おばかず
This year will probably be my last time eating cold ramen at a restaurant. I did some research and chose a place where I could choose the flavor. I arrived at the restaurant at 11 in the morning. There were no other customers yet, but as soon as they opened, the phone started ringing for delivery orders. It's a local ramen shop that has been around for a long time. I've always loved these traditional ramen shops. Here's my definition of a local ramen shop: 1) Family-run with a large kitchen relative to the space to handle the high volume of customers in the past, 2) A diverse menu beyond just ramen and rice, including dishes like katsudon, oyakodon, and katsu curry, 3) Having set meals adds to the charm of a local ramen shop. This place offers katsucurry, katsudon, fried rice, and onigiri. And for cold ramen, they have both soy sauce and miso flavors! If you miss this season, you won't be able to eat it again for a year. I chose the miso cold ramen. My wife chose soy sauce. I've never had miso cold ramen before. I can't even imagine what it tastes like. After about 15 minutes of waiting, the visual presentation is like the traditional cold noodles. The ingredients are neatly sliced - ham, cucumber, chashu, scrambled egg, seaweed, pickled ginger. And of course, mustard, which is essential for cold noodles. The landlady said, "If you feel like there's not enough soup, let us know and we'll add more." It's a nice gesture. You won't hear this kind of interaction at places mostly run by part-time staff. Unless it's not standardized. I tried the noodles first. They were nicely chilled and delicious with a good texture. The soup... it's not my first time. It tastes similar to a sesame-flavored vegetable salad dressing. It has a slight sourness. When I was a child, I didn't like sour flavors much, so I didn't enjoy eating cold noodles, but at 51, sourness stimulates stomach acid secretion, increasing my appetite. The refreshing and cold taste makes it perfect for summer. Cold noodles don't necessarily need sourness, but it's quite important. The ingredients are finely cut, similar to or even thinner than the noodles, so you can eat them together without any discomfort. In places with larger ingredients, you might need to eat the noodles and ingredients separately to fully appreciate the flavors, but here, you can mix and enjoy them together. This must come from the careful preparation. Towards the end, I melted the mustard. This mustard adds richness and sweetness, making it quite delicious. Lastly, adding a soup similar to soba broth at the end might be tasty. I imagine. Well, I enjoyed it very much. A cold noodle dish made with care and effort. If you only have this once a year, it feels like going to see fireflies. I really want you to try the cold noodles at this restaurant. Young men looking to eat heartily might find it a bit lacking, but for someone like me over 50 who enjoys tasting dishes slowly, it's quite enjoyable. Thank you for the meal. I got a 50 yen discount at the Bumbun Club - lucky me. I'll definitely go again!

