Asahikawa life is coming to an end and I'm busy with various things, so I haven't had much ramen lately. I finished organizing my things in the morning and decided to order from this shop today. The only flavor available is the Shoyu Ramen. I was curious, so I also ordered the Torikawa Meshi. There is an ashtray, but no one is smoking. It took about 15 minutes for the dishes to arrive, even though the shop wasn't very crowded. The soup is slightly cloudy, but it doesn't seem to be a double soup, and I can't taste the pork bone. The Shoyu flavor is too strong for my liking. The menma is seasoned, and the chashu is made from chicken thigh, with a strong seasoning and good texture. The noodles are low hydration and thin, with a strong curly texture. The soup doesn't cling well to the noodles. The Torikawa Meshi is coated with potato starch and topped with sautéed onions in a sweet and savory sauce, giving it a nice roasted onion flavor. This dish is also heavily seasoned.

Tempura soba. On cold days, I always find myself coming to this soba restaurant. The warm soba with flavorful broth is the best. This time, I tried the tempura soba. They also have ramen, but I haven't tried it yet. I would like to try it someday. Thank you for the meal.

Medenri Ichijo Shop. It's getting cold, isn't it? On this day, I was really craving something warm - should I have ramen or soba? After some thought, I decided on soba! And I was in the mood for the unusual choice of Gomoku soba, so I ordered that. It had naruto, bamboo shoots, fu (wheat gluten), quail, fish cake, and tempura bits. The warm broth here is just to my liking. It was so comforting. I have a feeling I'll be coming here often in the coming season! It was delicious. Thank you for the meal.

I arrived in the early afternoon. Each table was full, so this place must be popular. I like warm soba in the winter, but I prefer tanuki soba in the summer. This time, I chose cold tanuki soba. The thin noodles were delicious. It was chilled, but they included a piece of pumpkin tempura as a service. So happy! And on the way out, they gave me free tenkasu. So grateful. Thank you for the meal!

It feels like it's been a while since I visited! It's a little before 2 PM, and this restaurant is open all day, so you can have lunch here without worrying about the time! At this time, there were no other customers when I arrived, but two solo customers who looked like office workers came in later. It's great to have a restaurant that is open all day, especially when you're busy and lunchtime gets pushed back. Since it was a hot day, I decided to go for cold soba! I ordered the "Tororo Soba" (750 yen, tax included) and a popular side dish here that I enjoyed before, the "Torikawa Meshi" (300 yen). The food was served in about 10 minutes. The tororo (grated yam) and egg are perfect for the hot season! The serving of dipping sauce in the tokkuri (flask) was generous. It's easy to eat the soba by dipping it in the sauce, but they also provided a soba cup. I think the cup is for the soba broth. After pouring the sauce over the soba, I enjoyed the remaining tororo, egg, and soba in the bowl for a refreshing texture. The fine moretsu soba had a good flavor and was easy to eat. The sauce was slightly sweet, maybe? And then, mixing the tororo, egg, and soba in the bowl for a cold texture was enjoyable (laughs). I'm happy that it came with a pumpkin tempura on the side! The "Torikawa Meshi" that I enjoyed before was delicious. It's a must-try dish. The fried torikawa (chicken skin) is coated with a slightly sweet soy sauce-based sauce. It's topped with white sesame seeds and onions. This dish is really delicious! The rice soaked in the sauce is tasty, but when you eat the fried torikawa, you'll crave for a beer (laughs). Of course, it's a weekday afternoon, so I can't have beer. Alright, I'll visit on my day off and order a beer next time!!

The menu items that caught my attention at the soba restaurant were the Nabeyaki Soba and Curry Soba. Some places also have Curry Nanban Soba, but what's the difference? Is Nanban related to leeks? The Curry Soba I ordered had a strong curry powder aroma coming from the kitchen. It seemed like they made it fresh each time. It arrived in about 10 minutes. The soba had plenty of onions instead of leeks, giving it a sweet flavor that I liked. It seemed similar to curry udon, with the onions and chicken cooked in the broth with curry powder and thickened with starch. The soba was thin and had a good chewy texture. The flavor and thickness were just right. It was piping hot and delicious. The staff were very friendly as well. Overall, it was a great meal.

