This is Kato Ramen in the food court on the 2nd floor of Aeon Mall Asahikawa West. Today's special is a set with a mini squid tentacle bowl and aged soy sauce ramen for 1200 yen. When it comes to Asahikawa ramen, soy sauce is the way to go! The fragrant soy sauce aroma paired perfectly with the sweet and savory sauce on the squid tentacle bowl, a local specialty of Asahikawa.

"Kato Ramen on the 2nd floor of Nishi Aeon Food Court offers a variety of ramen dishes. The recommended dish is the 'Aged Soy Sauce Ramen', but my companion ordered that, so I went with the popular 'Rich and Delicious Aged Soy Sauce Ramen'. After placing our order, we waited at our table with a buzzer. A few minutes later, the buzzer went off and I went to pick up our ramen. The difference between 'Aged Soy Sauce' and 'Rich and Delicious Aged Soy Sauce' is the addition of back fat chashu. The soup and noodles were delicious, but the chashu was a bit thin. Overall, the 'Rich and Delicious Aged Soy Sauce Ramen' was the right choice!"

I had some business to attend to at the mall, so I decided to have a quick lunch at the food court. I chose a mini squid bowl set for 1200 yen. The squid was a bit tough to eat, so I used my trusty tool to eat it neatly. Overall, it was a good meal.

I came near work and decided to have an early lunch at Aeon. I haven't had Katō Ramen in a while! The soy sauce flavor is really delicious, isn't it? Today, I'll treat myself by adding extra chashu! I've been busy lately, so I'll reward myself with this. I placed my order. The service was polite but felt a bit robotic. It was ready in no time, maybe around 3 minutes? The color of Katō Ramen's soup. It's been a while. I started with the soup. It has the Asahikawa soy sauce flavor. Not too strong, not too light. The richness is a bit subtle. The noodles were cooked just right. There's a hint of the boiling water flavor clinging to them, affecting the aroma and texture slightly. It's definitely delicious. Next, the chashu treat. Oh my. It's thin (refer to the photo). It's so thin that you can't really feel the texture. When you pick up the chashu with chopsticks, it tears apart easily. It's not because it's tender, but because it's thin. The soy sauce ramen costs 770 yen, and adding chashu costs an extra 300 yen, totaling 1070 yen! The chashu in the photo at the storefront looked thicker. Hmm. Very disappointing. I decided to splurge on a lunch over 1000 yen.

Thanks to the state of emergency, the restaurant I was planning to go to today was closed, so I ended up at the food court in Aeon. I ordered the aged soy sauce ramen from Kobo Kato and was given a buzzer for my order. I sat down and waited. After about 5 minutes, the buzzer went off. I went to the counter and found my ramen on a tray. It looked like a typical Asahikawa ramen. The soup was slightly cloudy and had a mellow soy sauce flavor. It wasn't too strong. The salt-free menma was soft, the pork shoulder chashu was tender and well-seasoned, and the low-water, medium-thin curly noodles were cooked to a soft texture. If you prefer firmer noodles, you might find it lacking. It's great to be able to eat ramen of this quality at a food court.

This is the food court at Asahikawa Nishi Aeon. It's been really hot lately, so I haven't had ramen in a while. I thought the air conditioning would be good in Aeon, so I decided to visit. Plus, since it's "Kobo Kato Ramen," I feel like I know the taste pretty well from eating at the Kagura branch. I was hungry, so I was thinking of getting a set. There was a set with squid rice bowl, fried chicken rice bowl, or curry, but I also like curry so I chose that. And the set was only 1,150 yen, which isn't bad in terms of cost performance, right? But I really wanted to eat curry, so I went for the "Curry + Small Ramen Set" (1,150 yen). For the small ramen, you could choose between aged soy sauce or salt, so I chose aged soy sauce. I ordered and waited at my seat for the buzzer to ring. It rang in about 5-6 minutes. Unlike the other sets where the rice dish is small and the ramen is regular size, the curry was regular size and the ramen was small. The curry was okay, but it only had a few thin slices of meat and lacked spiciness, except for the delicious flavored egg. As for the small ramen (aged soy sauce), the soup had a murky tonkotsu flavor, the noodles were medium-thin and low in water content. The chashu was a large but thin slice of pork shoulder, probably soaked and lightly seasoned, and the flavored bamboo shoots were typical of Kobo Kato Ramen. I might have been more satisfied if the ramen was the main dish and the curry was the mini portion.

