Chinese Food

I don't care what they say, I will never ever EVER think of ramen as Chinese food. It's a completely, 100% Japanese thing, even if the noodles and the chashu did come over from China thousands of years ago. Seriously. All my students tell me that ramen is Chinese and I'm always like whaaaaaaat noooooo.

It's one of the things I absolutely LOVE about Japan. Handsdown. I think if I'm ever not feeling sure if I like Japan or not (and believe me, there are days when things don't go quite right), I have the feeling that if I sit down to a good bowl of ramen, all things will be better once more.

Today, I didn't feel like cooking so I gathered up my warm clothes (though I forgot my gloves - big dumb mistake I will never make again) and rode out. Originally, I had intended on visiting Chateau and having something like hambagu or omurice or something and get a bit of typing done for NaNoWriMo. I'm a little bit behind, so today was pretty much get stuff done and write day. I need to be at 25k at the end of tomorrow. And I was doing so well too...

But I digress. Chateau was closed when I got there, despite having checked it earlier to make sure there were cars and stuff. Turns out it closes at 5 (I think) on Sundays or something. Lameface. So off I went instead in search of something else to eat. Since it was pretty freaking cold, I decided that I was going to try a ramen place. There was one small place I had tried before pretty close to my house, but there was another place that some of my students actually had recommended (via a presentation).

So I figured that what the hell, why not try to find this place. I rode back towards my place on a different road, past the izakaya place I had been to before (and was also pretty good, but they didn't really do ramen). Finally, I saw it. A little red lantern with another white sign with more kanji I couldn't read. I think one of them was either the kanji for flavor or for Japanese style. 味　和. Well, I don't remember, but it was one of those two. As I rode up, I smelled something... distinctly Japanese smelling and not altogether pleasant. Kinda not so great, actually. But these kinds of things are good signs, no?

Hesitantly, I opened the door. It felt like I was intruding on someone's house. In a way, since they lived (probably) upstairs, I was. This place was super cute on the inside. Loads of knickknacks and magazines and tables and chairs crowded the small room. There was a tiny counter that looked in on an equally small kitchen. I think this place had room for maaaayyybe 16 people at most. It would be a squeeze.

I ordered chashu ramen. There was no menu. Only strips of paper with different items written on the wall above the counter.

Oh. My. God. Best. Ramen. Ever. So far, anyways. Seriously. The chashu in this was all buttery tasting and full of deliciousness. I nearly wept with joy as I ate the chashu. The ramen noodles were a little on the soft side (I prefer my pasta and most noodles a little al dente), but they were still super tasty. :) And the broth. I dunno what she put in there (other than copious amounts of pepper, for which I am thankful for) but holy wow. That stuff was amaaaaazing as well.

I will most definitely be coming here more often, especially as the weather gets colder.