麺屋彩未 Menya Saimi

Any entry in food about Sapporo cannot be without Menya Saimi, its popularity is... obscene to be perfectly honest.

Saimi is a miso ramen restaurant that opened only about 10 years ago in the "Ramen Warzone" known as the Toyohira district of Sapporo. They boomed immediately, and to put it bluntly, are the most popular miso ramen restaurant in all of Sapporo. They have souvenirs, amazing online ratings, even ramen you can purchase in the super market. Saimi is a great success, hands down.

This is particularly interesting when we take a look at the sign.

The sign says "Saimi, from Sumire"

Sumire?? This Sumire?? The legends??

Yes. Apparently the owner had worked in Sumire prior to making his own shop. You can assume then that he attempts to take a more modern approach to Miso, and in turn step away from some of the more old school variants.

The popularity of this restaurant is ridiculous. It has an astounding 4/5 on Tabelog, officially ranking it one of the highest ranked restaurants, yes restaurants, not just ramen shops, in Hokkaido.

So we've just blown past Sapporo. That's pretty noteworthy by any standard. Other rating websites agree, and Saimi is always at the very least mentioned in some form of guidebook.

This popularity shows; expect to wait anywhere for 15-30 minutes, as there is always a line. I personally went on a Sunday and waited 30 minutes.

Out of the door...

And through the shop

The shop is so popular that the train station nearby actually lists directions on which exit to take to more easily access the shop. Just as you get off the Misono stop on the blue line, you'll see the sign.

Critics rave about how it takes the deep flavor of Junsumi style, but without the heavy richness and lard cap, a balance between light and heavy, perfect composition. Homemade noodles and fresh ground ginger complete the dish. Honestly, everyone says good things about this place.

Which honestly worries me. Why are the only negative comments about the wait? Is there such a thing as over hype?

It's possible.

This is Saimi's legendary bowl. The top rated, undisputed loved Miso Ramen.

It's... well. It's really good. As expected. I can't pick anything wrong with it. Even the way it looks is lovely, bright green, pink, yellow. popping out. The noodles are thick and curly and cooked perfectly, two types of wonderfully cooked pork, with a subtle sting of ginger in the mellow, complex soup. A touch of sweet, not overly salty, just right. Portion is ample as well. It's totally obvious why this shop is so popular. It's good.

But... a 30 minute wait for a bowl of 750 yen ramen? Let alone in far away Toyohira district. For the tourist, this may be extremely off putting; imagine going so far out of your way for food, only to be forced to wait. This isn't high class dining; it's still a ramen shop after all. Ramen is supposed to be fast.

It makes me wonder if the rating isn't just pumped up by consumer euphoria.

Furthermore, I can't overlook the issue with their ridiculous hours, which frequently include closing randomly for no reason. The fact that Saimi can pull off such wild business hours is certainly interesting however, but for the tourist, it may be weary.

But, to be honest, the experience in itself is unquestionably remarkable. I've never seen a place so packed. It's clearly hit home with Japanese people as being absolutely delicious. For those feeling like going on an adventure, this is the spot.




View Larger Map

Menya Saimi
 Hours:
11:00am-3:15pm 5:00 pm- 7:30
Closed Mondays and two times randomly per month.

Links:
http://r.tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0103/A010303/1000018/
http://gourmet.livedoor.com/restaurant/67349/

札幌ラーメン零 Sapporo Ramen Zero

There are a variety of toppings ramen shops like to put on their dishes, called "Gu" 具. They range from bamboo shoots to sliced onions, and of course the infamously delicious roasted pork called Chashu.

In Sapporo, usually this roasted pork is only a part of the whole meal.

Except at Sapporo Ramen Zero. Zero has pork. An insane amount of pork.

Interestingly enough, the Calligraphy symbol there means "Zero", and since zero as a word was imported into the Japanese lexicon, the kanji itself can be read as Zero, rather than the Japanese concept of "nothingness"

I have to admit something before we begin; Zero was the first ramen shop I visited in Sapporo, so I suppose there is some bias in my analysis of this shop.

Anyways. Zero is a pork legend. Their ramen is renown for the massive chashu slow cooked pork they serve on top, approximately 3.5 ounces/100grams of pork steak per order. Considering basically all other shops have less than a single tiny slice, this is a huge selling point that Zero certainly doesn't hide.

Zero is actually an experimental shop owned by the semi-chain Barikiya, which is known for selling Kyushu style ramen. So what does a Kyushu style store know about appealing to the more Sapporo style of ramen?

Apparently a bit. Zero has been written about in quite a few books based on this massive pork steak they serve. But despite the publicity, this shop's reviews are fairly average, mostly due to the tsuke-men (noodles you dip into a separate bowl of soup) craze currently sweeping Sapporo.

Which brings me to rule 4.

4. Order the shop's specialty; avoid trends and "limited time" gimmicks.

This may seem like an obvious rule, but regardless, I believe it to be true. Frequently a shop will attempt to boost sales by jumping on a food bandwagon so to speak. Sometimes this has good results, but frequently, a shop with a distinct style attempting to cross over elsewhere fails. Stick to what the shop is known for. In this case, this is the pork.

Zero is located in Tanuki Kouji. As I've explained earlier, this is pretty much one of the best spots shops can pick for tourism and business. Excellent.

Furthermore, Zero has a ticket machine, and the Barikiya Company is working on English menus. Also excellent for the tourist.

The inside of the shop is nice. Fairly small, 16 seats, 8 of which are composed of 2 tables. Dark wood tables and walls, shades of red and brown on the walls. Pretty standard. But we're here for the bowl. So here it is.

