Last Updated on August 27, 2010 by Nancie
Here we are for another week of Wanderfood Wednesday kindly hosted by Wanderlust and Lipstick. My apologies for being a wee bit late. I am still trying to catch up on what seems to be my entire life since returning from my summer travels.
My first introduction to Ramen was in Korea. My initial reaction was “why is this stuff so popular?”. You see in Korea Ramen comes from a package. The noodles are heated and then the hottest spices available are thrown on top. Not my idea of fine dining.
However, I did know that Ramen is very popular in Japan and I was determined to try it and hopefully like the “REAL STUFF”.
I had read a bit about “Hakata” Ramen, which is famous in Fukuoka. This Ramen has a unique milky broth, which (so I read) is the result of boiling pork bones. That is not what I tried my first night in Fukuoka. I think having eight Ramen restaurants to choose from overwhelmed me and I actually forgot that I was looking for a specific kind. I found these eight ramen restaurants at Raumen Stadium on the 5th Floor of Canal City in downtown Fukuoka. They seemed to selling every kind of Ramen known to man!
The Japanese are so visual when it come to food. I loved it! Unlike many places, not knowing the language did not impede my foodie experiences in anyway. Each of the eight Ramen restaurants wanted my business, and the wait staff very politely hustled me for it. I finally chose this dish. Now I know it’s not Hakata Ramen, but I’m not sure what kind it is. I asked the wait staff, but wasn’t able to translate the Japanese into English. If anyone can tell from the photos, please let me know. I will say it was delicious. Vegetarians will probably not be awed by the photos.
Then it was off to the vending machine to pay my 990 Yen.
Into the restaurant to wait. Japanese restaurants welcome single diners. You either sit at the bar or share a small table with other diners. Unlike the West, it’s common to share a table. I’m thinking that’s probably to do with so many people ans so little space. Drinking water is free, and all you can drink. The place was spotlessly clean.
After a short wait …..
I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical of the pork. I’m not much of a meat eater and this looked a little too “fatty” for my liking. I was pleasantly surprised that it was very flavorful without being greasy. The broth was rich and tasty, and all of the different tastes..egg, green onion, kim, noodle… blended together very nicely. I was hooked!
At 990 Yen (approximately $11.75) I thought it was good value. Definitely a meal that wouldn’t stretch the wallet of most budget travelers.
Finally, there’s a store where you can purchase (or look at) everything and anything that has to do with this delicious noodle dish.
Here’s the website Raumen Stadium. Although it’s in Japanese, it will give you a nice overview of all the restaurants.
All tweets, stumbles, comments are most appreciated.
You can find more foodie stories at Wanderlust and Lipstick.
36 responses to “Wanderfood Wednesday — Delicious Ramen in Fukuoka”
Japanese ramen doesn’t look at all like the ramen that American college kids live on. And the vending machine is mesmerizing!
Japanese ramen doesn’t look at all like the ramen that American college kids live on. And the vending machine is mesmerizing!
Got here via the Su group in travelblogexchange.com. I think you may have convinced me to try this in Japan. But the stuff you ate in Korea sounds suspiciously like something that a friend of mine bought at the Asian shop here near us. Would avoid the packet variety by all costs! Great post and stumbled it.
Oh wow…. it’s been what, 20 years since my last original Japanese Ramen in Tokyo when I used to work there. Reading your article brought back memories of my ramen escapes after work, seeking out the best in Tokyo.
Regards,
David
Malaysia Asia
Oh wow…. it’s been what, 20 years since my last original Japanese Ramen in Tokyo when I used to work there. Reading your article brought back memories of my ramen escapes after work, seeking out the best in Tokyo.
Regards,
David
Malaysia Asia
The pork dish looks delicious, not so sure about sharing a table with strangers though.
Welcome! Yes, Japanese ramen is REAL food. I think I read somewhere that there are 80 different varieties. Do try it when you’re in Japan. The stuff in the package is nasty. I don’t even consider it real food. 🙂
Welcome! Yes, Japanese ramen is REAL food. I think I read somewhere that there are 80 different varieties. Do try it when you’re in Japan. The stuff in the package is nasty. I don’t even consider it real food. 🙂
Ramen is huge over here in Taiwan too – there’s a big Japanese and Korean influence. These pictures look very familiar! We have a big food mall right down the street with whole floors that are mostly these type of places. I agree about the menus too – makes life so much easier to have a picture to point to!
