Eat Like Ushi

It might sound very odd but I'm part of a ramen Facebook group. I was invited after a discussion with a mutual Bone Daddies fan. In essence the group just posts photos of ramen for voyeuristic pleasure.

I was surprised last year to find out this mutual friend thought Kanada-Ya may have surpassed Bone Daddies as his favourite. How very tempting that sounds. On the Sunday night after Sadiq Khan presented the powerful The Salesman in the cold and drizzle of Trafalgar Square, a warming bowl of broth beckoned. Luckily this popular place so near had no queue. Excellent.

The tonkotsu is good. The broth is extremely porky, like a pig had been blended. It's quite heavy and thick almost like a medium gravy. Very tasty but almost a little much. The only other real downside is the meat is served very cold which also means the broth (at the top at least) is not boiling hot.

I can see the yuzu version being a better option with the citrus balancing out the flavour. I wonder how it will compare to the other fluro green yuzu tonkotsu in my (previous) life - (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/ikkoryu-fukuoka-ramen-melbourne-12-2015).

After the meal I settled for a dessert of fried chicken. Light crisp textured batter, very tender chicken and a nice yuzu mayo. Definitely a gluttonous treat that I wouldn't opt for by myself again.

It's been a trying 2+ years since I last tasted the Bone Daddies broth. It was the most frequented food I had (other than my local curry house) before I left at the end of 2013, and in June 2016 I didn't make it in time to the soft launch of the Old Street branch to beat the queues and take advantage of the 50% special. But I found myself needing to go to Argos Old Street and that was the perfect opportunity.

Since then it's been a tumultuous ride of ramen places. My tastes have certainly evolved in this sphere. From reminiscing about my more green days when in Kyoto (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/ippudo-kyoto-02-2009), to what is probably Melbourne's best tonkotsu (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hakata-gensuke-melbourne-11-2014), to discovering the black garlic and yuzu varieties that add edge (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/ikkoryu-fukuoka-ramen-melbourne-12-2015), to realising I like a nice thick chewy noodle but that could only be found in a non-tonkotsu venue (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/mensousai-mugen-ramen-melbourne-09-2015) and then to trying Singapore's best chain and having the Japan standard of unlimited boiled eggs (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/ramen-keisuke-tonkotsu-king-singapore-06-2016). That's a lot.

I'd also tried Kanada-Ya the night before as the moderator on my Facebook ramen group (yes, I'm in one) thought it might be better than even his beloved Bone Daddies.

Old Street served my ramen in record time - it literally took 2 minutes to serve. I guess they had noodles ready to go? I'm not sure. Similar to the previous night, the meat was cold and had to be dived under to warm up. The broth was nice and on the thicker side. Noodles and meat good. I didn't ask for shichimi this time just to embrace the broth. It's less flavoured and less thick than Kanda-Ya but probably easier to eat for that.

I followed it up with the spicy pig bones which was saltier/soy and less sweet than I remember, but again drenched lovingly in sauce. One of my ribs had no meat which was a shame...

I don't think I liked the dishes as much as I remember in Soho but maybe that's reflecting my ageing preferences and can't detract that the food remains very good. It's still a favourite nonetheless.

Koyasan or Mount Koya - one of Japan holiest Buddhist areas. 

Spent overnight in a temple lodging, experienced shojin-ryori (exquisite vegetarian cuisine of the monks) & morning prayer session.

Photos are dinner then the following breakfast.

Y130 per plate

Up on the 10F of the Kyoto JR station is ramen koji - where ramen dreams come true and there's a choice of places each with their own specialty regional ramen.

It's difficult to know which one to choose and my ramen type knowledge back in 2009 wasn't all that flash. In any case each one is a pretty safe bet.

It proved to be an unexpectedly difficult task. Walking around Kyoto looking for somewhere to eat ramen. I was certain we had walked past a heap of places just before... but now couldn't find any.

Eventually I walked into a department store food area and asked a staff member. "Ippudo" she wrote down and directed us. Little did I know how much this place would develop internationally onwards after that.

Delicious (expensive) tonkotsu, gyoza, and the tiniest bun you've ever seen.

