After watching a concert for the first time in a while, I had ramen at Toratetsu in Iwamizawa. I also like the soy sauce at Shoyu Yashiki Honten, but the soy sauce at Toratetsu is also delicious. It's similar to the soup at Ichigundou, so I feel like adding rice at the end. And the "Mushiro Zangi" is also delicious! Both the salt and soy sauce flavors are tasty. I used to eat 2 or 3 pieces in the past, but now 1 piece is enough. Since the concert won, it might taste even better. My partner always goes for the miso, which is their favorite. Thank you for the meal!

I had always been curious about the shop next to Bikkuri Donkey. I was interested in the spicy seasonal items, but since I like soy sauce, I decided to try that first. However, I couldn't resist the temptation of the seasonal limited spicy fried chicken (using Bell Food's Genghis Khan sauce), so I ordered just one piece. You can choose the amount of bamboo shoots, green onions, and white rice. Bamboo shoots and green onions can be added for free, so I added extra green onions. The fried chicken was huge, crispy, and delicious. The soy sauce ramen was just to my liking, with a good amount of pork fat floating on top, making it slightly rich. The soy sauce was fragrant and yummy. Although the fried chicken and white rice set exceeded my stomach capacity, I found out that you can also change the white rice to oolong tea. That's great news. The location is also convenient, so I will definitely visit again. Delicious!

Today, I had miso chashu. The vending machine at the entrance was hard to figure out, especially when there was a line behind me, so I ended up asking the staff for help. Do ramen shops really need vending machines? It's true that they have increased due to the pandemic, but I don't like vending machines with lots of small buttons to navigate through menus. If they are like Yamaoka-ya with easy-to-understand vending machines, that's fine. Also, if you don't consider where to place them, the entrance can get crowded. The miso chashu was delicious.

This is a ramen chain restaurant located along Route 12. I saw it quite often in Sapporo. As soon as I entered, there was a ticket machine. I ordered the limited-time menu of plum cold ramen and 5 pieces of zangi, but since it was my first time at this restaurant, I decided to go with 2 pieces. The zangi is also a limited-time menu, a collaboration with Bell Food, which has a strong share in Hokkaido with their Genghis Khan sauce. The plum cold ramen was delicious, with big, soft plum pieces that were not too salty or sour, just right. The cold sauce was quite tangy. As for the zangi... when it was served, it made an impact, but it was more like chicken cutlet than zangi in size. I thought it would be 2 pieces of fried chicken, but it's a good thing I ordered 2 pieces... The taste was very good, being a collaboration with Bell Food, but the meat was thin and lacked the juicy texture of fried chicken. The chili pepper sprinkled on the meat was quite spicy, and towards the end, the spiciness overpowered the taste of Genghis Khan sauce, leaving only the heat of the chili pepper. It is labeled as "spicy and delicious," but since spiciness tolerance varies among individuals, it might be better to allow customers to adjust the spiciness themselves rather than serving it with a lot of chili pepper from the start. Those who order this dish probably want to enjoy the taste of Bell Food's sauce more than the spiciness, so it might be a good idea to make the spiciness adjustable.

I came back from Consadole's red and black festival and decided to have dinner at Tora-Ten, trying out their two major collaboration menu items for the summer. The cold plum ramen was delicious. The spicy and addictive Zangi, marinated in Bell Food's Bell Genghis Khan sauce, was quite spicy. Both dishes were incredibly tasty. It's impossible for them not to be delicious. Thank you for the meal.

I had a set of 3 pieces of fried chicken with miso ramen. Honestly, it was terrible. The ramen tasted awful, and the fried chicken seemed like it was reused. What's more, the counter and kitchen are facing each other with glass, and the staff kept staring at me and laughing among themselves, making it uncomfortable to eat. The atmosphere, taste, and price were all the worst I've experienced.

Today's dinner will be ramen. I decided to try a new place, Menya Kotei Iwamizawa branch. The parking lot is quite full. You purchase your meal ticket at the entrance using a vending machine. There was a collaboration item for the 15th anniversary, so I ordered that. It's a miso ramen with pork belly zangi topping. It's a collaboration with a local Hokkaido talent, Oklahoma Kohno Mana (a junior of TEAM NACS). The staff were friendly and the ramen had thick noodles, extra bamboo shoots, and normal firmness. The set meal included rice (medium portion) and salt zangi with a complimentary mountain wasabi sauce for the 15th anniversary. The ramen had a strong soup base with a lot of koji. I prefer a lighter soup. The pork belly zangi had a flavor similar to pork bowl. The zangi in the set meal was large and flat, more like a piece than a ball. It had a thin crispy coating and was juicy. The mountain wasabi sauce had flavor but wasn't spicy. It was a popular place, as it became full after I arrived. I wonder how their regular menu items taste like.

