I’ve been making the rounds of the big-name ramen chains lately, and Kairikiya is one of them. I’d put it at about number four.

Here’s roughly what it looks like

It’s inside a food court.

Today’s lunch

I ordered a bit of everything.

Kyoto Seabura Shoyu Kiwami Zenbu-nose Ramen

“Zenbu-nose” means it comes with everything piled on. Funny thing is, the top ramen at these chains all have something in common: a slightly sweet shoyu base, seabura (back fat) in the soup, and thin noodles. There’s a green onion topping option too. My guess is this is all down to the massive hit Marugen Ramen had, so similar bowls keep popping up with a slightly different spin. Anyway, it tasted pretty much as I expected, and it wasn’t bad at all.

Karaage

I think side dishes like this are where they try to stand out, and it was pretty good.

Fried rice

This was seriously good, a notch above Marugen’s. It was close to what you’d get at a proper Chinese place.

Spicy ramen

This one tasted similar too, but it wasn’t crazy spicy like Rairaitei’s.

The noodles

They’re good, but not something worth going for on their own. They’re fine with a side of fried rice.

The noodles

Just decent, nothing more.

So the fried rice was great, but everything else was just so-so compared to Marugen. If I go back, it’ll be for the fried rice.

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