It's convenient, you know, having a big Aeon nearby. I really go there quite often. And then, I can also have a meal while I'm at it. The ramen shop "Kobo Kato Ramen Aeon Mall Asahikawa Nishi Store" is located in Asahikawa City, Midoricho 23-chome, Aeon Mall Asahikawa Nishi 2F Food Court. Map here: https://goo.gl/maps/WHhnktnHVY1XaerV7. Open from 11:00 to 21:00, closed on holidays. Parking available. [Please contact the store for the current opening hours, closures, takeout availability, etc.] The official Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/asahikawa.kobo.kato/ (not updated for about 2 years). It seems like there are fewer customers at Aeon Nishi now, maybe due to the coronavirus situation. Even on weekends, the parking lot doesn't seem as crowded as before. Well, there are still plenty of customers coming in though. I was in the mood for ramen, so I was torn between Linghut and Osho, but I decided to go to this classic ramen shop. At the Aeon Nishi food court, KFC and McDonald's have the same service as the stores outside the food court, but the other stores... well, it's okay. Let's eat! Since it's a classic, I went with my classic choice, miso ramen! I think I had ginger ramen before? Rich and delicious miso ramen for 990 yen, regular rice for 270 yen. Wow, the rice is so expensive (゜Д゜). The soup is quite flavorful with a strong richness. The sweet and spicy taste is to my liking. However, I wish the soup was a bit hotter. I want to slurp it while it's steaming. The noodles didn't have much chewiness. It felt like a stretched texture. The taste of the soup is quite good for a food court. However, the prices are much higher than what you would expect from a food court. If there are changes in the soup temperature, noodle chewiness, service, and prices (especially for rice), I might go back again. [Tabelog]

I tried Kato Ramen at the food court in Nishi Aeon for the first time. I often come here because I visit the dentist at Nishi Aeon. This time, I was in the mood for ramen, so I decided to try it out. It's weirdly popular among women. I ordered the slightly spicy miso ramen. I don't know why, but when it's said to be popular among women, it feels a bit awkward for a guy to order it (lol). Oh well, whatever. I didn't have to wait long before my order was ready. The soup was good, but I wasn't a fan of the noodles. But I do crave it occasionally (lol). Thanks for the meal! ( ・∇・)

On my day off, I had "Aged soy sauce ramen for 720 yen & flavored egg for 100 yen" for dinner. It was on my way back from a day trip to Sapporo. It was 18:40. Everyone in my family had different levels of hunger. When you're in this situation, the best dinner option is a food court. If you don't have ramen here, you won't have a chance to taste the local flavors. Without hesitation, I headed straight here! The AEON Asahikawa Nishi store is crowded every day. The staff also seemed a bit tired. Maybe that's why... The soup was not too hot, just lukewarm. The noodles were quite soft. I was already exhausted from driving. The chashu and flavored egg satisfied me (tears of joy).

I came to Asahikawa for work in a truck and stopped by Aeon where I didn't have trouble parking. I was in the mood for ramen, so I chose this set. The noodles were thin and straight, and the soup had a strong bonito flavor. The chashu was soft and delicious.

The noodles are delicious, with a rating of 3.3. I often go to the food court at Ion.

First time trying Kato Ramen's chashu and it was thinly sliced.

Soy sauce ramen is recommended, but today I had miso ramen. The straight noodles were firm and crunchy bean sprouts paired well with them. The soup was rich and sweet, a traditional Hokkaido miso ramen flavor. I'd like to try the recommended soy sauce ramen next time.

My child had the children's soy sauce ramen for ¥560. They tried the soup and said it was a bit salty from the soy sauce but delicious because it was rich. They enjoyed it, so I'm happy.