...And Found Three New Raamen Possibilities.
There was a street festival in another city and we drove up to it, parked the car and walked around looking at all the crap people were trying to sell; it was sad, if you will, because some of the vendors had zero customers and others had two or three. It looked like nobody went to the festival to buy anything, but just to be with friends. Lots of groups hanging out. Mostly what looked like high school and junior high students but some older people, too. Almost no families, of course.
So, as we were walking around looking at all the stuff we weren't going to buy, we wandered into a store and I found some not-quite instant noodles. Later, we walked past a couple of places with that unmistakable aroma of freshly skewered pork, lightly boiled veggies, and dashi. Yes, a couple of raamen shops I hadn't seen before! Great!
Not-quite Instant
First, I found not-instant raamen noodles. Just the noodles. You have to provide your own veggies and soup. I haven't tried them yet, but the next time I'm hungry I'll give them a shot. By the way, the noodles aren't small and hard. They're soft, long, and pale. Like some people's legs.
Raamen Shop One
It looked clean. A little too clean. But it had the same layout as cheaper shops. The pictures of the raamen on the menu looked like a nice variety: tonkotsu, miso etc. We didn't have time to try it but I wrote a mental note on my brain to get back to it for lunch someday. When I glanced in I saw:
• A counter person cleaning the counter,
• dark wood counters with matching stools,
• no customers.
Okay, it was six in the evening and most people are either on their way or left early and some people don't think of raamen as a dinner; more of an after dinner/before bed snack, but not one single raamenhead sitting in the place staring down at the empty bowl? If I don't zip down soon, it might not be around.
Raamen Shop Two
Like a submarine, this was a dive. A cockroach-infested, smoke-filled hole-in-the-wall. Total capacity might be five customers. Maybe six if they really like each other. Tonkotsu raamen seemed to be the dive's specialty, according to the faded picture on the only menu, which was tacked to the door. Definitely a great place for a cheap lunch. Definitely going to bicycle on down for a quick bite.
So, as we were walking around looking at all the stuff we weren't going to buy, we wandered into a store and I found some not-quite instant noodles. Later, we walked past a couple of places with that unmistakable aroma of freshly skewered pork, lightly boiled veggies, and dashi. Yes, a couple of raamen shops I hadn't seen before! Great!
Not-quite Instant
First, I found not-instant raamen noodles. Just the noodles. You have to provide your own veggies and soup. I haven't tried them yet, but the next time I'm hungry I'll give them a shot. By the way, the noodles aren't small and hard. They're soft, long, and pale. Like some people's legs.
Raamen Shop One
It looked clean. A little too clean. But it had the same layout as cheaper shops. The pictures of the raamen on the menu looked like a nice variety: tonkotsu, miso etc. We didn't have time to try it but I wrote a mental note on my brain to get back to it for lunch someday. When I glanced in I saw:
• A counter person cleaning the counter,
• dark wood counters with matching stools,
• no customers.
Okay, it was six in the evening and most people are either on their way or left early and some people don't think of raamen as a dinner; more of an after dinner/before bed snack, but not one single raamenhead sitting in the place staring down at the empty bowl? If I don't zip down soon, it might not be around.
Raamen Shop Two
Like a submarine, this was a dive. A cockroach-infested, smoke-filled hole-in-the-wall. Total capacity might be five customers. Maybe six if they really like each other. Tonkotsu raamen seemed to be the dive's specialty, according to the faded picture on the only menu, which was tacked to the door. Definitely a great place for a cheap lunch. Definitely going to bicycle on down for a quick bite.
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