Bakudanya （ばくだん屋）Hiroshima

Overview
Style: Spicy tsukemen and ramen.
Overall rating:
Location: Hiroshima (origin), Tokyo, and Taiwan(!)

Hiroshima and a nearby breath-taking island called Miyajima are not to be missed. Hiroshima is the site where the Americans dropped the A-bomb back in WW II. Today it is an interesting historical site where almost all the constructions that the eyes can see are new and built after the devastating destruction, except for one government building which you can still see remnants of it. There is a museum complex dedicated to documenting the terrible effects of war and nuclear bombs on humanity, which is a must visit. How nuclear and radiation create genetic disorders looks scary enough in the movies, but when you can see what actually happened in real lives, those movies are not even half as terrifying. The museum is called the peace museum, for an obvious reason, because I'm sure anyone with some heart would not be able to drop any more nuclear bombs on our planet if you have seen what has happened.



Other than that, Hiroshima and Miyajima will be a pleasant to visit. It's famous for foliage leaves in autumn. Miyajima is also famous for its floating red tori-gate and the floating temple, where you can walk to the tori-gate when the tide is down. Around the area there are many deers walking around. You can rent a bike to ride around the island. The must-try cuisine in miyajima is the oyster, on top of the ramen of course :)

The Signature Bowl
Something you've got to try is, no doubt, this authentic Hiroshima-style spicy tsukemen. The noodles are hand-pulled made fresh everyday, and served cold. They come in a plate topped with generous portion of boiled cabbage, cucumber, sliced spring onion, and sea weed, and two thick pieces of lean chachu pork (it's not quite fatty as the normal chachu). You can choose the four different portions of noodles, which is perfect for someone who perfers not to eat lots of carbs like me. Do not miss to add the hard-boiled egg topping. The broth is made with the store's secret chilli paste, and you can choose the level of spiciness. Here are the levels on the menu and it was quite funny I'm gonna have to translate it for you guys.

0 : Even babies can handle it
1 : For people who can usually handle a bit of spice
2 :　Where do we go from here!!??
3 - 5 : For people who likes it spicy
6 - 10 : Sweat sweat sweat! falling from your face
11 - 15: I can see fire coming out of your mouth! (this is my level)
16 -20 : WAGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

The way I like to take it is to dip every single bite into the broth before eating it (egg, vegetables, noodles, pork, everything). When you soaked it in the broth, everything just tastes about a million times better. I also put in extra sesame into the spicy broth, or dipped the noodle in to the spicy broth then sprinkle the sesame over before putting everything into my mouth. The soft noodles soaked in the spicy soup, covered with sesame, really give a good blend of the spice and the extra texture and smell of sesame seeds.

What else is on the menu
I usually order a set lunch of spicy tsukemen with either Onigiri (rice ball wrapped in seaweed), Karaage (Crispy fried chicken), or Gyoza. The fried chicken is very well done here, with only breast meat, no bones, and the fried batter is just about right to give that crispy crunchy feel without being too oily. It came with a pepper-salt dip, but I bypass it and dip the fried chicken into the spicy broth instead, hmmmm!!! I also like the nigiri here, because they use the Korean sylte seaweed for the wrap. It is very crispy and has a fragrant smell of sesame oil. They also have tsekusoba, a few other types of tsukemen, and ramen, which is also a good alternative if you like it hot rather than cold. Available toppings are eggs (3 different boiled levels), bean sprouts, extra vegetables or chachu pork, and seaweed. For dessert, they have almond tofu, which sweet almond taste and soft creamy texture to calm you down after all the spices.

Price range
750 - 1000 yen, depending on noodle portion. Side dishes are about 400-500 yen (gyoza, karaage). Toppings 100-300 yen each. Set lunch is a good deal where you can add gyoza or karaage, and onigiri for only 200 yen.

