Do an online search on "most beautiful street in Kyoto" and Shirakawa-Minami Dori will appear. And while we've been down this street several times before, the Missus was excited to see it during Cherry Blossom season. I gotta say; even on an overcast day, it was indeed quite striking.
In fact, the drizzle may have kept folks away and even added some "atmosphere" to our visit.
Those willow trees sure add character to the photos as well.
It is, without a doubt, one of the more beautiful streets that I've had a pleasure to see, that's for sure.
Our Shinkansen was leaving for Tokyo at around 1 pm, so we'd have to head out before noon. So I thought we'd go and grab some morning ramen before freshening up and heading to Kyoto Station. The place I had in mind, Ichiran, is highly regarded with over 60 locations through-out Japan, a location in New York with crazy wait times….shades of Ippudo….at least that was my hope. The location in Kyoto is a 24 hour operation, which suited us just fine.
The drill here was initially typical….the good old ticket machine.
For us, it was tonkotsu of course. The tables are more like cubicles, with your own personal water dispenser, a divider, if you choose to need it, and a sheet of paper where you can further define your preference…be it richness (medium), flavor (medium), garlic (a little), green onions (of course), chasu (are you kiddin' me?), red sauce (1/2 portion), and noodle texture (extra firm).
The Missus and I basically got the same thing; except She got the macha dessert. And of course we "needed" to have an egg added.
Soon enough our ramen arrived and I quickly noticed that something was amiss. The bowls felt almost cold to the touch.
And that was a bad start to perhaps the worst ramen we've had in Japan.
First off, the hottest thing in the bowl were the noodles; which were slightly over-cooked, in other words, not "extra-firm". The broth was just past lukewarm and started to separate as it hit the table. It was very bitter, salty, and rather than being rich, because of the temp, quite greasy.
Neither the chili paste, nor the garlic could help this.
The boiled egg was beautifully cooked, but ice cold, as was the chasu, which was too lean and on the tough side……which would have been okay, but cold pork in a lukewarm broth? That's not good eats.
And while the Missus loved Her dessert, it didn't make up for the lousy ramen.
There was a Japanese couple sitting next to me….they kept saying things to each other during the meal. I think they were rather unhappy as well. Look what they left behind. The broth and noodles…..
I'd read so much about how great the ramen is at Ichiran. And maybe it is fantastic. But when you have poor quality control……….
Ichiran Kyoto
598 Uraderacho Higashiiru Takoyakushidori Nakagyo-ku
Kyoto, Japan
Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
We got back to the apartment, packed, and made our way to Kyoto Station. We shared a bento on our way back to Tokyo.
Not too much mind you….we had reservations at one of our favorite restaurants for dinner!