For tsukemen in Kyoto, you have to visit these 3 shops! They serve the finest tsukemen (dipping ramen) in Japan's ancient capital.
Tsukemen in Kyoto
Tsukemen in Kyoto tends to be on the richer side of things. These 3 places are no exception. But we've hand-picked 3 very different tsukemen shops below!
Kubota - Miso Powered
Located in central Kyoto, Kubota (吟醸らーめん久保田) is relatively easy get to. Naturally, this can lead to a lineup of people outside. But before getting in line, make sure to buy a ticket from the ticket machine first (selecting your ramen). The button to press on said ticket machine is for the miso tsukemen.
Its brown colored soup is heavy with pork and fish flavors. It's also a little spicy. But amidst everything going on in the soup, the miso seasoning is the steering wheel. Thick noodles match the soup.
Menya Sanda - Cream of Chicken Soup
The owner at Sanda (麺屋 さん田) trained at Kubota back in the day. But the tsukemen he serves is quite different. For one, it's not miso seasoned. Furthermore, the soup is only chickens and water. It's possibly the thickest and creamiest chicken ramen soup in Kyoto. Think of chicken gravy.
Like at Kubota, the thick are 100% domestic wheat flour and are made in-house. But unlike Kubota, the line here doesn't normally get as long. This is because they're a little bit farther out West.
Enaku - The Perfect Balance
The dipping ramen, or tsukemen, at Enaku (恵那く) is shoyu (soy sauce) based. The soup that the shoyu holds up is pork bones, chicken bones, various vegetables, and dried fish. They even add a mackerel oil. But it all doesn’t taste as fishy as it sounds.
In other words, the soup well-balanced, with none of the ingredients nudging the other ones aside in the soup. There is a noticeable and welcome presence of pepper though. The noodles are Enaku are the thickest of the three and include whole wheat flecks in them. Choose "atsumori" for hot noodles or "hiyamori" for cold noodles.
There you have it - our top 3 picks for tsukemen in Kyoto! Hopefully you can give these places a try.
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