Men-ya Gokkei

We showed up around 2pm, there was no line.
Nothing is in English but the ramen was delicious! You order from a vending machine and obtain tickets to give to the server. We added extra meat to all our bowls and man, we were over stuffed! The portions are large.
This ramen joint serves a very thick broth, it's like a thick sauce. It's a unique flavor.

Unique ramen experience! This is not your usual Japanese ramen — the soup is thicker and richer in taste. It can get crowded at night, be ready to line up for some time. But it’s worth the wait.

Menya Gokkei is one of a dozen or more popular ramen restaurants in the small Ichijoji Area of north Kyoto. Gokkei is often said to have the thickest こってり broth perhaps of all Kyoto. No shocker, there was a long 40-minute wait at dinner time. They have a few variants, but I stuck with their famous Toridaku Ramen for 800￥ with the larger size for 100￥ and egg for 100￥ more.

Holy mother of soups, this definitely was the heaviest and thickest broth I have ever had. The guy next to me laughed and said, "It's like pasta sauce," and he was spot on. The "sauce" was deep and had a rich chicken taste, but surprisingly not the richest taste I've had. The noodles were a bit hard, but broke down nicely in the broth since you can't eat it as quickly as other ramen. The chashu and egg were also quite nice.

But thicker does not mean better. There are times when extreme might be too extreme, even for me. While it may not be up my alley, it was a great ramen with the exception of the lack of free parking and the high prices of paid lots. Definitely check out their "pasta sauce" ramen.