Tenkaippin Ramen Namba 天下一品 難波店 (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

After arriving in Osaka late, we quickly hopped onto a subway train at Kansai International Airport which would take us to Namba station in around 45 minutes and change. It's my first time staying in Namba so I was a little curious of how that would turn out. But first thing first, it's time to pick a spot for our late dinner. There's really not much choice out there after 9PM other than McDonald's, Ippudo (一風堂) and Tenkaippin (天下一品), all within a couple of minutes' walk from Namba Station. Since my little one has been calling for noodles all evening, I thought we should go check out Tenkaippin across the street from our hotel.



I had my share of trips to Japan in recent years (at least 2 per year) but surprisingly, I've never been to a Tenkaippin in my life. That's odd considering they're everywhere across Japan. In fact last year, they got voted by the locals as the second best ramen chain in Japan only behind Kourakuen (幸樂苑). Popular brands Ippudo and Ichiran only managed to finish third and fifth respectively. You may find the detailed results of this poll right here (in Chinese).



Tenkaippin is best known for their thick and tangy chicken ramen shop which is right up my alley. So, guess which of the two broths I would pick for my noodles - Kotteri (thick, creamy) and Assari (light with chicken flavors, vegetable-based)?



Char-siu Ramen (898yen) - Of course I went with their kotteri ramen soup which was both thick and creamy like it was advertised. It was perfect for the eggy noodles. The only thing I didn't like about this ramen was the char siu, or barbecued pork which was way too lean and dry for my liking.



Ton-toro Ramen (1,000yen) - This ramen came with their assari broth, which is vegetable based with added chicken flavors (cooked with chicken bones?). The clear ramen soup was obviously a lot lighter (only in volume but not the flavors!). 



Personally, I like this combination a little better. I love the fatty pork neck and marinated eggs too, both were pretty delicious.



Seafood Fried rice (~200yen) - Very good "wok hei" (wok heat) and very tasty thanks to the wok frying in lard.



I was fairly impressed with the two ramens we ordered. Hopefully, we'll get another crack at these before we leave Osaka in a few days.





Food Rating: 5.1/10
Price: ￥￥
Address: 2-8-99 Nanbanaka, Osaka, 556-0011 Japan
Closest Metro Station: Namba
Tel: +81 (0)6 6641-1339
Website: www.tenkaippin.co.jp