I revisited a restaurant that I had visited before in October and November of 2018. This time, I tried the "torikawameshi" that caught my attention last time. It is a dish where chicken skin is lightly fried and coated in a sweet and salty soy sauce. It was surprisingly delicious. I also noticed their ramen last time and decided to try it this time. The "shoyu ramen" was priced at 700 yen. It is said that ramen at soba shops can be surprisingly good. This ramen had a light color and looked like a salt-based soup at first glance. The pork broth was rich, and the lard was used skillfully, creating a flavorful soup. The toppings included Asahikawa-style chicken chashu, well-seasoned menma, and green onions, keeping it simple. The straight noodles with low water content complemented the dish well. It was a delicious bowl of ramen. I have a newfound appreciation for this place. According to my friends in Asahikawa, their parents and relatives always eat this ramen when they visit the Asahikawa Red Cross Hospital. Ramen at a soba shop is definitely not to be underestimated.

I went to Akakura Hospital and on the way back, it was almost lunchtime and I was hungry. I noticed a soba restaurant around here that I had been curious about. There was only one group of customers ahead of me. I ordered mori soba and torikawameshi. The dishes arrived shortly after. First, the soba. It was morekawa, so the flavor was light with a hint of sweetness. It was delicious, but it was too watery. The second half of the soba was soaked in water. Too bad. The torikawameshi was... very flavorful. It made my jaw tired from eating (laughs), but it was delicious. I was full just from that. I probably won't come back again.

I am happy that I can have tempura on my way home.

I wonder what it is, haha.

This series is a long-awaited post. Due to a job change, my workplace has become farther away, so I decided to finish it up until a good stopping point. I left work at 3:30 pm. I was a bit worried because it seemed like Saturdays were irregular days off, but it turned out to be fine. I love soba noodles, so I usually go for the more elaborate options, but I found a delicious rice dish this time and ordered it. After the couples left, I was the only one left in the restaurant. The soba noodles arrived first, maybe it was a Somen-style? Smooth and chewy, perfect for summer. The condiments and dipping sauce were gentle on my stomach after work. After finishing the noodles, I ordered Torikawa Meshi, thinking it was a mixed rice dish, but it turned out to be deep-fried chicken skin tossed in sauce. "!" What is this deliciousness?! I was completely surprised by the dish, which I had thought would be just a small side dish. This must be the conscience of a long-established restaurant. As I looked up, I saw a certificate of commendation from the predecessor born in the Taisho era hanging on the wall, and I could feel the depth of the restaurant. The owner opened the door for me as I left. It was delicious, thank you.

In front of Hokkaido Red Cross Hospital, there is a typical "town soba shop" facing Ichijo Street. The second generation of "Bito" is said to be running this place. The "Mori" soba costs 550 yen and is the thinnest and whitest "Sarashina" among the "Bito" varieties. The noodles are hand-stretched and machine-cut. The water draining may be a bit weak here. Unlike other shops, the noodles are served on a plate with a sieve underneath. Two small cups are provided, one for dipping sauce and one empty. The dipping sauce is slightly sweet and mild, probably made with kombu. The soba is best enjoyed soaked in the sauce. The toppings include coarse green onions and powdered wasabi. Besides soba, the menu also offers soy sauce ramen, cold buckwheat noodles, cold somen, and chicken rice. Only beer is available for drinks. This soba shop offers a unique twist on the traditional "Bito" style, with its own special menu items. Each shop in the "Bito" lineage seems to have its own unique touches even after branching out.

After my mother's surgery was over and I felt relieved, suddenly I got hungry because I realized I hadn't eaten anything since morning. So, I went to a soba restaurant diagonally across from the hospital, called Bito-ri Ichijo-ten. This place has been around for a long time, right? I feel like it was already there when I was a child! I actually wanted to eat cold soba and a small katsudon, but they were not on the menu. So, I ended up ordering the tempura soba (without seaweed). The soba noodles were quite thin, resembling more of a Sosaku-style soba. Strangely, they served it in a bowl instead of a soba cup! The portion was quite generous. It seems that Bito-ri restaurants can vary quite a bit! I can't remember the last time I had soba at a Bito-ri restaurant. And for some reason, the bill came out to be 1,150 yen, even though the menu said 1,200 yen!

The soba here is firm and freshly boiled. The mori soba is thin and I think it's the most delicious in Asahikawa. Around noon, nearby office workers flock to the restaurant and smoke cigarettes all at once, so the atmosphere is not very pleasant. I usually go after 2 pm when I feel a little hungry. Here's a heartwarming story about this restaurant. One day, while eating soba here, a staff member received a phone call for a delivery order. It seemed to be from an elderly person living alone who had accumulated several unpaid orders. The staff member asked the owner what to do. The owner instructed to deliver the order this time, as the elderly person mentioned they needed to go to the bank because they were out of money. It felt like a story from the past, or perhaps a symbol of today's elderly living alone.