Oh... oh boy I didn't expect it to be so massive. Pork comes with all 3 main types of Ramen, Salt, Soy Sauce, and Miso, however, the Miso is recommended by guidebooks.

The pork here is massive. It totally dominates the dish. 100 grams, they weren't kidding!
The pork is made with a combination of slow cooking and fast flash broiling at the end. It tastes, well. Amazing. It's easily the best roasted pork in Sapporo.That's all I can really say about it. It's succulent, rich, with just a hint of char and crisp, and totally flavorful. Amazing stuff.

Unfortunately, such ramen will cost you a bit of cash. Be prepared to spend anywhere from 750-1000 yen for a bowl. But such is the price for godly pork.

You'll notice however, that this analysis isn't really about the actual dish overall. The reason for that is rather unfortunate: the pork totally overplays the ramen itself. By comparison, the noodles and soup can't even come close. The ramen is good no doubt, actually above average if anything; the noodles are well cooked, thick, yellow, curly, and the soup has some interesting components, a little bit of sweet, and caramel notes float through the savory miso. But there's a reason this shop has a 3.1/5 among eaters: the actual dish feels like it has too much emphasis on the pork, and not on the overall dish.

For the meat lover, you pretty much can't beat Zero. Honestly. The roasted pork here destroys just about any pork period. It's that good. But as a ramen dish, some of the components can't keep up with the insanity that is Zero's Chashu. Which isn't totally fair; since the pork is so unbelievably good and huge, it's hard to imagine anything could even match it. But this is Sapporo Ramen, not Sapporo Pork; these characteristics have to be taken into consideration as well.

Can't forget about the noodles and soup!

If you're around Tanuki Kouji, this is certainly a viable option. This is pretty much a viable option any time if you like meat.


View Larger Map

札幌ラーメン零 Sapporo Ramen Zero
Hours:
11:00am-10:00 pm
Closed Tuesdays

Links:
http://www.bariki-ya.com/
http://ramen-zero.com/index.html
http://r.tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0101/A010103/1008930/

ほたる火 Hotarubi, Firefly's Light

Most if not all of the Ramen covered this far has been Miso. While this makes sense - Miso Ramen was invented and perfected in Sapporo - we should not discredit the other two main flavors, Soy Sauce and Salt.

Perhaps the reason that the other two are less focused on is merely because of the ambiguity of their use. Soy sauce, and especially salt ramen, can have all sorts of flavor; if anything these ingredients merely compliment the broth. In this case, the broth is the star.

After all, what does it really mean to be salt broth? That can taste like just about anything. Chicken, fish, pork, bonito, vegetable even. Depending on what else you add to the soup, the flavor can change so dramatically, it's hard to even classify all Salt ramen or Soy Sauce ramen as the same category.

By contrast, miso is a specific, complex flavor. When we eat miso, we expect at the least to taste miso as a flavor. This is not usually the case for Soy Sauce and Salt.

Except at Hotarubi. Hotarubi does Soy Sauce ramen rather differently.

Hotarubi's Soy Sauce ramen is specific in it's uniqueness for... tasting like soy sauce.

If you can't imagine soy sauce tasting like much of anything, well, this shop will change that for you.

Just off of the Hachiken 八軒 JR train stop, Hotarubi opened fairly recently to positive reviews, spinning the concept of Soy Sauce to focus on... the soy sauce.

As of today however, Hotarubi's rating currently sits at around 3.1/5. This make some sense, as this website claims their ramen is reminiscent of Junsumi style, and this is a fairly polarizing, old world style. Most Sapporo dwellers tend to enjoy less rich styles (though your palate and mine may certainly be different), and thus the rating reflects this.

But a 3.1 rating? Seems fairly low.

To be honest, I don't have much information about this store beyond that it opened just in 2006, and they specialize in rich ramen, which is the shop owner's preference. Since the ramen book I found the store in, "One Day One Noodle 2", recommended the soy sauce ramen, I figured this was the way to go.

So let's take a look.

Right off the bat, we notice the insane color. This is a dark bowl of ramen; it looks like it has been steeped in soy sauce. I thought the color was remarkable, and rather unique, though certainly not black miso unique.

The soy sauce flavor is quite potent, which is pretty impressive. This honestly tastes like... soy sauce. It's actually appealing to me at least; it has a sort of old world soup feel to it, with a concentrated, yet fairly simple flavor. However, this soy sauce focus also means it has a good amount of salt; I would be silly to suggest that this bowl of ramen isn't salty. Still, I wouldn't say it was an unbearable amount. The soup, as it seems, is certainly rich; it has a good bit of oil on the surface, which helps cut some of the powerful taste of the broth. I had no problem drinking some of the broth, though I did feel guilty at times. Toppings were good but not incredible. Noodles were thin style and well cooked and don't fall to the soup. The bowl was quite good, and leaves a rather interesting impression.

All meals come with complimentary 杏仁豆腐, Annindoufu, or Almond Tofu Pudding, which is an excellent compliment to the savory, salty, rich ramen. Sweet, milky, and a good way to end the meal.

To put it bluntly, if you love soy sauce, then this shop is for you, without exception. Soy sauce as a single component being highlighted in ramen is rare, and this may be the only shop to do it in Sapporo with any sort of prowess. Otherwise, considering its location, the appeal of this bowl doesn't climb high enough to urge anyone to go out of their way for it.


View Larger Map

ほたる火 Hotarubi, Firefly's Light
Hours:
Mon-Sat: 11:00am-3:30pm, 5:00pm-9:00pm
Sunday: 11:00am-9:00pm

Links:
http://r.tabelog.com/hokkaido/A0102/A010204/1004363/
http://kiwame16.moo.jp/page411.html