麺屋たけ井 R1号店

Takei R1 sits on the border of Osaka and Kyoto prefectures on busy National Route 1. This shop’s large parking lot makes it a bit of a truck-stop ramen shop. Contrary to what you would expect from a roadside restaurant like this, it’s also ranked very high with a spot on East Japan’s top 100 shops. When I mention East Japan it is important to note that this list is mostly just Osaka ramen. Poor Kyushu gets a total of two shops, with Osaka ramen coming in around 70.

The directions from central Osaka require a couple of trains and buses. Not my favorite mode of transportation. The shop is close to the Yodogawa River, and those who know the Yodogawa know that it has an excellent cycling path all the way to Kyoto. Sounds like a plan!

My bicycle buddy in Osaka is Beebo, a live streamer with a spare cycle. While he joined me on his custom-built ebike, I rode the non-electric one. It is around 30km each way, so my legs and his battery would get quite the workout. By the way, if you like Twitch, check him out here:

https://www.twitch.tv/beebo

What makes Takei so hyped among Osaka ramen?

The master trained at Tomita, or a branch of Tomita at least, so expect a rich tonkotsu gyokai with killer noodles. I kept reading online about Takei having “Tomita DNA” but that was about as much info as I could find. Deep on the 10th page of some Google search, I came to the truth.

There was a Higashi Ikebukuro Taishoken branch affiliated with Tomita (東池袋大勝軒 ROZEO). This shop was open from 2008 until 2019 when it moved operations to a nearby shopping mall and rebranded as Matsudo Tomira Men Ou (松戸富田麺桜). This is likely because in 2008 Taishoken was the number one name in tsukemen but by 2019 Tomita was the champ. Is it all about SEO? Well, both Taishoken and Tomita have many offshoots and norenwake (のれん分け) shops where a trainee is given the blessing to open their own shop with a connection to the older shop, though not a direct franchise.

The menu is standard. Choose from tsukemen (the thing they are known for) and light or strong ramen. There’s also natto on the menu for 300 yen. It was the real deal from Mito, Japan. This is traditional natto, wrapped in dried hay, and is probably extra funky. I’ll pass this time, but if you like stinky fermented soybeans go for it.

Tsukemen, small size. I can see how people would compare it to Tomita.

This is the standard. The tokusei special bowl has three kinds of chashu topping and is probably the choice to go for. I still had a 30km cycle back into town and didn’t want to load up too much.

The soup was less impactful than Tomita. A bit meh, but not a bad bowl. Maybe Kansai (Osaka) people don’t have as many tonkotsu gyokai tsukemen shops as Kanto (Tokyo), and this kind of shop is a special treat.

A hearty bowl, but it does feel a bit like a truck stop. The staff were part-time kids for the most part, which is usually a sign of a chain shop. Takei runs eight shops in total, plus an online frozen food division, meaning you can get this basically anywhere in the area. Though I thought it was strictly normal, they have a spot on the top 100 shops in East Japan, so you’ll have to go if you are a ramen hunter completionist.

Official Twitter here.

Official site here.

Ramen Adventures

Ramen Shop Reviews from Japan and Abroad

麺屋たけ井 R1号店 (Takei in Kyoto)

洛二神 (Rakunijin in Osaka)

ふく流らーめん轍本町本店 (Fukuryu Ramen Wadachi in Osaka)

里山の麺処と和布あそびあら木 (Araki in Kagoshima, Prefecture)

麺屋 たけ井 R1号店 (Takei in Kyoto)

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洛二神 (Rakunijin in Osaka)

ふく流らーめん 轍 本町本店 (Fukuryu Ramen Wadachi in Osaka)

里山の麺処と和布あそびあら木 (Araki in Kagoshima, Prefecture)

麺屋たけ井 R1号店 (Takei in Kyoto)

ふく流らーめん轍本町本店 (Fukuryu Ramen Wadachi in Osaka)