pork flavor is prominent, yet it doesn't feel heavy even when eaten late at night. Before you know it, you're slurping noodles, sipping the soup, and going back to noodles again. It's a soup you'll want to drink to the last drop.

The flat noodles carry the soup with them.

What makes this bowl of ramen so special is the flat noodles. They're smooth and slippery, and when you slurp them, they hold the soup perfectly. Neither the noodles nor the soup dominates the flavor. With every slurp of noodles, the delicious taste of pork comes into your mouth along with them.

These flat noodles go very well with this soup. The portion size is just right, making it easy to eat even late at night. Personally, this combination of noodles and soup left a strong impression on me.

Agu pork and burnt leeks, with sansho pepper added halfway through.

The toppings are roasted Okinawan Agu pork and charred green onions. First, I recommend eating it as is, without adding anything. After savoring the soup, which is centered around the umami of the pork, add the sansho pepper-flavored oil halfway through. I ate it in this order as well. The addition of sansho pepper brings out a refreshing aroma, completely changing the impression of the bowl.

The first half is filled with the savory flavor of pork. The second half is infused with the aroma of sansho pepper. You can enjoy two different flavors in one bowl, so even though the soup is very flavorful, you won't get tired of it until the very last bite. I think it's best to change the flavor halfway through rather than adding all the sansho pepper at the beginning.

A drink that can be the perfect ending to a meal, or even the main purpose of the meal.

It's definitely a great place to have a meal as a final stop after dining in Kitashinchi. The fact that they're open until late at night on weekdays is also a plus.

However, if it were me, I would go to Sobagiri solely for the purpose of eating this salt ramen. There are so many ramen shops in Osaka, but I want you to remember this one in particular.

It's not that "the ramen is good despite it being a soba restaurant," but rather, "Sobakiri's salt ramen is delicious."

That sums up my feelings after finishing the meal.