Chuka Soba Takayasu

Ichijoji, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City…is a well-known ramen battleground. Within an 800-meter radius of Ichijoji Station, there are nearly 30 ramen shops. Even in such a competitive area, there are several ramen stores that have become famous for their long lines. This time, I would like to introduce one of them, “Chuka Soba Takayasu”…

Chuka Soba Takayasu｜A popular ramen restaurant in Ichijyoji that survives the fierce competition with its sophisticated ramen and huge fried chicken

After passing through the curtain and waiting to enter the restaurant in a chair in front of the cash register, I waited about 10 minutes and was led inside to find a space with a POP-style interior that did not look like a ramen shop. The seating area, which seems to be popular with women, is filled with L’Arc-en-Ciel music, giving the illusion that you are in a trendy coffee shop.

Takayasu’s popular limited menu item, “Suji Ramen,” is inevitably sold out…if you want to try it, I recommend visiting the restaurant early!

The dish I visited Takayasu for was the “Suji Ramen,” a popular limited menu item made with beef tendon. Unfortunately, it was already sold out when I visited in the evening. It seems that the young man who came after me was also looking for the suji ramen. He was a little disappointed to hear that it was sold out.

So, I decided to order the suji ramen and ordered the chashu ramen and karaage…

Examples of Chuka Soba Takayasu’s menu (as of January 1, 2020: tax included)

With the October 2019 consumption tax revision, the menu at Chuka Soba Takayasu is raising prices across the board. The new prices are listed below for your reference before visiting the restaurant.

• Chuka Soba 800 yen
• Suji Ramen 850 yen
• Chashu ramen: 900 yen
• Karaage (3 pieces) 460 yen, 5 pieces 670 yen
• Rice 180 yen
• Karaage set meal (with rice and 3 karaage) 1260 yen
• Chashu pork with snacks: 620 yen
• Tsukidashi chashu: 390 yen
• Takayasukimuchi 310 yen
• Ajitama 120 yen
• Refill 180 yen

Chuka Soba Cha-shu-Men｜Chicken and pork bone broth with a refined, mild taste with no animal smell at all!

First of all, please take a look at the picture…

The cloudy soup, straight medium-thin noodles, chashu pork, bamboo shoots, and green onions spread over the entire bowl… It looks simple like this, with no visually appealing elements. However, when you take a sip of the soup…

Although the chicken and pork bones have been simmered to such an extent that the soup becomes cloudy, your tongue is immediately struck by the elegant flavor that does not have any animal smell at all. It is a little sweet and milky, rich and thick, but not cloying… I don’t remember such a refined soup at any other restaurant.

The chashu, on the other hand, is thinly sliced and tender, just like old-fashioned chashu. It is not the thick, high presence chashu that is so popular these days, but rather a little bit of luxury added to the ramen.

The ramen as a whole is not at all strange, but rather orthodox and of a high overall level. Everyone has his or her own taste, but those who are addicted to this ramen will find it irresistible.

I thought “Takayasu” was a place to eat fried pork. If chashu pork is not enough for you, how about another specialty of Takayasu, along with ramen, to gut you?

The fried chicken served at Chuka Soba Takayasu is one of the specialties along with ramen, so much so that some customers say, “Isn’t Takayasu for fried chicken, not ramen? Many customers order the fried chicken. The fried chicken…

Can you tell from the picture? They are this big…one piece is about the size of an adult’s fist. There are 5 pieces of this size (luckily, there were 6 pieces at the time). The fried tofu is arranged with a cabbage slice in the center and surrounded by the slices… The visuals are so large that they overflow the plate, and if you like fried tofu, you probably can’t contain your excitement.

When you break through the crispy batter with your teeth, you will find a chunk of delicious thigh meat inside. The juices from the cross section of the meat are slowly overflowing. When you dip it in curry powder, the juices combine with the delicious flavor of the meat to create an irresistible taste… The size of each piece somehow reminds me of the famous fried chicken restaurant in Osaka, Chinese Restaurant Wakamizu. It is no wonder why people say “Takayasu is a fried chicken restaurant.”

Chinese Soba Takayasu is usually open during the year-end and New Year holidays. ⁉︎ Please check the website for the annual business schedule.

The second visit to Chuka Soba Takayasu was at the beginning of the New Year in 2020. This year, they were open as usual during the New Year’s holiday (not sure if they are open every year, so please check their website accordingly), and when I learned this, I…

If it’s New Year’s, students are going home and there aren’t many customers, right?

By Ryosuke Ohori

I thought this was my chance to get revenge on Suji Ramen, so I went to the restaurant! I went to the restaurant thinking that it would be my chance to get revenge on Suji Ramen. But my easy expectations were easily betrayed…

When I arrived at the restaurant about 15 minutes after opening, there were already about 20 people lined up outside. Customers continued to arrive one after another, and the line grew longer with time. Eventually, after a wait of about 50 minutes, I entered the restaurant. Even on New Year’s Day, popular restaurants are not to be underestimated…

That aside, I successfully got my revenge for the Suji Ramen on my second visit to the restaurant, so here is my report. I added the Suji Ramen (priced at 850 yen) and the special Ajitama (priced at 120 yen), then added the promised fried bean curd, and waited for the food to arrive…

Suji Ramen: A bowl of noodles filled with a lot of sweetly seasoned beef tendon! The quantity is limited, so be sure to order early!

The long-sought after Suji Ramen…

As you can see, the soup is proudly stained yellow by the sauce in which the beef tendon is stewed. In fact, when you explore the inside of the soup, you will see that there is a lot of beef tendon in it! It is a little bit peculiar, but it is a good value for money.

The beef tendon is also tenderly braised to the point that it melts in your mouth, and the sweet flavor is transferred to the soup, giving the pork bone broth that Takayasu is so proud of an even deeper flavor. The soup is as always well mixed with the custom-made noodles and goes down smoothly into the stomach… The suji ramen is limited in quantity, so you are advised to come early to place your order.

The half-boiled, half-cooked, respectfully seasoned eggs, which I ordered additionally, were also perfectly boiled with a thick yolk.

I ordered the famous “karaage” (fried chicken) again this day. Although it is obviously over-calorie combined with the suji ramen, as a fried chicken lover, I couldn’t miss the fried chicken here (if you can’t finish it, you can take it home).

For access to Chuka Soba Takayasu’s Chinese noodle shop, a 4-minute walk from Ichijyoji Station on the Eizan Railway line, the nearest station to the shop.

Now, here are the details of the restaurant. Restaurant data is here…

P.S. If you are looking for delicious ramen in Kyoto, please stop by this article below…