I still haven’t tried the famous ramen, though I wished to ever since I watched “The Ramen Girl”. Now there is a new place in town and they have ramen but it’s too hot here for soup. I’ll wait for winter to come and hope they have the read stuff.
At the risk of sounding stupid, is it anything like the ramen you can buy in the states? It looks similar, but the taste might be adjusted for the American palette. I actually loving adding Tabasco to my ramen when I was growing up, so it’s interesting that they add hot spices. The pictures look great!
Definitely a great winter food.
Hi Deborah, I’ve never had ramen in the States or Canada (I’m Canadian). I ate ramen a couple of times in Japan and it was never spicy. There could be spicy versions, but I didn’t try them.
Ryan the strangers don’t bother me. The pork took a little more getting used to!
Hi Nova,
I travel to Taiwan quite a bit, but didn’t realize that ramen was so popular there. I’ll have to ask my friends if there is a good ramen shop in their town. We do eat at some great noodle shops.
Hi Beth. The Japanese vending culture………have to love it!
Hi David, Glad I brought back some memories for you!
Wow, that ramen looks fancy compared to the $0.29 I eat here in NY.
I bet it must taste delicious.
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I’ve always wanted to try authentic Ramen! What an awesome shop! I could certainly spend a bit of money in there. Great post, thanks so much for sharing!
I love how the Japanese have a vending machine for almost everything! But I’d play it safe and eat at a restaurant. That noodle dish looks like it would be quite filling!
What you had is a ramen of Roppongi, which is a name of the place in Tokyo. That’s why you had Tokyo ramen there. The soup looks thick pork-based.The pork-based is more white and usually used for traditional Hakata ramen. So this looks very hot. The ramen studium is a kind of tourists’ place and its price is rather high. If you visit Fukuoka again. I give you an advice that you’ll visit a very small, rather dirty, local ramen shop, where you’ll surely enjoy the taste of a real pork-based Hakata ramen. from a loco of Fukuoka
Deeelicious! I love noodles of any sort and these sound fabulous. 🙂 I’m glad the pork wasn’t too greasy. 🙂
Thanks for that. If I ever get to Fukuoka again I’ll be sure to contact you for the information about the local restaurant. Sounds good.
I would have shopped a lot if it wasn’t that I had to carry everything for a few weeks!
The noodles were cooked fresh. You just paid for them through the vending machine 🙂
That looks delish. I wouldn’t mind sharing a table in a place where that was the norm. And they have that same vending machine payment system at an icecream shop here in Seville – interesting.
I loved sharing tables in Japan. It was no big deal. The vending machine vending system probably cuts down on mistakes being made.
Authentic Japanese ramen is something I would like to try, I love all kinds of noodles especially Korean, Vietnamese and Japanese. I wish the ramen in fancy Japanese resto here were as cheap as this one 🙂
I hope Japan recovers soon. I hope I can visit this cpuntry soon. will sure try that ramen. than for sharing! 🙂
The Name looks familiar ..hmmm pic looks great,n i think it looks great but have to try in a typical Chinese r Korean restaurant ..
Wow! Nancie, your ramen has an overwhelming response! I love eating ramen too!In fact, I fancy almost all Japanese food…;) The prices here in Singapore’s Japanese restaurants vary really a lot.. Sometimes I can get it for the same price as your ramen’s, other times it’s really expensive especially when dining in an expensive Japanese restaurant…. Good thing you enjoyed it despite the pork being fatty…hehe Cheers! :))
“…flavorful without being greasy.” I love that about Japanese food, not just ramen. Filipino food can solve the oil crisis so I love how the Japanese tempers the oiliness in their food.
Another thing I like about ramen houses in Japan is their open kitchen. You can watch the cook do your ramen. I look Japanese, but I’m obviously not one in a ramen house because I actually watch the whole ramen-making thing. Haha!
Njam, that looks so delicious!!!
Amazing post. The dish looks delicious. I never try it, but i can’t wait to do that. Thank you for sharing this information with us.
Hi Jess and Brandon. REAL Rameon is so delicious. If you ever eaten the packaged variety, you probably never will again!