拉麵食記2020：拉博、燈花、Due Italian

去日本寫拉麵食評已成我的指定動作。

下筆之時距離我真正吃拉麵的時候已相隔一個月，但值得慶幸的是這次的拉麵水準都很高，不少在入口之時都為我帶來了衝擊性的口感，所以我才得以將我舌尖上的記憶寫出來。

這次我挑空去了一遍橫濱的拉麵博物館。七家拉麵都相當吸引，但我的胃容量只夠我吃其中三家。其中的沖繩麵比較令人失望，但德國和加拿大拉麵都做得不錯，我對這兩家拉麵的感想會在下面詳述。此外我也試了燈花和老面孔Due Italian，每一家都是值得一試再試的拉麵。希望各位看過以後有空也能試一下 :)

無垢拉麵

我要在拉麵博物館裡先試一家的話肯定是無垢拉麵。不單是小泉同學的宣傳威力，它用豬手、酸菜等fusion風格聽上去就很有趣。當天它們只剩下最一般的叉燒拉麵，不過我們還是去點了一碗迷你版試試。

以豬骨湯及雞湯混合的湯頭非常幼滑細膩，下層的昆布醬油則帶來了更豐富的口感。粗麵軟硬適中，帶泡沫的湯汁自然地掛在麵上吃上去非常順口。灸燒過的叉燒沒有太多特別之處，但蔬菜配搭則比較驚艷：青蔥、蔥白和豆苗等帶來的清爽口感讓人一口氣把配料清完。雖然因為要留力而沒有喝光湯底，但不得不承認這是一碗十分有趣的非典型拉麵。

評分：7/10

Ryu's noodle bar

從無垢拉麵走出來，旁邊的Ryu's noodle bar裡面只坐了一個橫濱風小混混(？)(看DRB太多了)，外面也沒有人在排隊。不過既然是雞白就值得我們進去試一下。

我點了西京風味噌雞白迷你拉麵……結果遞上來的根本是full size拉麵，只能說真不愧是加拿大。以小火熬出的雞白非常柔和，味噌則以甜味噌、白味噌為主，與一般的咸味噌拉麵不同以外亦與雞白非常合襯。整碗拉麵的配料是為了讓食客最大程度感受到湯底的甜味：薄切豬肉均勻地分散在湯底裡，雪耳則吸滿了味噌湯底的甜味。拉麵上撒了幾粒乾辣椒，雖然沒有為湯汁帶來甚麼辣感，但直接吃乾辣椒放進口中也是夠嗆－－乾辣椒帶來辣感的同時也將口中的甜膩感橫掃一空，讓人有要再來一碗的感覺。

在雞白和味噌這個王道配搭開僻出新的道路，甜味與加拿大楓糖醬互相輝映，這碗拉麵絕對有資格成為外國風拉麵的佼佼者。

評分：8/10

鯛塩そば灯花

不知為何我總有一種香港有燈花分店的感覺，不過反正都到日本了那試一下也無妨。心裡假設了燈花是高檔拉麵，實際發現它在food court裡面時難免有種無謂的失望。當然食物好不好吃才是重點，金子半之助不也開了在燈花的旁邊嗎？高檔餐廳開在food court反而更好：附近選擇夠多的話大家反而不一定集中排同一家，這樣我們才有機會嚐到這些「高檔拉麵」。

800圓的清湯鯛鹽拉麵質素遠超我的想象。清澈的湯底可以嚐出鯛魚的鮮味，隱晦的魚湯唯有鹽味才有辦法配合。正因為湯底極淡，每一種配料的味道都清晰的呈現了出來。半肥瘦的叉燒沒有太多醃製但單純的油脂味與湯底相當配合；超長的新鮮竹荀除了口感一流外亦為清湯增添鮮味；柚子配鹽味湯底算常見組合，雖然偏苦但配上清湯反而效果不錯；糖心蛋偏熟是唯一扣分的地方。平時很少將湯喝完的我居然也把湯喝光了，足見鯛鹽湯底之清。

評分：8/10

Due Italian

已經是第幾次來了呢。

即使是米芝蓮推介、即使在海外有分店，座落在市ヶ谷的本店其實很少多人到要排隊。因為是學區的關係，晚上一般人都比較少，可以在西餐般的休閒環境裡享受米芝蓮拉麵實在是一種奢侈的享受。

