haruoya
Fukuchiyama is located in the old Sanwa-cho area. Head south from the Sanwa branch office at the Senzoku intersection. After a while, you will see a sign for "Oshokujidokoro Yukiya" and a lunch banner on your right hand side. The parking lot is around the shop, but the number of spaces available depends on how you park as there are no dividers. When you enter the shop, you will see an L-shaped counter with 11 seats, but 2 seats are being used as storage, so there are actually 9 seats available. There is a door on the left side, so there may be a private room. This time, when I entered the shop, everyone was smoking. Last time, no one was smoking, and there were no ashtrays, so I thought it was a non-smoking shop, but when I looked in front, I saw a sticker saying "Smoking allowed" on the refrigerator. I didn't notice... However, with a small population and being located off the main road, the shop needs to be welcoming to all kinds of people to stay in business. So, I guess it can't be helped that smoking is allowed. Looking at the menu at my seat, there were standard set meals such as sashimi, mixed fry, tonkatsu, and karaage. There were also curry, rice bowls, and noodles, making it easy to use for everyday meals. Last time, I was looking for the Botan ramen, but it wasn't available due to the season, so I had karaage, but this time I revisited to try the Botan ramen. I promptly ordered the Nabe-yaki Botan ramen. After about 5 minutes, the dish arrived. Wow! The Nabe-yaki Botan ramen was served in a large pot, filled to the brim. It was boiling hot. Not only the broth, but also lots of vegetables and ingredients were included. The soup was a dark red miso, but when I took a sip, it was quite mild in taste. When I pulled up the noodles, they were medium-thin, curly noodles. The noodles were short and easy to eat. The main wild boar meat was about 1-2mm thick and there were 4 slices. When I tried it in the middle, it was a bit firm. However, when I let it soak in the pot and had it at the end, the fat softened and I could taste the sweetness. The vegetables included Chinese cabbage, leeks, enoki mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, garlic chives, etc., so it was really packed with vegetables! It's very appreciated for vegetable lovers. If I had ordered rice and enjoyed the vegetables, meat, and soup, it would have been great, but my condition wasn't great, so I reluctantly gave up. I enjoyed the piping hot pot of ramen with gusto. The total cost was 910 yen including tax. As someone who is not in the best health, I may not visit a smoking-allowed shop again. However, seeing the elderly couple, with the master occasionally looking tired while cooking, their hard work in running the business is touching. (Is that too dramatic?) Please continue to work hard! Thank you for the meal.