Before catching the last shinkansen home from Kobe I was feeling a bit peckish, so I dropped by Shitenno Ramen near Sannomiya for a bowl. Shitenno Ramen started out in Osaka and is a well-known ramen shop all over Kansai. There’s a branch in Shinjuku too.
This is the place.
Why is it called Shitenno (the Four Heavenly Kings)? Not because the owner has some connection to Buddhism… apparently it’s a place name in Osaka. It started in a neighborhood called Shitenno, hence Shitenno. I’d assumed it was a ramen shop gunning to be one of the “Big Four” of ramen, so the naming sense is a bit of a letdown… Well, anyway, all a ramen shop needs is good ramen.
After some dithering over what to eat, I ordered the Oyaji Set. In Korean you’d call it something like the “Ajeossi Set” (the middle-aged guy set)
Oyaji Set, part one: a draft Suntory The Premium Malt’s
It’s the beer I’ve been drinking a lot lately. The generation above me mostly drinks Asahi, and the one above that goes for Kirin… (Yebisu… is that for the generation above even them? -_-;;) The younger crowd these days skips beer and drinks stuff like oolong-hai… What do they even see in that… grumble grumble… Guess I’m an oyaji now too…
Oyaji Set, part two: a plate of gyoza
Nothing beats gyoza with beer. I really worked hard in all sorts of ways today, so I deserve at least this much. Maybe it’s the beer kicking in, but the fatigue is slowly melting away.
Oyaji Set, the finale: a half-size ramen
Tonkotsu base with a nice spicy kick blended in. It’s not good enough to hold its own in Tokyo, which is packed with legendary shops, but it’s so very Osaka that I bet it’s much loved around here. I should have ordered a full bowl instead of a half. A bit of a shame.
And that wraps up my eventful one-day Kobe travelogue ^_^ After this I headed home with Isuzu Bakery bread in my mouth. I’ll have to find time to drop by again soon…