這個假期我一共去了兩次Due Italian。

第一次為了趕上last order我胡亂點了限定的香菜拉麵(？)，對於日本人來說略為新奇，不過對東南亞人來說就比較常見。這香菜拉麵其實就是酸辣湯底配上大量香菜、菠菜和炸蒜的台(？)風拉麵。肥叉燒當然是這種重口味拉麵的絕佳配搭，酸和辣的平衡讓人忍不住一口接一口地直接整碗清掉。我覺得這種酸辣湯底是做得挺成功的，就是不清楚日本人能否接受。

另外得不提的是旁邊的叉燒飯做得非常棒。大塊的灸燒叉燒下還舖了一層碎叉燒，讓食客每一口米飯都沾上充足的叉燒油。加上我這次點的是重口味拉麵，飯後來這樣一個叉燒比起正常的黃金鹽拉麵+米飯組合感覺又更上了一層樓……

評分：7/10

第二次帶朋友去，我選的是正月限定肥肝味噌拉麵。價錢讓人嚇一跳，不過既然是Due Italian那試一下也無妨。

結果當然是令人滿意啦。

味噌與Ryu's不同，為了配合黃金鹽這邊用的是偏重香氣的味噌，濃厚之餘亦不會蓋過湯頭的味道，給我一種餐前湯的感覺。白色的一塊我看上去還以為是白蘿蔔，一咬下去才知道是山藥－－少許的湯汁隨滑溜的山藥泥快速擴散到整個口腔裡，那種味覺上的衝擊幾乎讓我有爆衣的錯覺。

不知為何，看著這拉麵我有種將一碗拉麵分成幾種course去品味的想法。先是試湯，然後前菜山藥，之後當然是主菜肥肝了。我小心夾出一小塊肝放在山藥上，再加上荀絲和豆苗配上湯汁送進口中。如果說剛才我有爆衣幻覺的話，此刻我能十分肯定地說這是可以使人爆衣的極品。肥肝入口即化，它的味道彷彿本來就是凝固了的湯汁一樣，進了口就只剩湯汁－－帶有肥肝香氣的味噌拉麵湯底；反過來說湯汁本來就吸收了肥肝的香氣，兩者相輔相成將所有配料連結起來化為一道極品。

麵條此時已經不重要了。不是說麵條難吃(其實都是同一款純小麥麵)，但這個湯和配料將所有的光芒奪去，麵條此時更像西餐收尾的炭水化合物而已。作為配菜的叉燒「壽司」也不是不好吃，純粹也是拉麵太出色，而這種serve叉燒飯的方法沒叉燒碗飯來得好而已。

我應該叫甜品的。唉。

評分：9/10

*

我有想過將我吃過的其他美食也寫一下，不過我實在沒法將一個月前吃過更為複雜的美味將憶述出來。最好的例子是燒肉壽司．別邸。這件牛肉入口即化、那件也是入口即化，那我是要怎樣寫？嘛，我姑且貼幾張照片代替食評好了。

拉麵日誌2019： 粋な一生、銀座 篝、Due Italian、鶏そば十番156

在那個再次相遇的晚上後的一星期，東京，銀座。

「你是小泉嗎！才下午三點你已經吃第三碗了吧！」本來漫步在中央通的她好像突然想起了甚麼一般，緊緊地拽著我在六丁目拐了個彎向日比谷方面走去。

「嘛～再晚一點大概就要排隊了，冬天晚上在街上排隊可不好受呢。」今天的她依舊可愛。活潑風的黑色外衣下是條紋上衣配百褶短裙，毛袖下小手傳來的溫度告訴我女生才不會因為穿著配搭而冷病的問題。

她來到一座看來整座都是餐廳的大樓前，再三確認地址後卻皺眉道：「奇怪……銀座6-4-12是這裡沒錯啊。為何只有一樓沒有餐廳……」

她開始在四番地繞圈圈：很像和風料理的酒吧、分店無數的燒肉、外表很土但貼著新潮沾麵海報的麵屋……繞了兩圈還是找不到目標的她腳步倒是變得更急了。「6-4-12、6-4-12、6-4-12……」居然開始碎碎唸起來了呢。

就在她快要冒出星星眼前，剛好一群人從工地旁邊的小巷裡鑽出來。一群西方游客一邊穿上外套一邊討論剛才的拉麵。是外國沒有的「chicken based broth」。

該不會……？

我拿出地圖一看，果然銀座 篝就在這大樓背後的一條小巷裡。地圖上顯示的是兩邊建築物之間的空隙，不仔細放大看的話根本不會發現這小巷。

剛把小巷指出來我就被她拉了進去。穿過在日本難得一見的滴水冷氣機小巷，裡面雖然沒有像桃花源記那樣豁然開朗，但篝與旁邊同樣是頂級拉麵的風見一同傳出的雞湯香氣卻肯定地告訴我們，我們找對地方了。

