Kunimatsu

Hands down one of the best ramen I've tasted in my life. A bona fide culinary religious experience!

I had no idea what awaits when I heard of the hiroshima originated style of soupless tantanmen. Turns out the flavour was paradoxically familiar yet a unique dish in itself.

Chuka soba refers to the Chinese style noodles (within the Japanese food lexicon) and tantanmen is a Sichuan dish powered by Sichuan peppercorns typically soup-based. The flavouring here is what many would know as Mala.

This Japanese take on the Chinese dish provides an identical ingredients as far as minced meat, copious spring onions, flavourful tantan sauce drenched in chilli oil. The difference is the recipe which the minced meat was seasoned in, al dente noodles and the sauce itself. The way the sauce has interacted with the noodles once stirred to derive creaminess synergy between texture and flavour reminds me of a fantastic aglio olio. The option for even more creaminess is an egg on top of the noodles.

The service was extremely fast and noodles arrived on my table within minutes. As far as ramen goes, this is probably as good as it gets and provides serves a wide range of diners - the spicy lovers, Chinese or lovers of Mala flavour, ramen fanatics who would like to take a break from soup-based ramen for a change.

I would definitely return to order the Kunimax which is the most spicy option with loads of spring onions sprinkled on top. It doesn't get any better than this!

One of the tastiest dan dan noodles I have had in Japan thus far! There’s also a variety of sauces for you to control the spiciness and taste of the noodles.

I saw the locals ordering a bowl of rice to go with the sauce after finishing the noodles - and I recommend that too! :)

Without a doubt the best tantanmen I have had in months in Japan. Crazy good flavour and with an added onsen tamago the creaminess just gets heightened to a new level. Definitely go here!