Atmosphere
The shop has mostly counter seats with some tables, but the moment you walk in, there will be something that will definitely catch your eyes. It's the wallpaper made from wishboard! Now you may ask, what the hell is wishboard? Can I eat it? (No...). If you have been to temples in Japan, I'm sure you have seen the big bulletin board where people hang a smaller wooden board with their written wishs on it. It is always fun to read them and look for people you may know (I have successfully and coiincidentally found a board written by my friends in English from the states!). Here at Bakudanya, it's pretty much the same concept, although people pretty much draw or write whatever they want on it, not necessarily wishes. At your table, you will see a few empty wooden boards with color markers, and from here, only your imagination is the limit. They also play contemporary Japanese karaoke songs, which remind me of countless crazy karaoke allnighters with my friends.

Ratings
Noodle: 9.0/10.0.
I like the texture overall. They also have a thin soba type noodle if you don't like the hoso-men type.

Soup: 10.0/10.0.
I applaud the secret chilli paste with the sesame, they compliment the taste real well.

Toppings: 10.0/10.0.
Good variety, and they all taste pretty good.

Side dishes: 10.0/10.0.
The taste of the side dishes is just perfect, with good variety to choose from. The fried chicken is really crispy and it goes so well with the spicy dipping.

Condiments: 9.0/10.0.
They have all the right condiments here (shoyu, vinegar, chilli oil) and of course the all you can sprinkle sesame seeds, love it!

Atmosphere: 8.0/10.0.
The usual small place, but I love the fun idea of the wishboard (it keeps you busy when you're waiting for your food).

Service and staff: 9.0/10.0.
It's clean and quick, though there isn't anything I feel exceptionally impressed with.

Menu variety: 8.5/10.0.
The variety of the side dishes is superb, but the noodle menu itself has only about 3 or 4 choices on it. Extra points for the flexibility of the spicy level.

Location: 9.0/10.0.
Only 3 stores in the west of Tokyo, but they do have about 11 stores in Hirosima and also taiwan.

Value for money: 9.0/10.0.
The set lunch is a really good deal, but only two pieces of chachu will not satisfy meat eaters.

Overall Rating
9.2/10.0

Location and Access
Nishi-shinjuku store:
Address 7-7-27 1F Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Access 10min walk from JR Shinjuku station
Phone 03-5338-7569
Store hour 11:00 - 23:00

Hiroshima store:
Address Miyauchi Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, 4489-1
Phone 0829-38-4251
Store hour 11:30 - 24:00

Katsumaru (勝丸) Roppongi, Tokyo

Overview
Style: Chinese-style Tonkotsu soup with freshly-made noodles
Overall rating: 8.4/10.0
Location: Meguro and Roppongi, Tokyo

This week let's start with something good and not easy to miss (in later weeks we'll visit the hidden jems in one of those allies my Japanese friends took me to). This is one of my all-time favorite ramen shops. Not only because it's right in Roppongi Hills, but also because there's this one ramen that I'm LITERALLY addicted to (my friends always joke that they must have put some kind of weed in my bowl every time I went there to make me get addicted). It also stays open until very late. Let's not waste any more time.

The Signature Bowl
My favorite is the cabbage ramen. It's one very unique ramen that you really cannot find in any other ramen shop out there. The side-kick is from the sweet crisp cabbage quickly stir-fried with cut up Chachu (pork) in the store's signature sauce, Chinese style. The pork (I heard) is speically ordered from Kyushu, with its politically correct ratio of fat and meat to yield the soft-mushy texture and the sweet-salty taste. If you love vegetables in your food, this bowl presents a good alternative to bamboo shoot most shops put in the ramen. The noodle is quite soft and springy and medium-thickness, round-cut, with a unique pale-ish yellow color since they're made from egg-white only. The soup is Tonkotsu (pork bone) based which made the texture thick and white-ish, but what makes the soup taste quite special is the trace of the sauce and the smell of sesame oil used to stir-fry the cabbage that dissolves into the soup. I usually ordered with hard-boiled egg topping (the yolk is still soft and liquidy, but the white egg is hardened. I like it this way better than soft-boiled egg (onsen tamago) which is too soft for me), and sprinkle some chilli powder to spice it up. This bowl is only available in the Roppongi store only (namely the only place on planet earth!). Price is 900yen.