當然在寒風再排三十分鐘才能進去又是另一回事了。

註：6-4-12是tabelog說的。誰去糾正一下他們應為6-4-15啊……

*

看過拉麵小泉都知道，日本的拉麵不像港式雲吞麵或者牛腩麵那樣湯底以固定配方為尊。地域上環境選材的不同，加上高成本高競爭逼使他們用盡一切方法將拉麵變成有利可圖的生意。對經營者來說最大的問題是，拉麵不但成本偏高，身為平民食物售價也是有上限的。那種在料理東西軍金雕玉砌的拉麵大概只能拿去3000起跳的高級餐廳做，一般的拉麵店根本沒法處理超高級食材跟極為耗時的繁鎖步驟。一般的拉麵大概賣800到比較高級的1200一碗，再高則難以吸引一般的上班族，然後拉麵就變成了一道優化題目。

單論食物本身，配料成本穩定；自家製麵不是人人都能負擔，這樣只能選外面的成品；叉燒再怎樣煮還是叉燒，吃了還是不會爆衣；溏心蛋大家都會做，裡面滲入再多的香氣也好，終究不是大家來吃麵的主因。這樣數一數，可以打造與別不同的拉麵關鍵就只能是湯底了。在這種背景下由湯底牽著拉麵進化是非常自然的事。

既然是湯底，一碗拉麵當然是以湯汁為基底。麵的成分粗幼、掛湯汁的能力、配料一切皆以湯底為中心去考量。這樣的話湯底說是一碗麵的靈魂也不為過。對於店家來說，在有限的成本限制和人力限制下造出備受認可的湯頭可以說是成功經營的第一步－－至少實作上的確如此。即將邁入二十週年的拯救貧窮大作戰裡，拉麵店的存活率硬是比其他店家高出一大截。只要保持清潔，加上一個達人掛保證的成功湯底配方，要長久經營根本不是問題。

當然對食客來說，面前端上來的食物才是一切。對他們來說，理解湯底則是理解拉麵的第一步。好吃或是難吃都從湯頭開始。比較可惜的是，對我來說加深對拉麵的理解有個副作用。

那就是在外國對不合格拉麵的厭惡值又上升了。

甚至不一定要外國，日本本土的專為外國人打造的拉麵基本上也是難以入口。啊比如京都的炎◯拉麵實在是……在雜誌上廣告吸引遊客然後給他們吃外國風拉麵讓他們覺得這是日本的拉麵，這樣不會有點丟人嗎？

值得慶幸的是以日本之大，好拉麵實在太多。網上能找到的人氣店好吃的比遠比找到垃圾湯底的機會大多了。以下就來談幾家我最近這訪過印象比較深刻的拉麵吧－－在我對兩個月前的味覺記憶還沒消失以前。

Ramen, ramen, ramen

An essential part in any trip to Japan. Such a unique class of cuisine that is spread universally, with various form developed in different places, yet delivered by the same type of people -- the professionals who carries the spirit over generations.

My love to noodles does not restrict to ramen. Italian (pasta), Chinese (egg noodles, `river' noodles, vermicelli,... and a lot more), Japanese (udon and soba) -- are all my favourites. You expect different textures and hence different combination of ingredients to go with different kinds of noodles. For example the best way to enjoy Cantonese wonton noodle has to be fine egg noodles with wonton in a clear shrimp based soup, and when it comes to ramen I prefer a rather thick soup acting as a bridge to mix everything together.

During my trip I tried lots of different ramen, but here are six that impressed me, emphasizing two uncommon classes of ramen outside of Japan, chicken soup based ramen and dipping ramen.

[My out of 10 rating system - 6 = adequate 7 = good 8 = excellent]

*

道玄家 蒲田東店 (Dougenya)
東京都 大田区 蒲田 5-28-4
Tabelog: 3.03/5
My rating: 6.5/10

Close to the Keikyu station, Kamata is not a bad place to find some quick food especially in the night time. They are more well known for their chicken ramen which is less common in the foreign world, so I gave it a try.

