Let's talk about ramen shall we? This week. I am going to talk about my favorite ramen place in Ibaraki. My ramen sanctuary if you will. Shoyu, miso, tonkotsu, all great ramens. But what about chicken? That's right, there is such a thing called chicken ramen and the best place to try it is at Ryuusuke in Tsuchiura city.
Ryuusuke
It was really hard to write about this heavenly ramen place. I have been going to this place for years and I have always been impressed with their ramen. Upon writing this post, I kept telling myself to not screw it up because this place means a lot to me. Ryuusuke is by far the most popular ramen shop in Tsuchiura and has grown since it started. I began going to Ryuusuke when it was a hole in the wall ramen shop and watched it grow over the years. Ryuusuke is amazing, but you are going to have to wait for your bowl of ramen. There is always a line to get in, always. If you want to skip the line, I highly advise getting there early. They open at six for dinner, so if you get there at 5:30, you should be somewhere at the front of the line. Once you get to Ryuusuke, head inside and choose what ramen you want to try.
The Menu
Ryuusuke's menu is on a ramen ticket vending machine that most ramen restaurants have right by the door. I will try, to the best of my ability, explain the menu. The first yellow buttons at the top are for the chicken ramen. The second row; green buttons are shoyu (soy sauce) ramen and the blue buttons are shio (salt) ramen. The third row; the green buttons are clam shoyu ramen and the blue buttons are clam shio ramen. The fourth row; it is a kind of fish ramen, niboshi ramen. The fifth row; the pink buttons are the Ryuusuke tsukemen ramen, the red buttons are the spicy tsukemen and the orange buttons are the shrimp tsukemen ramen. The sixth row; meat maze soba and Taiwan maze soba. The seventh and eight rows are gyoza, rice and other side items. The black buttons to the right are all the specialty ramens. I have rarely eaten those because they are usually sold out by the time I get there.
The Special Chicken Ramen
A few months ago, I went to Ryuusuke for some top class ramen for lunch. I ordered their specialty, the chicken ramen. The chicken in this wonderful ramen is out of this world. I don't know what they do to it but it is one of the creamiest, most delicious pieces of chicken I have ever tasted. The broth with the chicken is fantastic and the noodles are great as well. This ramen comes with chicken (of course), negi, bamboo shoots, egg and noodles. The broth is very light but it has a little bit of a creamy taste that is just perfect with the noodles. This ramen usually brings one egg but this picture has two ramen eggs because I ordered an extra one. I love Ajitsuke Tamago or ramen egg, the yolk is always creamy and soft which is just another perfect addition to any ramen. But as I stated before, the star of the show in this ramen is the chicken. Once you have your first piece of chicken, you will want a lot more.
Shrimp Tsukemen
I am not sure how you feel about tsukumen. So people love it and some people are not big fans. I like tsukuemen. It is really fun to dip all your ramen noodles and other ingredients in the soup. The only problem with tsukemen is that the soup gets cold quick. On our latest outing to Ryuusuke, the wife chose the shrimp tsukemen. It came with huge delicious looking noodles, chicken, pork and my favorite, the aji tamago. The wife dipped her noodles in the shrimp broth and slurped her noodles in glee. She told me it was really good and that I should have a try. After trying the broth, I had to agree with the lovely lady. The broth had a heavy flavor of shrimp which was just fine with me since I love shrimp. The broth was also very thick and kind of creamy which went really well with the noodles. I am not sure if the chicken should be in this ramen but it did give a nice light flavor to the heavy broth. Everything in this ramen was delicious and when the wife finished all her noodles and meat, the staff brought a ladle of hot water. This is for drinking the broth since it was thick. The wife poured some hot water in and it was easier to drink the broth, but the shrimp flavor kind of died down.
Meat Maze Soba
Oh, maze soba. You are the bad boy of ramen. New and following your own crazy rules. You have broken the confines of broth and gone out on your own. I am a huge fan of maze soba and Ryuusuke's maze soba is top notch. If you are a meat eater like myself, you will want to try Ryuusuke's meat maze soba. It comes with a lot of ground pork and a huge piece of toro chashu in it. This maze soba also comes with garlic, a lot of garlic. So if you have a big date or a job interview that day. I suggest wearing a mask or skipping this maze soba because the garlic will linger for a while. I love garlic though so this maze soba is perfect for me. The maze soba also comes with chopped onions, negi, nori and huge noodles. You can't see the noodles in the picture because they are buried under all the other ingredients in the bowl. Finally, this incredible bowl has a nice raw egg yolk in the middle. What do you do before you dig into this amazing looking maze soba, you mix it of course. You get your chopsticks and you mix everything together. It breaks the perfect artistic looking way the maze soba is presented to you but it is how you get all those different delicious flavors in one slurp. Everything about this maze soba was perfect and the wife agreed when she gave it a try. My favorite part was the huge piece of toro chashu. It was so soft and delicious. I am glad we ordered another piece of chashu with our meal. When I was finished with the noodles, the staff at Ryuusuke asked if I wanted rice to put into the remainder of my maze soba. I politely declined, it sounded enticing but I had had my fill of carbohydrates for that day.
Extra Meat!
As I stated earlier, the chasu at Ryuusuke is exceptional. So the wife and I decided to get an extra helping. We order an extra order chashu and toro chashu. This option is one of the white buttons on the vending machine towards the bottom. We ended up putting the two pieces of chashu into the shrimp tsukemen and the toro chashu went into the maze soba. I believe we made the right decision. Having more chashu in your ramen is never a bad thing.
Ryuusuke's Gyoza
Finally, we have Ryuusuke's gyoza. I love Ryuusuke and everything about it. The gyoza though is pretty ordinary. It is just nice to have it with your ramen, if you have enough space in your stomach for it. If you are super hungry than I suggest ordering the gyoza, otherwise focus all your energy into Ryuusuke's amazing ramens.
Ryuusuke really is the jewel of all ramen places in Tsuchiura. The staff is extremely friendly, all be it busy and the atmosphere is that of a happening ramen place. I believe I will continue going to Ryuusuke even until I am an old man and my stomach probably won't be able to handle so much ramen.
If my post has convinced you to give Ryuusuke a try, I very much implore you to try the chicken ramen first. That is their specialty and it is a fantastic ramen. After that, go nuts. My ranking goes: chicken ramen, shrimp tsukemen and maze soba. I still have way more ramen to try at Ryuusuke though. So if you are in the Tsuchiura area and are craving some great ramen then hurry on over to Ryuusuke and have your craving more than fulfilled. Who knows, you might see me there, enjoying my chicken ramen with a face full of bliss and noodles.
Enjoy!
For more information on Ryuusuke, check out their website:
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