Nomi Ramen 野見拉麵 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

There will be some major changes in my mom’s life in the next little while. After making it official tonight, I left her place pondering what my own life might look like walking the road along with her.

I still haven’t had dinner, so I decided to walk a little further than I usually do for a bite. That took me to the edge of Sham Shui Po, where I had one ramen spot pinned on my map — Nomi Ramen (野見拉麵).

Around 8:30pm-ish, I wasn’t expecting a crowd but the local-grown ramen place under scaffolding was still buzzing. That's a surprise considering some ramen shops are already closing by this hour.

I ended up standing in line for about 15 minutes before I found a seat at the counter.

Chicken paitan noodle (雞白湯拉麵) ($98) — This looked very similar to the one at Ginza Kagari (銀座篝拉麵), which was a pretty good sign.

The chicken broth arrived lukewarm, but it had clearly been whipped right before serving—creating a smooth, velvety layer of fine bubbles, almost cappuccino-style.

As a fan of awa-kei (bubble-style/foam-style, 泡系) ramen, I love how the broth has been whipped before serving, creating a top layer of fine bubbles for the noodles to cling onto.

The broth itself was creamy and collagen-rich, yet unlike many chicken paitan bowls, it was light rather than deeply savory.

The corn was crunchy and wonderfully fresh.

The marinated soft-boiled egg was executed perfectly.

The pork chashu was made with kurobuta pork so not surprisingly, it was exquisitely tender with a luxurious, soft mouthfeel.

The chicken chashu cut into this small circular shape, was super-tender as well.

Overall, this was one of the better chicken paitan ramens I’ve had from a local-grown ramen shop. They’ve got all the makings of a very strong tori paitan (雞白湯) specialist. The only improvement I could think of, was perhaps the umami-rich flavors of chicken that was somewhat missing (or a bit light).

Food Rating: 6.1/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 6 Cedar Street, Prince Edward, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Prince Edward

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 4:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:30pm (Mon - Sat)

Zauo Fishing Restaurant Namba (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

Team Aussie is leaving Osaka for Tokyo tomorrow, so we had one last chance to get together for a meal. I was thinking about doing something different — something interesting for the kids tonight and came up with the idea of a fishing restaurant.

Namba (難波) is the place to be if you ever want to visit a fishing restaurant. A lot of them are basically tourist traps, often tied to poor service (and not-great food) but Zauo Fishing Restaurant Namba seemed to have better ratings than the rest. At least from a service standpoint.

The walk from Namba Station was much longer than expected, and it took a while for all 12 of us to arrive. After we took the escalator down to basement level (Sotetsu Grand Fresa Osaka Namba), there it was: a giant replica wooden boat.

Zauo Fishing Restaurant Namba is a highly popular, experiential seafood izakaya in Osaka where diners can catch their own fish from a giant indoor tank and have it cooked to order.

The dining tables are built on and around a massive replica wooden boat, surrounded by water teeming with fish like sea bream, flounder, and mackerel.

It didn’t take long for the kids to jump right in. They were handed fishing rods/nets and started fishing immediately. Look at the reaction from little cousin!

It didn't take long before this guy caught his first ever fish with his rod. 

The two sea bream (3,500 yen per fish) caught by little nugget were immediately sent to the kitchen where the first one was prepared as sashimi.

The second was served in a hotpot with vegetables. 

And daddy gets all the vegetables but no sea bream. 😔

As an izakaya, the restaurant also had a decent food menu to choose from, including sushi, skewers, and more. Once we realized we couldn’t exactly rely on the seafood we caught (since the prices are… steep), we quickly turned our attention to the izakaya menu.

Deep-fried scallops (660 yen) — Actually not a bad snack for the price.

Deep-fried octopus (858 yen) — Crunchy.

Assorted sushi set (1,628 yen) — Meh. 😒

Rice cooked with salmon and salmon roes (1,078 yen) — The piece of salmon fillet from the rice was pretty depressing.

Japanese omelette (680 yen) — One of the more successful dish from tonight's meal.

Shrimp chijimi (748 yen) — Basically a pancake with toppings of shrimps and scallion.

None of us was full, but we all had a great time learning how to fish from the kids. After settling the bill, we took a slow, deliberate walk back toward Dotonbori to soak up the vibe on Team Aussie’s last night in town.

That’s when the kids brought up the idea of getting a nice bowl of ramen. On most nights, I would’ve called them crazy — but not tonight. My first response was “Let’s go! Daddy’s hungry too!” 😂😂

Food Rating: 4.4/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: B1F Sotetsu Grand Fresa Osaka Namba, 1-1-13 Nipponbashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 542-0086 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Kintetsu-Nippombashi

Tel: +81 (0)6 6121-5882

Website: https://www.zauo.com/shops/namba/

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm, 4:00pm - 11:00pm (Sat - Sun), 5:00pm - 11:00pm (Mon - Fri)

Mugi to Tori 麥×鷄 (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

Everyone was feeling the heat in Kyoto, so none of us really had much of an appetite when we were enjoying our Japanese skewers tonight. But now that we have left Umeda and back in Shinsaibashi, I suddenly found myself getting a little hungry.

While everyone else decided to call it a night, I decided to head out for something warm and comforting. And I already had the perfect spot in mind — Mugi to Tori (麥×鷄), just a few steps from our hotel.

The highly rated ramen shop was closing in less than half an hour so I had to hurry to get my ticket from the vending machine.

I last visited Mugi to Tori back in 2023, and I still vaguely remembered the lingering aftertaste of their signature broth. Tonight, I finally got to relive that moment — two years later.

Mugi x Uni (2,200 yen) — Their creamy chicken broth is blended with rich sea urchin, which makes it one of the more luxurious ramens in Shinsaibashi. The chicken broth is long-boiled, then whipped right before serving to create a smooth, velvety cap of fine bubbles—rich in flavor without feeling overly greasy.

As a fan of awa-kei (bubble-style/foam-style, 泡系) ramen, I love how the noodles seem to sink into that silky, “cappuccino-like” layer of foam on top. As usual, I took a quick sip of the broth first, then focused on the noodles. The broth was deeply umami-rich, with flavor coming from both the chicken base and the uni front and centre.

The buckwheat noodles were clinging to the broth beautifully.

The marinated soft-boiled egg was faultless.

The silky and flavorful pork chashu soaked up the broth brilliantly.

The chicken chashu was very tender and juicy.

The marinated bamboo shoots were thick-cut, giving them a really satisfying mouthfeel. But I could probably do without the seaweed and purple onion, as there were already plenty of flavors and textures in the bowl.

Earlier, while we were on the way back from Umeda, we have taken a little time to enjoy the city-wide display of illuminations along some of the main roads.

I felt really blessed to have made it to both Mugi to Tori (麥×鷄) and Men Style Tanimoto Ke Honmachi (麵スタイル谷本家 本町店), two of the most coveted ramen spots in the Shinsaibashi area. This is definitely one of the highlights of my Osaka trip.

Food Rating: 7.4/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 3-1-16 Minamisenba, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 542-0081 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Shinsaibashi 

Tel: +81 (0)6 6121-7601

Website: www.instagram.com/mugi_tori

Opening Hours: 10:30am - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:00pm daily