Chicken soup for ramen does not taste like western broth - instead it is more like the pure taste of chicken - and when it becomes very thick it works well with other strong companions like chopped spring onion and raw onion. The protein - chicken thigh, chicken breast and meatball delivered properly. I like their use of fine noodles as they trap more soup when you take them out; eventually you finished and didn't find much soup left, then you know that must be heck of a thick soup. My only complaint is the quality of the noodle itself - the texture is slightly too soft to match other ingredients [onions and chicken pieces].

(As a said note...their shio-tonkotsu ramen is quite bad...I would rather recommend their strength only.)

*

麺屋 武一 秋葉原店 (Menyatakeichi)
東京都 千代田区 外神田 3-13-5
Tabelog: 3.56/5
My rating: 7.5/10

It's very hard for me to describe how good this is...an evolved version of Dougenya's one. Softer treatment on chicken breast, nice bamboo shoot and soft boiled egg with flavors well penetrated, better noodles...there is a reason for this restaurant to become popular among all the others in the center of Akihabara.

*

天下一品 蒲田店 (Tenkaippin)
東京都 大田区 西蒲田 7-5-13
Tabelog rating: 3.08/5
My rating: 6/10

One of the leading chain stores when it comes to thick soup as well as Kansai ramen. I was strongly encouraged to try this, so why not?

What makes things even more interesting is that the soup is chicken based instead of pork of cow...but you can quite clearly differentiate Tenkaippin's soup from the previous two due to the bulk use of vegetables. The soup looks thick as sludge, and taste thick as sludge...but everything just work, even the sandiness in the soup adds another layer to the overall texture.

You may occasionally find rice as an extra option to go with dipping noodles - that you can dump the rice into the thick soup and enjoy every bit of the meal. You can do the same here, and in fact this is a popular option here. Unlike dipping soup that could be too salty even with rice, the chicken based soup here is very close to our usual leftover juice that you liked to pour over rice...just a much delicious one.

Undoubtedly they have some very solid ramen...but the rest are less satisfying. The barbecued pork is rather dry, the gyoza is kind of bland and the fried chicken...somehow reminded me "America's worst fried chicken of the night" from Masterchef, if you know what I mean.

*

頑者ネクスト レベル アクアシティお台場店 (頑者 NEXTLEVEL)
東京都 港区 台場 1-7-1 アクアシティお台場(Aqua City) 5F
Tabelog rating: 3.06/5
My rating: 6.5/10

Ramen themed food court in shopping mall, Daiba. Well I do have expectations when it comes to dipping noodles but once again I shouldn't have too much expectation over restaurants in malls from a tourist spot.

The motivation for separating soup and noodles is to preserve noodle's texture. But by doing such it will be very hard to keep the soup warm because cold noodles will draw the heat away quickly. This is sometimes compensated by allowing customers to re-heat the soup or adding new boiling soup into the bowl, but they do not seem to be popular solutions in Japan.

At first I thought the noodles here are relatively expensive (about 200 yen higher) because it's inside a mall, but it turns out to be a feast - you will find 3 pieces of pork in this 1100 yen set (2 of them in the soup), each giving a different flavor. The prawn and pork based soup is rather salty, but matches with the well-known thick noodle.

Everything is so good -- you even got the exclusive view of Tokyo Bay from here, but the cold soup could ruin the day. I just do not like the design of the bowl because it gets cold even faster. Or maybe it's only my fault as I failed to communicate with the waiter properly...

*

東京駅 斑鳩 (Ikaruga)
東京都 千代田区 丸の内 1-9-1 東京駅一番街 B1F (Ramen street, "First Avenue" Tokyo Station)
Tabelog rating: 3.58/10
My rating: 7/10

You know that has to be a great one when the tabelog rating is 0.5 higher than the rest...and it is indeed a good one. When I am standing in front of the vending machine a waiter came and unchecked the "sold out" signal for dipping ramen - so I knew I had to go for it.

It was my first time having spicy ramen soup. Never a big fan of any kind of spiciness, but I have to say that it worked well with the fish and pork based soup. Very tender and flavorful pork, good noodles and egg...but again the soup got cold before I could finish all noodles at my greatest pace.

As a rather classy restaurant they did a great deco job and I enjoyed eating there a lot. My only complain was the cloth covering spoons...that failed to match with the rest of the restaurant.

*

はやし (Hayashi)
東京都 渋谷区 道玄坂 1-14-9 ソシアル道玄坂
Tabelog rating: 3.61/10
My rating: 8.5/10

If you have never tried ramen before, take this as your origin.
Then you will fall in love with ramen.