But, in Iwamizawa City where a heavy snow warning has been issued. Highway 12 in the midst of a blizzard. One lane is closed, causing a major traffic jam. After quickly finishing shopping nearby, I headed to "Menya Kotei". I shoveled snow for nearly 2 hours today, so I was really hungry. That's why I opted for the high-calorie-sounding "Pork Miso Ramen (950 yen)" with a 100 yen discount coupon. After ordering, I realized that it's the first time I didn't order a set meal here. It's a bit disappointing that I didn't go for the Zangi set meal, as this place is known for its Zangi. Wait, isn't the pork belly Zangi thinner than I expected? It looks huge in the picture, but in reality, it's rather small. They offered to cut it for me, but it's fine as it is (laughs). The soup is thicker and tastier than usual. The noodles are thick and chewy, with a generous portion! Maybe this soup and noodles could become a regular menu item? I added the "addictive seven-spice blend" and garlic generously. Delicious! This is really good! The limited-time ramen at Kotei. The pork belly Zangi was a bit underwhelming, but the soup and noodles were excellent ( ´Д｀)=3

Happy New Year! On January 2nd, we had our first meal out of the year at Menya Koutetsu, the third closest ramen shop to our home. We tried their limited-time Miso Jumbo Pork Belly Zangi ramen. The zangi was too much for one person, so my wife and I shared it. The wasabi dip sauce was delicious, but I wish there was more of it. Despite heavy snow in Iwamizawa causing a traffic jam on Route 12 in front of the shop, it was still almost full inside. Seems like everyone was craving ramen, including me. We'll definitely be back. Thank you for the meal!

2022♡♡107th bowl, around 5:30 pm on December 25th I'm weak to limited edition stuff, haha. I can't remember the name of the pork belly dish. My son, who usually doesn't eat miso, wanted to try it, so we visited before it ended! There weren't many people eating this dish, haha. The pork belly looked small when it was cut, even though it was visible that it was fried. I don't recommend it. The noodles were thick and different from Jiro-style, with a unique soup. There were green peppers in the toppings, which was different, but I preferred the regular toppings. Toratetsu is always crowded, right? Even at 5:30 pm, it was almost full. The zangi was consistently delicious, and the wasabi mayo-like sauce was tasty. Thank you for the meal! ＼(^o^)／

Today was a rare day of working on my day off. As I was getting ready to go out, my phone rang with a message. And so, my enjoyable day of working on my day off began. I started at 10 in the morning and finished at 4:30, which was quite tiring. What food can blow away this fatigue? If I'm only having one meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then it's time for some high-calorie goodness at "Kotetsu"! I ordered the "Aged Miso Ramen with 3 Zangi Set (1300 yen)" with extra green onions, extra bamboo shoots, firm noodles, salt zangi, and medium rice. First, I dug into the ramen. The soup was thick and a bit salty, but it was perfect for me today! As I progressed, I tried sprinkling the recommended "Yamitsuki Shichimi" spice from the restaurant. Oh, the flavor changed significantly and it was great! I added garlic and had a blast. Next up was the zangi. It was piping hot and delicious! I tried different sauces and spices, and even some mustard, making it a fun experience. Even though some time had passed, I managed to finish the rice within an acceptable limit while enjoying the blissful moment. While I appreciated the deliciousness of Kotetsu's ramen, it was the zangi that stole the show! That's the one! Big, freshly fried, and piping hot zangi is the best! It was so enjoyable to try different seasonings for flavor variations. My stomach was bulging from overeating, so remember, even if it's delicious, overeating is a no-go!

I believe this used to be Zawaken ramen shop, but it has now become Kotetsu. While Kotetsu is known for their zangi, I ordered the miso ramen with firm noodles. It arrived quickly and the thick, rich soup coated the noodles, creating a delicious ramen dish.

"The shrimp miso ramen (extra green onions, extra menma) for 880 yen plus the zangi set with 1 piece (ume shiso grated zangi & rice) for 220 yen. The shrimp miso ramen is made with a special shrimp paste simmered with shrimp shells and combined with a white miso base. The taste and service at Toratora's stores are excellent!"

I heard that there is a collaboration between Toratetsu and On-chan on TV, so I decided to visit the restaurant after a long time. I ordered the "Stamina Miso Ramen" (590 yen) and the "Garlic Butter Zangi" set (200 yen). I was at the front of the waiting line, but I had to wait for a table as only group customers were seated first. The ramen had a decent portion of vegetables, but the price is a bit high. The Garlic Butter Zangi didn't have a strong butter flavor, but the garlic chips were interesting. I might prefer the salt flavor next time. If I crave freshly fried Zangi, I'll come back again.

