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ジラフ (Giraffe in Tochigi Prefecture)

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ジラフ

Oh junk-style ramen, how I love thee. From the spicy mayo to the fried onion bits to the mountain of pork back fat. I’ve had junk food from around the world from koshary in Egypt to currywurst in Germany to bubble ‘n squeak in the UK, and junk ramen is still my favorite.

Abram, aka Ramen Beast, and I did a mini road trip around Ibaraki and Tochigi late in the year, 2021. It was a perfect choice. He’s a certified Jirorian, having visited all but one of the 41 Ramen Jiro shops around Japan, and I am a bit obsessed with Jiro’s soupless style.

Ramen, miso ramen, and mazesoba. You can choose the amount to noodles, but as is the case with Jiro, you should probably go small.

The yellow signs, a feature at most Jiro-style shops, tells you about the “call.” These are the free toppings the staff can hook you up with. Ramen here has garlic, veggies, back fat, and karame (extra tare flavoring in the soup). Miso ramen replaces karame with spicy rayu oil. My mazesoba comes with garlic, babystar fried noodle snacks, cheese, back fat, shrimp mayo, and shichimi seven spice. I’ll take it all!

Abram’s normal ramen. Looks like his call is for extra garlic. Wonderful. We have another five hours of driving together for the day.

My mazesoba.

My mazesoba after the initial maze (mix). I’m never a big fan of the quail eggs, but everything else was spot on. Babystar fried noodle snacks give texture, the cheese gives, well, cheesiness, and the extra pork back fat rounds the whole thing out.

Homemade noodles at this one are made on a vintage-looking noodle machine.

As a bonus, the shop has some seriously cool designs for their shirts and stickers.

Official Twitter here.

 

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