Menu with ultimate simplicity: ramen, ramen with egg and ramen with roasted pork, but they executed every part to perfection: noodles with right thickness and chewiness, fish and clam based soup not boiling but at the right temperature for you to enjoy immediately once served, nicely layered pork slice... The instant reaction from both my friend and me as a first time visitor -- "now I know why people are queuing for this". It's very hard to describe in words but it has to be one of the best ramen restaurant in Shibuya.

*

I really should have written this before the taste fled from my memory...or instead I should have learned to describe good food and not just criticizing.

A few cafes in Taiwan

The blog serves more than just mathematics or academic things, so let's talk about food this time.

I went to Taiwan a month ago to meet my friends (from osu! and more), joined FF27, read books,...and of course ate a lot. Without doubt the night markets and old rusty little stalls in the dark corner both yield delicious traditional food, but I also tried lots of western-styled cafe - most of them are giving great surprises. Here allow me to introduce 3 of them:

1. Caldo cafe [台北市復興南路1段107巷5弄2號]

Earl grey, such elegant tea never combines with pastry easily: you want its aroma but not much of its colour, you want its smoothness but you've lost its liquidity --- earl grey cake is quite tricky already, then of course a successful earl grey souffle deserved to be a masterpiece.

Pictured above is an earl grey souffle with grapefruit sorbet and sea salt caramel (on the right it's a cup of fruity Columbia coffee). A well thought combination and the relaxing smell of bergamot spreads throughout the cake, and it spreads evenly and smoothly in your mouth with the assistance of heat from the freshly baked souffle.

I ordered a cinnamon apple pie as well --- not the apple pie in traditional sense, but they use multiple layer of cinnamon crusts with layers of apple on the top and finished with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The cinnamon mix works really well, but the crust quickly changes its texture from crispy to soft chewy due to the moisture of the ice cream, and both aren't really something that you would fully enjoy, That's why I would recommend the souffle more -- 7 flavors available and once per day, you will always find something you like the most there.

Cost: 350 ~ 400 NTW for souffle + a cup of drink

2. Leslie [復興南路二段160巷11號1樓] (oh this is actually on the ground floor)

Absolute quality. It's hard to find sweets like that at a medium-high price or even in some of the top quality restaurants. Here they specializes in French styled pastry and light food. My first impression is the very warm decoration, and you can feel that from the behavior of customers: a comfortable place for comfort food.

As shown above they serve different tarts, many of which are limited edition. I tried a lemon tart, and failed to overcome the desire to have a try before taking a photo. Silky smooth custard but never too heavy as the zesty lemon flavor immediately comes in taking care of your mouth. The layer of syrup allowed the custard to retain a rather consistent texture and also giving a more mouthful appearance as well.

I also ordered a mille-feuille as shown above. Thin and fragile layers but never too crispy (in contrast to the cinnamon apple pie), you can cut through the cake without much effort and enjoy the combination between the buttery layers and the wonderful cream in between in one single bite.

Certainly I cannot try 4 or 5 different pastries in a single visit so I do missed a number of other deserts like tiramisu made using a mix of coffee wine etc. The shop also serve tea from Mariage Freres, a tea producer that has the same status in France as Twinings in UK. Sakura 2011 is the one I tried and the rose scent works properly with high quality sencha --- and that opened a new door to me as a tea frantic: the moment that I was typing this sentence I was enjoying a cup of wedding imperial with irish cream...

Cost: 350~450 NTW (2 cakes/1 cake and a cup of drink)

3. Simple Kaffa [敦化南路一段177巷48號B1]

Suited in a European styled hotel would this coffee shop brings you to back to a memorable nigh in Prague...? Probably not, but perhaps Tokyo would do. They serve coffee that has won a few medals and their cakes are quite unique that you are not going to find them elsewhere.

Pictured above is a honey flavored cake with a cup of toffee almond latte (hopefully I got this one right). The cake has a sponge texture but with more moisture; the honey foam fills the gap in the cake so that it smells good but it's never too sweet. They also serve a green tea cake that has a really concentrated matcha flavor in its custard that melts under room temperature --- I do not think I'll be able to describe this really interesting combination, but that deserves to be called as innovative in a positive way.

Cost: ~300 NTW (a cake and a cup of coffee)

Hopefully the above allows more choices when you are looking for light food in Taipei and they are really worthy for a go, especially Leslie :)