Mugi to Tori 麦×鶏 (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Mugi to Tori 麦×鶏 (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

We got a quick and much-needed freshen-up at our room and immediately met up with the team at the lobby. The plan was to grab a simple ramen meal at little nugget's favorite, Komugi no Ikirumichi (小麦と生きる道南船場店) just a 3-minute walk from the hotel. It was almost 8:30pm anyways and most restaurants nearby close rather early.

But our plan was shattered when we found out that it was all lights out at Komugi no Ikirumichi (literally). Done. Closed. Whatever you call it. Little one was devastated but fortunately, daddy got a Plan B up his sleeve already.

Like Komugi no Ikirumichi, Mugi to Tori (麦×鶏) is a Japanese ramen shop highly touted for its chicken paitan broth (鶏白湯). In fact, the broth is a little more refined than the latter's.

At almost 9pm, there was no shortage of diners visiting Mugi to Tori (麦×鶏).

Everyone was trying very hard to decide between the traditional ramen or tsukemen (dipping noodles). I, for one, had no such problem what-so-ever simply because I'll be ordering both of them!

Hey, they have an English menu around here. Save me a lot of time!

Before the noodles arrive, we were properly set up with some fried onion flakes.

Wheat x Sea urchin (1,550 yen) – Look at the size of the ramen bowl! Almost like the basin in my bathroom!

This came with a load of ingredients including deep-fried lotus root, bamboo shoot, pumpkin, purple radish, coriander and a couple slices of chicken fillet. I liked the cappuccino foam from the sea urchin-infused chicken broth which was bursting with umami-rich flavors. The texture of the broth wasn't thick (which was good) and the flavors tended to be deep rather than salty/flavorful (another plus). The only downside of that, was the fact that the wheat noodles weren't clinging to the broth as well as it should. Very delicious.