For the final lunch during my business trip to Hokkaido, I went to Menya Koutetsu, a chain restaurant in Sapporo. It was my first time visiting. Even though I had already eaten fried chicken at Sangoshokudo last night, I felt a sense of duty to also try the Zangi at Koutetsu. I bought a Zangi set with rice for 200 yen and the popular Aged Miso Ramen for 800 yen from the ticket machine. I sat at the counter and when a staff member came to give me my order, I asked for extra green onions. Looking at the menu, I noticed that for ramen, you can choose to have extra or no green onions, extra or no bamboo shoots, and choose the firmness of the noodles. I also had the option to choose between salt or soy sauce for the Zangi, so I went with the staff's recommendation of salt. After a while, the Zangi set was served. The Zangi was huge! Then, the miso ramen was served. I tried a sip of the soup first, and it had a strong miso flavor that seemed to go well with the rice. The noodles were chewy with a high water content. The chashu was tender and delicious, while the menma was simple. As for the salt Zangi... It was still too much for me after eating a lot last night... I ordered a small portion of rice but ended up not being able to finish it... I'm sorry. Thank you for the meal.

2022♡♡28th meal 3/30 around 1pm Had Aragoshi Miso Ramen and 5 pieces of Zangi (lol) at a crowded ramen shop. Went to a different place but they weren't serving... (lll-ω-) *sad face* Came back later and managed to get in with just a short wait for one group. The Zangi was meant to be for dinner, but I ended up having all 5 pieces for lunch. It was delicious! As for the Aragoshi Miso, it was tasty but I couldn't quite place the flavor. It was a bit light, or was it just me? (lol) Well, it was still good! Thank you for the meal! *(^o^)/*

I went for ramen, but I was drawn to the sign outside that said "Zangi," so I also ordered the Zangi set. It was a bit confusing to choose from the various Zangi sets with the pre-paid food ticket. The ramen looked rich, but it wasn't overly heavy. It was delicious (^ｰ^). And the Zangi was huge!!! I tried both the salt and sauce flavors, and they were both crispy with tender meat, very tasty! The size of the Zangi was shocking, so my image of the ramen has already faded (lol). I plan to go again ♬

I knew that "Kotetsu" had opened in place of Iwamizawa-ken, but I wasn't interested because I had already eaten at a different ramen shop. However, one day, a friend invited me to go there. I decided to try the soy sauce ramen since I had already tried the miso ramen. I ordered it from the vending machine and received a cloudy soup with back fat. It was quite good, similar to my favorite ramen shop "Gantetsu." The noodles were average. I might come back to try it again.

I arrived a little after 11 am and there was no line outside, so I decided to go in. Today, I was in the mood for soy sauce flavor, so I ordered the "Soy Sauce Ramen (790 yen) with extra green onions and bamboo shoots, the "Zangi Set Meal (Salt flavor) (1 piece) (200 yen), and a boiled egg (with a coupon). When I handed over my meal tickets, I received another coupon. What a great deal! The restaurant was full when I arrived, so I had to wait a bit. The ramen had a pork bone base with soy sauce flavor and a layer of pork fat on top. I was hoping for a sharper soy sauce taste, but the soup was a bit sweet due to the pork bone. I noticed that they now offer options like half noodles or no rice, so I will try different combinations next time. Oh, and the guy next to me today ate five pieces of Zangi! Oh, to be young and have such a big appetite!

On my first visit of 2022, which was my 9th visit of the year, I actually have a chronic illness and need to go to the hospital once a month. I was planning to go on Sunday morning. When I left home, the weather was clear near my house, but after about 10 minutes, the sky started to look ominous, and another 10 minutes later, it was a whiteout, making it almost impossible to reach Iwamizawa. So, I barely made it back home. Today, my medication ran out, so I had to go to the hospital. I took some time off and went to the hospital. It's usually very crowded on Sundays, but on weekdays in the evening, it was surprisingly empty. I thought maybe I don't need to push myself to go on Sundays. After finishing at the hospital, I had a web conference scheduled at home, but I had some extra time, so I decided to visit a new ramen shop in Iwamizawa! The place is called Menya Kotei Iwamizawa, located next to Bikkuri Donkey, where Iwamizawa Ken used to be. The interior layout hasn't changed much, but it had the typical Menya Kotei decor. I had already decided to have miso ramen, but I was unsure about the zangi. They don't offer zangi as a standalone item, it comes as a set with rice, which seemed like too much food. So, I decided to stick with just ramen. I sat at the counter, handed over my meal ticket, and waited. After about 5 minutes, my ramen was served. It had been a while since I had Menya Kotei ramen. It tasted just like I remembered. The soup was quite typical, lacking richness even though it had a lot of fat. The noodles were standard Sapporo-style noodles. The stir-fried vegetables, chashu, and seaweed were all average. I finished the bowl cleanly, but I still felt somewhat unsatisfied. Menya Kotei is a place where zangi is a must. However, I don't feel the need to have a zangi set without ramen. It's just not my kind of place. It was decent, but not outstanding. Thank you for the meal.