Ramen Yokocho, Sapporo

The busy hustling bustling of Susukino. The heart of entertainment district of Sapporo. Not to mention it is also the red light district. Wuahahaha so plenty to see and hundreds of bars, restaurants, karaoke joints and adult entertainments can be found here. Everyday when the sun has bid goodbye Monkey and JS would be right here in Susukino...bcoz all the yummy food and restaurants are located here. Happenings bars and clubs can be found here too.

For a change....that particular evening Monkey the tourist bought another tourist Mr. JS to the famed Ramen Yokocho lane. Yeah it's so tiny that it's not qualified for a street...it's just a lane.

I know....both of us are known to try out places like this during our travels. Including dining under the shinkansen bridge in Tokyo with the thundering roar of the bullet train on top of our head as we cling glasses drinking our Kirins and munching yakitoris.

Monkey leading the way.....see I told ya it's a tiny lil lane but power packed with the intense nose of rich miso broth. There's more than a dozen of ramen eateries along this lane and we didn't know which one to choose. Monkey had to choose the one with the black bear.

Monkey: "It's so cute!!! we must eat at this one!!!"

Statistics charted that there are more than 1,000 ramen shops in Sapporo itself. Wow that's too many!!! this is a ramen eater city!!! No wonder they even have ramen museum and ramen themepark...yeah themepark -_-" This is a bit too much of love and infatuation for a bowl of noodle!!! That also just reminded me of Hello Kitty...never ever walk into one, or u will come out looking like one!!! Japanese and their obsession with things in life.

The menu is pretty straightforward and simple. That's wat we wanted. Especially when one can't read chinese nor japanese. Clothes hanger were abundant on the walls, more meant for use during winter months. The cold months here are harsh and a big bowl of hearty hot noodles just soothe the heart and soul.

But it was summer when we arrived, so all the hangers were used to either hang caps or umbrellas. hahahaha.

dainty glass chimes made from the city of Otaru, swayed softly as the hot steam from below rise ferociously.

I'm not kidding when I mentioned hot steam!!! it's boiling like volcano there. 

and to cool us down....."ichi sapporo biru!!!" 
very quickly the icy cold beer was served. Oh well when u are in Sapporo u must drink Sapporo beer!!!

Wow look at the stacks and stacks of fresh ramen noodles. There are different types of noodles used in Japan for ramen, that's bcoz different parts of Japan has got different ramen.


Usually it's a one man show at any ramen shop. He would be the one preparing your bowl of noodle according to timing, serve you your drinks, cook the crispy gyoza, clean ur table, wash the dishes, chop the chives and leeks.

I could already imagine its chewiness of the noodles from this sight. The noodles used here in Hokkaido is different. Curly thick and chewy to accompany the thick broth.
 

Hahahaha so cute!!! the crispy seaweed even has got a the Bear's face on it!!!
JS ordered a simple shio ramen with chashu.

I must must must have the yummy signature Hokkaido Ramen with sweet corns and butter. So creamie and yummy!!!!

The 2 famous ramen chains in Malaysia are Santouka Ramen and Ippudo Ramen. U can't really compare them bcoz it's totally different style. Santouka is Hokkaido style ramen, while Ippudo is the thick rich pork broth from South Japan in Kyushu...to be specific from Hakata Fukuoka itself.

The chewy noodle was so good!!!! It has to be thick to stand the heat from the soup so u won't get soggy noodles at the end of the meal.

dashes of togarashi to add some heat

Another shop opposite the Bear Ramen was even listed in the Michelin Guide in 2013.

Hahahahaha really comfort food...sit any way you want. Even if you are not a ramen fan like me, it's quite an awesome stroll along this ramen lane. :)))

Ramen Yokocho *the Ramen Lane*
3 Chome Minami 5 Jonishi,
Chuo-ku, Sapporo,
Hokkaido, Japan.