If you know Yamaokaya, you really know it… it is a pretty famous ramen chain. It is especially known for having shower rooms for truck drivers. A ramen shop for rough, tough guys, you might say…

A place like this

Once you get there, you can see the layout lets even huge trucks pull in easily. The sign reading 大型OK (large vehicles welcome) says it all. The target customer was clear from day one.

Inside

It was not packed even in the morning. They have paper aprons ready too.

The tables

The floor felt kind of slippery, like the ramen oil had built up on it…

The kitchen

You order at the ticket machine.

Let’s collect those service tickets!

Collect enough of them and you can even get a T-shirt.

The seating

Looks like they get a lot of big groups…

The tokusei ramen

A tonkotsu miso ramen loaded with green onion, and the flavor hits hard.

The noodles

The noodles are thick enough to stand up to that heavy broth. They have a real chew to them, and between the rich broth and the clean bite of the green onion, it is a well-balanced bowl. No wonder it is popular. The one catch is that the smell is strong, so it may cling to your clothes.

Tsukemen

The tsukemen dipping broth

This one is a completely different style of broth, with a sourness strong enough to make it refreshing. Do not go in expecting regular ramen… anyway, I enjoyed this one too.

I had heard that the Yamaokaya chain has been popular all over Japan lately, so I came by out of curiosity, and now I get why. Just, because of the smell… I would recommend showing up in fairly casual clothes.

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