Menya Iroha 麵屋いろは (Kyoto, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

We came across Kyoto Ramen Koji (literally means “Kyoto Ramen Street”) at the Kyoto JR station (10th floor) when we arrived from Osaka a couple of days ago and since then, have been trying to find time out of our busy schedule for a quick visit. Could tonight be the night?



This place offers eight regional styles of ramen all under one roof.



It's nice to see that most regional style of ramen in Japan are well represented here - Tokyo, Fukuoka, Osaka, Sapporo, Toyama, Tokushima, Kitakata and of course Kyoto.



Since Kyoto Ramen Koji would be closing in 30 minutes, we weren't too keen on getting behind the long queues. Instead, we decided to go with the ramen shops with a shorter waiting time and finally ended up with Menya Iroha (麵屋いろは).



Hailed from Toyama (富山市), a coastal city in the Chūbu region north of Nagoya, Menya Iroha shot to fame thanks to a number of accolades received over the years, including a record 5-time Ramen Champion at Tokyo Ramen Show (2009-2012, and 2014).

At the time of writing, Menya Iroha looks more like an above-average ramen shop than a ramen champ having garnered 3.51 (on a 5-point scale) only on Tabelog, one of Japan's most popular restaurant-review website. However, words coming out of Chūbu is that Iroha's renowned black (black soy-based) and white (salt-based) ramen are simply not to be missed.



Enough said. I decided to head over to the vending machine and got myself a ticket.



Among Menya Iroha's many specialties, the most popular dish is the Toyama black soy sauce ramen, featuring a murky black broth made with soy sauce and black soy beans. 



The signature black broth was obviously the heart and soul here. There was amazing depth of flavors in the rich flavored broth thanks to a combination of black soy sauce, chicken bones and seafood stock with a slow-stewed fish sauce. Couldn't say enough good things about it.



What I usually don't like about a shoyu based (soy sauce) ramen is the saltiness of the broth but that didn't happen with the black soy sauce broth from Menya Iroha's secret recipe. In fact, the richness of the black soy sauce is wonderfully balanced by the creaminess of the chicken stock (chicken bones) and milkiness of the seafood stock. If they could improve on their average-at-best barbecued pork and slow-cooked egg, I think they have something quite special here.







Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: ¥¥
Address: 10/F Kyoto Station, Higashi Shiokoji-cho, Shiokoji Sagaru Karasuma-dori, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8216, Japan 
Closest Metro Station: Kyoto
Tel: +81 75 351-5933
Website: www.menya-iroha.com