Menbakaichidai Fire Ramen, Kyoto

Japan is all about food and, besides all the ninjas, it is the main reason why I’ve always wanted to go. So when I finally got to visit I spent most of my time hunting for food and scoffing it.

One of the most epic food things I did was at a place called Menbakaichidai Fire Ramen in Kyoto. They are famous for noodle soup that actually explodes into balls of flame. But first I need to tell you about their brand new Ramen University.

It’s so new that I was the first person to ever graduate. (Their new Ramen University for ramen lovers officially opens later this month so check out their Facebook page for more details).

During my training, Shin, who was super duper nice, and the restaurant’s chef showed me all the steps to make perfect ramen.

First we rolled up some chicken thighs and tied them like presents. Then we fried them for a few minutes until they changed colour and added stock and sugar. They smelled so good!

We covered them so they could steam for about ten minutes and I picked my soup base from three different flavoured broths, chicken, pork and fish. I picked the pork. Then I selected garnishes like bok choy, corn and broccoli and  picked my noodles. There were three types to choose from, fat, swirly and skinny. I picked skinny.

Shin let me slice up the cooked chicken which was so, so moist and so, so tasty that we’re going to start using the same method at home. And then we hit the kitchen to soak our noodles in an enormous vat of boiling water. Shin showed me a cool way to flick them dry… it’s all in the wrist.

Last of all we plated up and ate it up. And let me tell you, I make awesome ramen.

Shin and the chef even gave me with a badge to say so.

I think they should give me a job here now because now I can cook the ramen and even do the chef’s famous pose.

But that wasn’t the end of all the ramen fun because the chef served us all up a bowl of their famous fire ramen.

First shin covered us with weird full body bibs and put bowls of shoyu pork ramen in front of us and ordered us to place our drinks under the table, our hands behind us and to lean way, way back. Then the chef poured a pot of flaming green-onion-oil into the bowls and set our noodles ON FIRE. The flames went all the way up to the roof. OMG. These guys are NUTS!!!

I love them so much.

And the blackened ramen was smoky tasting and so, so good that it was like being slapped in the face by flavour.

EPIC!

You can see what happened at Ramen University and the crazy burning ramen in my video.

Reviewed by Raffles – Aged 7
(bracketed comments by his mama)

Menbakaichidai
757-2 Minamiiseyacho Kamigyo-Ku,
Kyoto 602-8153
Ph: +81 75-812-5818
http://www.facebook.com/fireramen

Disclosure: Raffles was hosted by Menbakaichidai Ramen University.

An award-winning travel writer and photographer, Aleney de Winter was fresh from school when she first set off to explore the far reaches of Australia with a two-man tent and a beaten-up Kingswood for company. Three decades, and two kids later, and she's still on the go, with her itchy-footed offspring in tow.