広島つけ麺&Bar けいま

Back in 2008, I used to live just outside of Hiroshima, before I really cared about ramen. Weekends in the sleepy town of Kure weren’t so exciting, so I’d take the train to Hiroshima City proper. More often than not I ended up in the Yagenbori red-light district. Red-light areas in Japan aren’t all sin, with some great casual restaurants being the norm. There were also fun bars. Keima is technically a cocktail bar, but they serve a mean tsukemen. Bar food extraordinaire.

I stumbled across this one after crushing Hiroshima tsukemen at both Wakabatei and Reimenya. I’m not someone who does three bowls of ramen in one day anymore . . . or am I?

Keima specializes in homemade citrus sours. Kabosu from Oita and lemons from the Seto area are soaked in shochu for a few weeks. The resulting liquid is mixed with soda water and served on ice. Fantastic stuff, especially when they make it from scratch like this. To be honest, I would have popped in here regardless of the tsukemen.

A sign on the street is what drew me in. Kodawari tsukedare, or tsukemen tare seasoning. Preservative-free. Konbu from Hokkaido. Iriko from the Seto Inland Sea. Iriko (いりこ) is another way of saying niboshi, popular in western Japan.

Awesome. A fun corner bar serving tasty drinks and quality local noodles.

Open late. Fun staff. No English. What a great spot.

Ramen Adventures

Ramen Shop Reviews from Japan and Abroad

けいま (Keima in Hiroshima)

宝来軒 (Horaiken in Oita Prefecture)

冷めん家 (Reimenya in Hiroshima)

晴耕雨読 (Seikoudoku in Uji, Kyoto)

けいま (Keima in Hiroshima)

Login

宝来軒 (Horaiken in Oita Prefecture)

冷めん家 (Reimenya in Hiroshima)

晴耕雨読 (Seikoudoku in Uji, Kyoto)