Jiro-like ramen strikes Koriyama

*External link to the Japanese website

I had never known that in Koriyama city (郡山市) there was a ramen shop inspired by Ramen Jiro (ラーメン二郎).
According to this website* they said that this shop, Men-ya Ohsuka (麺屋 大須賀), had started its business since the end of October 2007.
And my mother told me that it had been more popular in Koriyama city and Fukushima prefecture, and there were always, day or night, many customers waiting in line.
It was last New Year holidays when I had stayed in Koriyama that my mother informed me of this ramen shop but I was not able to visit it then because it would be closed until Jan. 5 for New Year holidays.

At last today I visited this shop with my youngest brother Asuka who was at home because his high school had been closed for 3 days since Monday, the day before yesterday (today is Wednesday) for an entrance examination for his school.
About 1 p.m. there were about 10 customers waiting in line including 6 students of Koriyama Commercial high school (郡山商業高校) but we got seats sooner than I expected.
I chose large-sized Tomo ramen (ともらーめん大盛) (850 yen) and Asuka ordered normal-sized Tomo ramen with optional slices of boiled pork (ともらーめん小豚) (850 yen.)


Large-sized Tomo ramen

Tomo ramen tasted rather good but was LIKE but NOT Jiro as same as Ramen Kagemusha (らーめん影武者); it was less oilier and plainer than Jiro, too.
(It is recently that I noticed that in fact I sometimes got a intestinal trouble when I ate much oilier foods while I liked such oily ones; I will ask Jiro staffs next to make ramen less oilier.)
And I thought that in amount Ohsuka was less than Jiro, for example, Tachikawa (二郎 立川店) or Ikebukuro Jiro (二郎 池袋店) which I often visit and eat. Therefore it was much easier for me to eat up ramen than these Jiros.

After eating it, we went by car to the hospital in Atami town (熱海町), the west area of Koriyama city where my father had been in order to see him.

In the evening I cooked and ate Okonomi-yaki (お好み焼き) (a Japanese savory pancake containing a variety of ingredients) for dinner with my family at home.
And after dinner I took Shinkansen from Koriyama station 10:04 p.m. in order to go back to Tokyo.
It was already 0 a.m. when I reached my room in Tokyo.


Okonomi-yaki on the electric griddle

[続きを読む (但し日本語のみ)]

Below are NOT translated texts but my comments only written in Japanese.

ところで上掲リンク先の画像には「川島ジム」からの花環が写っているが、大須賀の店主は元ボクサーか同ジムの関係者であろうか。川島ジムに所属する選手たちの戦績が見られるこちらのページ*には大須賀智弘という選手の名前があり、2006年2月16日を最後に成績が掲載されていないが、この大須賀選手が現在の「大須賀」の店主だろうか（そういえば、同店のラーメンは「ともらーめん」だった）。

Sendai Jiro's open revealed

*External link to the Japanese website
**External link to the website except written in Japanese

Finally it was revealed that new Ramen Jiro is going to start a business in Sendai city, Miyagi pref. Oct. 23!
(ラーメン二郎仙台店が10月23日にオープン！)
Today at Jiro Senju-oohashi (千住大橋店) I saw a poster below which announced its opening.
(In the evening I ate ramen with my brother there.)
And according to mail magazine* by Hachiouji Yaen-kaidou 2's (八王子野猿街道店2) master, that new Jiro's master had trained himself at Yaen-kaidou 2 and Shin-koganei-kaidou (Musako) (新小金井街道店).

[Read more]

Large-sized ramen (大らーめん) I ate

This is the first Jiro invasion of Miyagi, of course Tohoku area!
This powerful ramen must heal and cheer up Sendai people who are deeply hurt because of the earthquake and Tsunami Mar. 11, and I hope so at heart.
And I wish next Jiro would come to Koriyama city!

=====

英語でわざわざ書くまでもない余談。

仙台二郎は東北大や、宮城県下トップ進学校である仙台第二高校から結構近いのだが、

仙台二高→東北大だと最大9年二郎コースになりそうですし、仙台二高→早慶（中央・明治) でも地方出身者なのに二郎食べまくりコースになりそうです。新たなる二郎エリートコースができそうです。
（引用元はコチラ）

という言を見るにつけ、郡山市内唯一の二郎インスパイアである大須賀は安積高校にもほど近い（1キロくらい）ので、わたしの安高在籍時にすでに大須賀があって（同店は07年10月オープン）、高校時代にインスパイアとはいえ二郎系を食べていたとしたら、わたしもその「二郎エリートコース」みたいなものを地方にいながらにして歩んだことになったのかしらん。

とここまで書いてふと思い出したのだが、郡山市には今は無きじゅらくというラーメン店があり、ここが長きにわたって二郎系とはまた違ったパワフルなラーメンを提供していた。わたし自身は高校までにここのラーメンを食したことはなかったのだが（初めてにして唯一食べたのは、10年11月だった）、高校の友人や先輩たちは結構ここのラーメンを食べていたのを記憶している。郡山人の中には、じゅらくから二郎という「エリートコース」を歩んだ人もいたのではなかろうか。

ただわたしが、人に「ラーメン大魔王」と呼ばれるようになるほどラーメンを食べるようになったのは大学院に入ってからで、ラーメンの食べ歩きを何となくするようになったのも、大体学部の3年生くらいのときからである。高校時代でもすでにラーメンは好きだったが、郡山市内に大したラーメン店があったわけでもなかったので（郡山大勝軒は05年オープンだったと思う。単にわたしが市内の良店を知らなかっただけかもしれないけれど）、高校時代はせいぜい幸楽苑で満足していたはすである（幸楽苑は今でも好きだし、東京では食べる気にはならないが、郡山でなら家族とよく行く）。

Ramen battle in Koriyama

*External link to the Japanese website
**External link to the website except written in Japanese

About 2 p.m. I ate tsuke-men with my mother for lunch at Nidaime Momiji (二代目紅葉), Koriyama which is a branch of Momiji (紅葉), Kokubunji (国分寺), Tokyo which is the main shop and which I visited with a friend of mine Rick 3 weeks ago.

I chose XXL-sized tsuke-men (特盛り) (500 g), which is rather expensive because I had to pay 1000 yen for 500 g of noodles.
(By the way, at its main shop I paid 930 yen for XXL-sized tsuke-men (特盛り), 650 g of noodles; it was a little more expensive but seemed necessary because it was located in Tokyo.)
However it tasted so good as its main shop in Tokyo, and I think it was the best tsuke-men in Koriyama, better than Koriyama Taishoken (郡山大将軒).
But opposite to me, my mother said that she liked Koriyama Taishoken.
It is sure that some do not always like what others like.

By the way, recently good ramen shops have been increasing in Koriyama city, which I do not know because I have not lived there since 2003; Koriyama Taishoken (spring '05), Ohsuka (大須賀) (end of October 'o7), Ten-shin* (天心) (no date), Momiji (end of June '09), and so on.
Koriyama is a closely contested district for ramen (ラーメン激戦区) and a fierce battle rages on...

(Pics will be added later.)