Can I Hear an Ahh-MEN!

Breaking my monthly quota of one bowl of ramen per month, I indulged in my second bowl of ramen in two weeks (eep!) at my neighbourhood Nanahiki no Kobuta (Seven Little Pigs).

For once, I can actually understand and easily translate the name of a restaurant. I did a bit of research on the net, and it looks like in the Japanese internet world, there are of course entries on the story of the three little pigs, but also a story about the wolf and the seven mountain goats. I guess this chain of restaurants wants to make the most of all sources of protein.

"Do you mean, 'Seven Little Pigs ramen'?" my Yahoo suggested helpfully.

Why, yes! Yes I did!

The Seven Little Pigs chain of shops appears to be mostly associated with ramen. I tried their most popular dish, the Kyushu Tonkotsu ramen, which has that mysterious black oil (I'm guessing it's black sesame seed oil) on top. SO GOOD.

Their ramen dishes start at 730 yen for the "One Little Pig", which is a shoyu (soy sauce-based) ramen. They go up in little pigs, with the 980 yen price tag belonging to the "Seven Little Pigs" ramen that consists of aged char-siew pork and some secret sauce.

Compared to the previous ramen shop — Ramen Fukutoku — I wrote about, I prefer the noodles of Nanahiki. They were thinner, not as curly and had more bite. But maybe I just like Kyushu-style ramen.

I also love the almost-boiled eggs they serve. I have to figure out how they get the yolk squidgy but not runny, yet the white isn't rubbery.

Decor-wise, Nanahiki is closer to a typical ramen shop (food served from over a counter, a bit cramped), but is smokefree (maybe most ramen shops are?). Ramen Fukutoku was much classier with more personable service, but Nanahiki's ladies were perfectly friendly and polite.

Nanahiki's creepy decor aspect can be found in its use of a pig dressed as a chef, SERVING a bowl of ramen. Seems a bit... cannibalistic to me.. but then again, Japan is full of packaging that has animals serving/promoting their comrades for human consumption — and looking damn well pleased about it, too.

Still, no ramen has come close to beating my fave from when I was living down in Kawasaki.. the heart-palpitations ramen shop. I love THICK ramen soup. The kind of soup that clings to your noodles (and probably arteries).

My next mission will be to try delicious Sapporo ramen, which apparently has BUTTER in it.