menya tsumugu

A few caveats before going into the meat and potatoes. Men’ya is indisputably Osaka’s #1. John knows this, Jane knows this, and as does everyone’s mom and dad, thanks to one of Japan’s biggest celebrities having visited this place and touting it as serving the best ramen he’s ever had.
That being said, there is almost always a line here, which usually isn’t a huge deal for most eager Japanese gourmet maniacs and perhaps some of the more seasoned Unilocalers out there, except for an unfortunate statistical factor which works against your favor if you don’t get here within 10 – 30 minutes of opening: the store front only sits 9; there are only two employees for the limited space, who can only churn out at average 20 bowls/​hour; the store is only open for four hours a day (11:00 ~ 15:00) — they also, like most ramen places, sometimes close early if they run out of soup/​ingredients, so make sure to get here early.
Yet another caveat for those of you that are thinking of visiting here: the store is located in a small residential alley in Unobe, a small district of Ibaraki-​shi located about 45 minutes away from Osaka Proper (to get here, you need to take the Midosuji line all the way to its northern terminus, then transfer on to the Osaka Monorail.) That being said, the okami here will constantly come bolting out of the side door to remind patrons that they are in a small residential area, and in order to prevent inconveniencing the neighborhood and other patrons, everyone should cooperate in keeping noise levels to a minimum, standing in a single file to let cars pass, not hold spots for people in line, etc.
On to the food part of the review. Like most ramen joints that have built up a reputation for themselves, Tsumugu only does two different dishes, and blows both of them out of the park. As I got a chance to taste both, here’s an abstractive break-​down:
Jukusei Ramen («Aged/​Rich» Ramen 熟成ラーメン)
Thick home-​made noodles served in a masterful seafood-​infused chicken sayu shoyu broth, topped with menma, green onions, and cha-​shu pork.
Wow, where do I even begin. As the name suggests, the soup is thick with a capital «t.» Rich with a capital «r.» Fragrant like… you get the idea. For those with more seasoned palates in the world of ramen, you might think «so what, it sounds like any other tonkotsu ramen people go apeshit about.» but that’s where Tsumugu takes an interesting turn. The entire broth is prepared with CHICKEN sayu – and judging by the consistency and the taste of the broth, A LOT of it – accomplishing the same rich sticky consistency slurp after slurp without the overbearing porky taste that tonkotsu often imbues upon the mouth.
The toppings are simple and complement the flavorful broth admirably; the chashu is juicy and savory but not too much that it introduces new flavors, and the menma and green onions don’t water down the broth at all.
Tansei Ramen («Light/​Pale» Ramen 淡成ラーメン)
Home-​made skinny straight noodles served in a seafood-​infused chicken-​base shoyu broth.
I really wish I did a better job with the picture, but long story short, this is the best shoyu-​base ramen I’ve ever had, bar none. The broth is absolute perfection; you get wave after wave of light, refreshing chicken broth, backed by a solid yet not overpowering soy richness that becomes more profound with each drop. There’s also no residual saltiness or discomfort that you normally get with shoyu-​base broths – the skinny straight noodles it’s paired with kinda reminds you of old school wonton noodle soup from Nathan St. in HK, but with a decidedly Japanese touch in the toppings department (menma, negi, chashu)
Up until now, no ramen has made my deathbed list – this one is a definite breakthrough addition.
If you’re lucky enough to be among the first 20 in line, they apparently make exactly 20 servings of tsukemen everyday which has apparently been touted to be one of the nation’s best. They also have side dishes in the form of chashudon, menma-​mori, chashu-​mori, and kimchi; in the drinks department their home-​made green tea should do well enough to complement the rich broths floating around, otherwise you can order canned yebisu beer as well.