What else is on the menu
They have all the traditional styles ramen, with full-piece chachu pork (quite fatty, but to me that's what makes it good) and all types of soup base you can choose from (Shio=salt base, Shoyu=soy sauce base, and miso base). They also have quite a variety of toppings: hard-boiled eggs, soft-boiled eggs, seaweed, spring onion, bamboo shoot, etc. My faourite topping is the pork wonton. Add it on top of a normal miso ramen and, yum!! You can choose the soup base you want and add any toppings you like. They also have all the above variations as tsuke-men (the noodles and the soup are separated. When you eat it you dipped the noodles into the soup first.), and pretty good fried gyoza. The variety of the side dishes is not too great here, lacking my all time favorite like karaage (deep-fried chicken).

Price range
600-1000 yen. Extra toppings on average is about 100 yen each. Gyoza is 300 yen for 3 pieces, 500 yen for 6 pieces.

Atmosphere
This is another reason why Katsumaru is never going to be like other ramen shops you will see in Japan. The shop is decorated in the US 70's style and plays old-style records from the 70's in the background (the only thing missing really is one of those old jukeboxes. I'm sure they take requests too). The seats are mostly counter seats with two small tables. Not too noisy. Around lunch time this place will have salary man standing in lines around the block, but the turnover is high enough that you should be able to get seats within 15-20 minutes. And the fun of course is when you have to buy the ramen tickets from the vending machine.

A little history
The shop is about 32 years old (hence the 70's theme). The owner Kotou Masahiko is the runners-up in the TV Champion gameshow in 1999. The shop was also featured in the Osaka Ramen Museum for a limited one-year period in 2002.

Ratings
Noodle: 8.0/10.0.
I like the texture overall, but it lacks the variety. I do prefer to have the option of choosing the softness and the thickness of my noodles (call me picky).

Soup: 10.0/10.0.
The taste blends really well with the pork and the noodles, and not too oily. I always drink it up.

Toppings: 10.0/10.0.
Good variety, and they all taste pretty good.

Side dishes: 7.0/10.0.
The gyoza is good, but nothing spectacular. Lacks variety.

Condiments: 8.5/10.0.
They have all the condiments which go well with their noodle style (chilli oil, chilli powder, vinegar, ginger) but I think they should also have grinded sesame and freshly crushed garlic. It would have been good w/ some of the noodles.

Atmosphere: 8.0/10.0.
A bit small, but cozy. It will not give you the Japanese feel, but extra points for the 70's creativity.

Service and staff: 10.0/10.0.
It's clean, it's fast, and the staff is very nice. They will enthusiastically help you if you have problems with the ticket vending machine and give free toppings to loyal customers (like me :).

Menu variety: 6.0/10.0.
Could have used a little more.

Location: 8.0/10.0.
Both locations are quite convenient, but only two stores on the west side of Tokyo.

Value for money: 8.0/10.0.
A bit on the expensive side, but not something that you can find a substitute.

Overall Rating
8.4/10.0

Location and access
Meguro Store:
Address 2-8-10 Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo Meguro Bldg 1F Urban
Access 8 min walk from Meguro station, JR Yamanote line
Phone 03-5434-5320
Store hour 11:00 - 4:00am daily (Last order 3:30am) (yay to all the late nighters out there!)

Roppongi Hills Store:
Address: 6-2-31 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Roppongi Hills-B1F
Access Walk from Roppongi Station, Hibiya subway traffic 0 min (directly at the Concourse)
Phone 03-3746-2731
Store hour 11:00 ~ 23:00 (Last order 22:30)