狼スープ Ookami Soup (Wolf Soup)

Today's Ramen is also considered a ramen of the "Jun Sumi" variety, with the rich miso and curly yellow noodles.

The shop's name is 狼スープ, Ookami Soup. Ookami means wolf.

No, the soup does not contain any wolf meat or something... A lot of Ramen shops use names with reference to Nature and life. In fact, pretty much every Ramen shop I've written of so far has had a name related to one of the two.

Ookami soup specializes in Miso Ramen. In fact it's the only thing they have on their menu, either Miso or Miso with soft boiled egg as a condiment. I would suggest you enjoy miso if you plan on visiting here after reading this entry.

Considering the legacy already established by Sumire and Junren, I was skeptical of a Miso Ramen shop claimed to be "Jun Sumi Style" by reviewers online. We all love originality after all. The reviews were rather positive on Tabelog however, as of this writing the average rating is 3.7/5. In fact, Ookami Soup is one of the top 10 ramen restaurants in all of Hokkaido on that website.

That's pretty much an invite to try some ramen.

To be honest though, I have almost no information about this restaurant. I don't even know when it opened, or any secret little morsels about its history. If anyone has any information, Japanese or English, please let me know and I will update accordingly.

The shop is fairly small, which is some good Rule 3.

Despite my lack of knowledge of the shop, it seems immensely popular. Those writings on the ceiling are actually autographs typical of Japan, big thick cardboard like material that celebrities put their signatures on. Ookami Soup has them all the way to the ceiling.

I went with a friend (my ramen obsession has quickly spread amongst my circle of friends), and we arrived at 11 am, opening hours. Within 15 minutes the shop was full. At lunch. On a Tuesday.

This place is popular.

So let's examine the food. I ordered Miso with Egg.

First noting the color, it's a bit more orange than Sumire or Junren, which I liked.

The noodles are made by Nishiyama Noodle Company, the same company that makes noodles for Aji No Sanpei. So they are good, as expected, though we do love house made stuff more don't we?

I was worried however, about another Sumire/Junren knockoff. When you get labeled with that online, it means you resemble theirs at least to some degree.

However, I will say that Ookami managed to escape being a mere clone, and they do this through a very complex spice profile in the soup. Perhaps it's my palate that discerned this, but I honestly got hints of cinnamon and cardamom, with a slight hit of anise even. These rooty, musky spices are not as prominent, nor really used at all in the original, and so, at the very least, I have to applaud the store for actually pushing out of the box with some unique spices. It even had a little heat of chili flake.

But unfortunately, the majority of other characteristics are just not all that amazing. The egg is average, the noodles are good but not astounding, because they're factory made, the pork extremely tender but flavor wise normal, even the bamboo shoots are ordinary. I was extremely impressed with the soup for it's unique spice profile and interesting character, mellow yet complex, rich yet not overbearing, and not overly salty, but it just isn't enough when being compared to such legends in my opinion.

After all, Ookami Soup does have that label tacked on.

In good news, Ookami Soup does prevail in terms of location, as it is located just outside of Nakajima Park. For the tourist, Nakajima Park is a wonderful little escape from the city with a beautiful lake, trees, playground, and activities, and the location is accessible by a stop on the Nanboku subway line. You can rent a boat and paddle out to the lake, and afterwards, Ookami soup is right there to fill you up.

With that being said, if you plan on going to Nakajima Park, Ookami Soup is essentially a must visit for a quick, inexpensive, delicious lunch. But if going there is something out of the way, you might as well take the full trip down the Nanboku subway line to Junren or Sumire. They both exist down that way anyhow.


大きな地図で見る

Ookami Soup 狼スープ

Hours:
Mon-Fri: 11:00am-4:00pm
Sat-Sun: 11:00am-8:00pm
Closed Wedesday.

Links:
http://www.ohkami-soup.net/
http://ameblo.jp/ookami-soup/ (Shop's Blog)
http://r.tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0101/A010104/1000799/
http://amasan.livedoor.biz/archives/50895069.html

Ramen Sky, ラーメン空

Segueing fairly well from the concept of Yashoku Ramen and Miso as a historic concept within Sapporo, we have particularly one restaurant that stands out in context.

That restaurant is ラーメン空, or as I'll designate it, Ramen Sky.

Imagine a Sky made of Ramen, I would assume such a thing would be either incredibly frightening or awe inspiring.

I had quite a few sources direct me to this shop. It has a 3.5/5 rating on Tabelog, which despite what you may think, is surprisingly high, as even the highest rated Ramen shop only has around a 4/5 rating on the website. Furthermore, this shop also had a full page article in the book "Every Day Noodles", a guidebook highlighting different noodle shops across sapporo, including of course, Ramen.

However, most reviews online seem to suggest that it the restaurant's style is "Sumi Jun Ken", which as you remember, means it is essentially a replication of what Junren and Sumire have been doing for 40 something years. Thick soup, rich lard cap on top, golden noodles, you guys know.

