Aji no Kura 味の蔵

Some restaurants actually come to Sapporo in their attempts in food stardom. In particular instances, this creates a sort of push in the Ramen scene, as influence from other areas of Japan can be helpful in boosting the concept of ramen.

In comes Aji no Kura, 味の蔵, The Taste Shack.

Aji no Kura is a recent restaurant being heavily, I mean heavily, advertised on Tabelog. Every time you search for Ramen in Hokkaido, this restaurant pops up in the sponsored area. It's also seemingly popular, usually a few people out the door waiting, and it mantains a 3.5/5 rating online. If anything, the first reason to the shop's popularity just comes from their hours.

Open 24/7.

Ramen tends to be well associated with the late night dwellers of Japan, the drunk masses hungry loners looking to fill up after their alcohol fill up, and a 24 hour spot in downtown drinking central Susukino pretty much can't be beat.

There's a couple issues pushing folks back however. The initial one is that this shop isn't actually Sapporo-grounded at all, it began in Shinjuku, a ward of Tokyo, and to many Sapporo ramen purists, this is a negative characteristic. Can we truly call it Sapporo ramen if it didn't start in Sapporo?

Well... why not? With modern technology allowing transportation of all sorts of agriculture, do the lines of what is genuinely Sapporo blend? Restaurants like this somewhat suggest that question.

Perhaps the reason the reason it doesn't scream Sapporo Ramen is because the menu attempts to replicate ramen from all over Japan, rather than focusing on one style. It feels like a shop importing ideas to Sapporo, rather than making new ones.

Well, we've heard the shop background so far. It's open all day and night, and has a pretty remarkable location.

How about the goods?

Aji no Kura is famous for their Pork Bone broth, a broth apparently simmered for more than 12 hours to extract as much rich, milky flavor as possible. They are not, however, famous for Miso, or really any particular style infact.

This shows quickly in the above miso dish. It's composed much like a Pork Bone soup, but the miso is put largely, if not completely on the back burner.

Furthermore, although you're able to pick one of two noodles, both of which are made by the company, they're both thin and fairly un-curly.

So on a basis, it doesn't really even share the miso characteristics Sapporo folk love. No thick noodles, no powerful miso flavor. It reminds me of Kyushu Ramen to be honest. Which is not a bad thing at all.
In fact the food is pretty dang good. As a Pork Bone soup, it's very tasty, a good balance of rich and light. Some garlic oil drizzled on top adds good complexity and character, and the noodles pair up well with the soup's characteristics (though I thought they were soft).

The shop also provides a laundry list of toppings you can freely add, including crushed by yourself garlic, stewed spicy vegetables, and pickled ginger, among others. This can at times be overwhelming, but at the same time, fun to customize a bowl.

If drunk at 3 am, this might be the closest option you have for that late night ramen fix. And you certainly wouldn't be disappointed.


View Larger Map

Aji no Kura
Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Links:
http://www.ramen-ajinokura.com/
http://r.tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0101/A010103/1026114/

山嵐黒虎 YamaArashi KuroTora. Mountain Storm; Black Tiger.

Today's Ramen is brought to you by the lengthy named "Mountain Storm".

Sweet name Seriously.



YamaArashi is actually a separate shop much farther south in Sapporo, however, they recently released a new restaurant (Kurotora) near the downtown area of Sapporo. For the traveler, this shop is far easier to access.

It's actually just outside of this area known as "Tanuki Kouji", an expansive, covered walkway, excellent for shopping. In this way it seems somewhat superior to the original for the tourist.

Furthermore, this restaurant actually has a slightly different menu than the original, and as such it's rating on Tabelog is HIGHER than the original shop. 3.49/5 for the original, 3.62/5 for Black Tiger, the shop we're looking at today.

If that isn't irony I'm not sure what is.

This is the size of the entire shop... tiny.

Entering the small 8 seat shop, you will see a ticket vending machine to your right. For the tourist, this makes ordering actually fairly simple, providing you know what you're looking for, as it will of course be written in Japanese.

Which is why I'm here eh?

The Ramen at this restaurant is divided into three categories; White, Black, and Sea. These divisions categorize soup.

White is the basic soup, made with pork bone. Look on the machine for this figure: 白
Black is the basic soup with a touch of soy sauce. Look for this figure: 黒
Sea has a slight touch of fish broth added to the soup. Look for this figure: 海

In other words in general, they're fairly similar. You can pick based on your preferences, however, in most guide books I've come across, white and black are the most recommended.

After giving your ticket from the machine, sit down at one of 8 seats, and... wait?

Then your food arrives. I ordered Black, and this is what came.

Pork Bone broth with soy sauce. It's topped with chopped onion, sliced scallion, a slice of nori, and I ordered a boiled egg extra. Black is described as being rich and deep, and boosted with a bit of collagen, which you can see is the browner side of the bowl.

Floating collagen on soup... well... that's different.

The presentation is quite appealing; a certain level of black vs white contrast, half and half. The color is nice.

The noodles are thick, not housemade, but quite nice. They have that good bite you always look for; they're cooked well.

Honestly, I was absolutely shocked in the best of ways by this shop and its food. I thought the soup was incredibly rich and flavorful, and had an amazing depth that played well with the noodles. The raw white onions added a nice bite to play with the mellow thick consistency of the soup. The collagen gives an incredible rich, smooth mouth feel to the already milky white rich soup.

It was just so good. Ahahaha.

"Pork Bone soup" as a concept is somewhat rare in comparison to miso, shoyu, or shio, the three tastes, within Sapporo. In this regard, this place is a little treasure that manages to break away from what all the other shops are doing, while also maintaining a level of quality and integrity.

The shop is cool looking, the location is great, the food is awesome. The experience itself leaves quite the impact. If you like rich foods, and love porky pork goodness, this shop is absolutely for you. Even if you DON'T like that stuff I would still suggest checking this place out.


View Larger Map

山嵐黒虎
Hours:
11:30-4:00 5:00-9:00
Closed Tuesdays

http://r.tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0101/A010103/1025547/
http://best.miru-kuru.com/yamaarashi/