みそ味専門マタドール - Matador Miso, Kita Senju

贅沢濃厚味噌らぁ麺 - Dense Luxury Miso Ramen

   Laziness has prevented me from writing this post in a timely manner, but it hasn't prevented me from subsequent visits to Matador Miso. A spin-off from the lauded Matador, also in Kita Senju, this branch has a completely different menu and offers a seemingly more traditional ramen, but with a modern, matador twist.

   Is that roast beef? In keeping with the beefy theme that the other store has, Matador offers some roast beef chashu with this more expensive, topping-laden bowl alongside the more common minced meat that you usually find with miso ramen. I've actually skipped out on the pricier version the other times I've been and gone with the more simple bowl, which is also a great choice. The renkon (lotus root) is a little different and the tomato really matched the soup.

   Finishing this one to the last drop wasn't even a question. I'm not a big fan of ramens over ￥1000 as a general rule, but I can't see how they could keep this one under, so they'll get a pass there.

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中華そば 青葉 - Aoba, Kita Senju

中華そば - Chuuka Soba

 
   I'd heard a few good things about Aoba so it had been on the list for a while. However, I wasn't really planning on heading over to the honten in Nakano and hadn't been out that way for a while, so I figured I'd make do with the branch in Kita Senju. They can't be that different, right?

  Wrong? I don't know - I still haven't been to the honten. But I've gotta say that it was pretty disappointing for a well-known chain. Very soft and doughy noodles left the strongest impression - and it wasn't a good one. I wonder how much the quality varies when these famous stores begin to open new branches and the master hands the reins over to someone else.

  Soup was good though...

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牛骨らぁ麺 マタドール - Matador, Kita Senju

贅沢焼き牛らぁ麺しょうゆ - Zeitaku Shouyu Beef Ramen, ￥1000

    As I may have mentioned a few posts back, one of the popular ramen movements of 2011 or 2012 was gyuukotsu or beef-bone ramen, and leading in the popularity stakes has been Kita Senju's Matador. As you can see, they may have been expecting a few more customers but we were lucky enough to not have to wait and went straight in. My first trip here over 6 months ago wasn't so lucky and they had already run out of soup for the day.
　　Being a somewhat famous ramen shop I couldn't help but go for the zeitaku shouyu (extravagant soy sauce) which comes at the rather extravagant price of ￥1000! There is also a shio one.

    There it is! I'd been waiting a long time for this one - gyuukotsu isn't so popular or even very well-known - and was curious to see how the pick of the bunch lined up against the more traditional flavours. It was pretty good. A definite level above the other gyuukotsu I had tried. There was an interesting egg in there somewhere, and some wild-looking menma, but the best touch was the shredded roast beef which would latch on to your chopsticks and would be floating around in your soup to the last drop.

    A good one. As I'm not much of a traditionalist I can see the place for this style of ramen, but I think that most people are not completely willing to accept it as more than a gimmick. Maybe we're still waiting for the next big thing in the ramen world to come along.

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熟成味噌タンメン 蔵味噌屋 - Kuromisoya, Kita Senju

味玉入り味噌タンメン- Miso Ramen with Egg.


     Being 2012 and all I have finally decided that I should try and come back inside from the ramen wilderness. As you have probably noticed from the masked chap in the photograph above this I went here during the much colder winter months which made miso ramen a good choice. The time I've taken to write the post about it was probably a bad choice since I don't remember much about it except for the heavy metal blaring from the kitchen.

     That probably could explain the lack of customers. Either that or the really tight seating in the booths... Anyway, was the ramen any good?

     I've already explained that I can't remember although considering this is the bowl that caused the 4 month lay-off, I would suggest no... Although this tells a different story...

    Or does it???

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