So good, went back the next day to try some other varieties.

Specialists in okonomiyaki

I'm sure the website didn't exist (at least not in English) when I was there nearly 8 years ago. However the convenience of it now is that it explains the dishes I ate much better than I can.

http://www.hiraso.jp/lang/english.html

It's refreshing to know that I ordered all the dishes they now list on the website as their specials. How progressive was I...

In case this information disappears for whatever reason, here's what is says:

Kakinoha zushi
- Kakinoha zushi is descended from the traditional sushi dish “Nare zushi”. Nare zushi is the origin of the sushi in Japan, and used rice for the fermentation process. This was the wisdom from the ancients, so as to preserve the sea products in an inland place like Nara.
- Kakinoha zushi is a treasure of sea and thoughts of people, wrapped in a persimmon leaf which has many benefits and was invented as a medication by ancient Japanese.
- Our ancestors never forget to thank the lives we are taking so we can live. Kakinohazushi contains treasure from the sea (a mackerel), the mountain (a persimmon leaf) and the land (rice). It plays the trinity harmony and remains the wisdom of ancient people. Please enjoy tasting the sense of history and remembrance of the venerable Nara.

Cha gayu
- Cha gayu is rice porridge made with rice, roasted green tea and salt.
- This is also a local cuisine which you may enjoy either hot or cold. A very simple meal but not poor, inelegant but a rich dish. I recommend you to take a time to taste it. It is a gentle meal for your health. You will feel the richness of this meal and would love to have it in everyday life. Each little piece of rice in a bowl contains rich flavours of roasted green tea and expanded with tea moist in beautiful golden brown colour.

Ayu zushi
- Another local cuisine you may like to try is Ayu zushi, this is a traditional style of sushi from ancient times in Yoshino Nara. This style of sushi is one of our specialities and we have been serving this dish to the Royal Family for years.
- Ayu zushi is a very unique style of sushi and is served with a whole cooked river fish on top of the sushi.
- We have two types of Ayu zushi, one is marinated ayu fish with sweet vinegar, which you may enjoy a freshness of the fish and refreshing vinegrated flavor, the other is baked ayu fish which is seasoned with our original soy sauce based sweet sauce.

My memories were the fish:rice ratio was quite low in the zushi. There was a strong fermented/vinegar flavour overall.

It's been a bit of a burger journey since my last stay in London. After the craze of MEATliquor and the final hurrah at Tommi's, my new favourite moved to a more gourmet and healthy Brodburger (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/brodburger-canberra-2014) which still does the world's best vegetarian burger. In Melbourne, the reasonable offerings of On It (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/on-it-burgers-melbourne-01-2016) and the better ones at 8bit (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/8bit-melbourne-12-2015) kept me going on those unhealthy occasions.

But after the first London meal being Needoo (how could I resist), the first new place I ended up in was Bleecker St. Burger. Spitalfields market has changed since 2013 with much of the trinket and wares stalls being replaced by a much more financial model in gourmet street food. On this Tuesday at 1:30pm the place was still busy with people queueing and seated randomly at tables having lunch. They've done well for themselves these financially-intelligent Spitalfieldians.

There are so many reviews on Zomato for Bleecker St. in Spitalfields that exalt it as the best burger in London and possibly the world. After this visit, it is difficult to disagree.

- Bleecker Black £10 - it's not a healthy burger. It's 2 very medium-rare patties (I did tell them I would be fine with rare, but they said the rarest they could do is medium rare) with the juices exuding into the bun as you pick it up. The seasoning is provided by the crisp black pudding. I am a sucker for black pudding and I've never had it in the burger before; genius innovation there. The cheese, bun and sauce finish the dish with its other necessary flavours and textures. The burger is automatically served sliced in half which is smart to check the meat is not overcooked and for diners to see what they are getting themselves in to;
- Angry Fries £4 - white and sweet potato fries topped with a mild hot sauce and melted blue cheese. An excellent combination reminiscent of MEATliquor's hot wings recipe (hot sauce/butter wings with Gorgonzola dip).

Damn that was good (and unhealthy). That's all I can say. I'm glad I don't live too close to here.