This restaurant opened recently, and thus Yashoku has decided to collaborate with them, but the truth is that this restaurant had originally closed in 2006, to move to Nagoya, but after it actually came back to Sapporo. Interesting story in itself, it happens to have a particular cult following considering how new it is. Combining this with the amazing location near Susukino, the downtown party district of Sapporo, and you have a fairly packed restaurant.

Yashoku claims it is "a taste of Sapporo", which makes sense, it is after all, reminiscent of those Second Generation Ramen shops.

I sat down at the restaurant on a cool spring day,and the place was full up. Which brings me to my next rule.

3. A small ramen shop is usually a better shop.

There is just something about the size of a shop that makes the experience feel more personal. It also means the cooks have to be more intelligent and creative with space and ingredients, and food from smaller stores tends to be better.

But... this is a ramen review. How was it? Do I agree with the consensus?

For a bit of comparison, this is what Yashoku displays as their picture of the bowl.

And this is what I recieved

So, fairly accurate hm?
Well... I cannot tell a lie. It was certainly good.

But it wasn't amazing.

To be honest, knowing a little of the history of ramen now, I couldn't help but feel like it was merely ripping off Sumire and Junren. Nothing in particular stood out from the original rich miso ramen, maybe a little less in terms of the fat film floating on top. The noodles are not hand made, and as far as condiments go, your standard fair of sliced welsh onions, bamboo shoots, soft boiled egg, and roasted pork, known as "chashu". They were okay, nothing essentially standing out. Fresh ground ginger melted away in the soup for a little extra bite, which I liked but I couldn't shake the fact that I was eating essentially a remake of the second generation, with the only differences being that maybe a bit more tweak on the spice profile and a little less rich. Both Sumire and Junren also have ginger as part of the spice profile.

In this way, I can't say I agree with such a high rating online, because to me, the uniqueness of this bowl was extremely lacking. But I will not pretend like it was anything less than good. Remember the first rule after all :P

Therefore, in short, if you have the chance to go to the original "Sumi Jun Kei" shops, I would suggest skipping this place. For a bit of a twist, in a far superior and much easier to access location however, I would certainly recommend this shop.


View Larger Map

Ramen Sky ラーメン空
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday: 11 am-5 am
Sunday: 11 am to 1 am.
Closed Monday.


http://r.tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0101/A010103/1009044/
http://yashoku-ramen.jp/detail/detail.aspx?id=17657

Ramen Today

So, we have discussed at this point three generations of Ramen in Sapporo.

Aji no Sanpei is the origin, the first generation that defined Sapporo as a culinary epicenter, where food ners could finally gaze upon this city for culinary reasons.

Sumire and Junren and number two, responsible for the evolution and addition of depth and character to Miso Ramen. Consider them the second pioneers, as they created the concept of Ramen being lavish in Sapporo. In fact, ramen is widely considered a "B class gourmet" meal today, because of its complexity and versatility, while maintaining a lower price point. Most meals don't cross 1000 yen.

But what about a third generation? Sumire and Junren are at least 40 years old. Who became the current generation? There has to be one.

Well. Yes and no.

Many would argue that there is no defined third store to spearhead the ramen expansion we see today. No shining Knight on Armor so to speak. However, there are certainly loved newcomer restaurants, who push the boundaries of food in Sapporo.

Enter Yashoku. Yashoku Ramen is your friend if looking for extremely popular, modern shops. That generation 3.

Yashoku Ramen is a cooperative company that works with local Sapporo ramen shops to send said shops' noodles, soup, and ingredients to customers so that they can make it at home. It allows, say, a person living in Tokyo to make ramen from a shop in Sapporo. Yashoku packages and delivers the ingredients straight from the shop.

They claim to distribute "3rd Generation Sapporo Ramen" to the masses. I have absolutely no problem with this. I love the idea of showing the culinary prowess of local restaurants.

Unfortunately, their roster of shops you can purchase from constantly changes. Attempting to use it as a source solely would be fairly difficult.

But it is kind of a symbol of what's popular besides some of the internet rating websites. I like it because their criteria for which restaurants they will sell from specifically includes "newer" restaurants. Despite the term itself being fairly... open ended (how new is new?), for those looking for the "ramen newcomers" as I like to call them, feel free to use the website.

Perhaps the most important trend to notice then, about modern Sapporo ramen, is... well... the types.

Miso ramen is only ONE of the popular varieties now. Sapporo ramen today is no longer limited to miso, but to all varieties and styles. Rich, smooth, thick, thin, chewy, soft, all sorts can be classified as Sapporo Ramen. What makes one ask... what is Sapporo Ramen then?

The truth is that, there isn't really a definition now. Perhaps that is the greatest achievement these restaurants have been able to accomplish, breaking a town's own stereotype on the foods associated with the location. In fact, some suggest (such as this fellow here) that Sapporo ramen really just means any combination of the three tastes, Shoyu, Shio, and Miso. But even this is an understatement, there are plenty of shops that use other flavors in their soup, such as pork bone, shellfish, and tomato even.

It's an interesting concept none the less. I suppose part of the excitement of Yashoku is merely seeing which restaurant they will collaborate with next.

http://yashoku-ramen.jp/

From Generation Three, the sky's the limit. So let's talk about some ramen!