Hakata Tonkotsu Tenjinki

There is a ramen restaurant named Hakata Tonkotsu Tenjinki in a rather minor location, Kamishinjo Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line. It is known as one of the training places of the owner of Menya Eguchi, who won the Grand Prix in the Kansai edition of Ultimate Ramen. I wondered why he trained at Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen.

Well, as time went by, I had a chance to drop by Kamishinjo the other day in the evening. I remembered that time and decided to visit Hakata Tonkotsu Tenjinki. I thought to myself, “Can you get good Hakata tonkotsu ramen in Osaka?” I headed to the restaurant with high expectations, but in fact, my expectations were betrayed to the fullest…

A two-tiered business that changes the ramen it serves during the day and at night! Hakata Tonkotsu Tenjinki is a restaurant like this…

I arrived at Hakata Tonkotsu Tenjinki around 19:30 during peak dinner time. Although it is a well-known and popular restaurant in the Kamishinjo area, I was lucky enough to find no line at the storefront and entered the restaurant without waiting in line.

However, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, it was a bit of a letdown from the very beginning. Here is the reason why…

This restaurant is a “dual operation,” meaning that they change the ramen they make during the daytime and at night. The Hakata tonkotsu ramen I wanted to try this time was only available during the daytime hours… I was quite disappointed. I thought about giving up this time and going to the nearby Ramen Shop Akagi.

I managed to think better of it and entered the restaurant, where there were six counter seats in a straight line along the kitchen, a table for four in front of it, and a small tatami room. And what was interesting was that the structure was like another restaurant over the counter. It was as if the kitchen was sandwiched between the two restaurants from both sides. I wondered if they were using this structure to operate a dual business. But when I checked next door on my way home, I found that the name of the store was “Otsuru Noodle Shop,” so it seems that this is not the case…

Kikubishio: The mainstay of Hakata Tonkotsu Tenjinki’s nighttime business… What is the “clear tonkotsu” ramen made by a Hakata tonkotsu ramen restaurant like?

Let me introduce you to the nighttime “clear tonkotsu” ramen I ordered at Hakata Tonkotsu Tenjinki, Kikubishio. After about 10 minutes of waiting after ordering, the ramen was brought in front of me like this…

It came in a small bowl of ramen, but without any additional options, it is loaded with green onions and looks like it has a lot of chashu pork, which makes it look like a very good value for money.

Let’s start with the soup… The soup is made by directly adding two types of re-finished soy sauce from Shodoshima, which gives the soup a crisp, salty, and mellow flavor of soy sauce. The “ clear tonkotsu ” blended with these two types of soy sauce does not have a pork bone smell at all, but rather only a sense of broth that if you are not careful, you may forget that it is a pork bone soup, hidden by the umami of the soy sauce.

However, when I actually tried it, I thought it was fine with this level of soup stock…. That’s how good the soy sauce tastes. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a ramen with such a strong soy sauce flavor… It doesn’t have the nostalgic feel of the Showa period, but it is definitely a high-quality Chinese noodle. By the way, the optional grated garlic was not for me personally. It makes the soup taste like Jiro-inspired soup, which is a bit of a waste…

On the other hand, the noodles for this dish are thick noodles with egg, which have a pleasantly smooth surface texture. From the smoothness of the surface, I guessed that the composition of the noodle was quite watery. However, when I chewed it, I could feel the texture of the noodle. The only disappointment was the small amount of noodles. The noodles are also quite good, so if you have enough room in your stomach, I recommend you to add another bowl of noodles.

And the main topping, chashu pork… there were 6 thinly sliced but large pieces of loin chashu pork in the bowl. Just to be clear, this is not a chashu noodle dish. It is definitely standard ramen. Isn’t this a great deal?

Hakata Tonkotsu Tenjinki‘s Kikubishio was a very high quality Chinese noodle, the opposite of the wild Hakata tonkotsu ramen. This is the reason why the owner of Menya Eguchi trained here. I was convinced. But that’s all the more reason why this bowl of ramen is only 950 yen…

Nighttime ramen menu at Hakata Tonkotsu Tenjinki (prices include tax)

• Kikubishio 950 yen
• Tsurubishio 950 yen
• Yasashio: 900 yen
• Butashio (pork salt) 1,400 yen
• Buta-buta shio (pork salt): 1,900 yen

But I still want them to do Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen at night as well… Access to Hakata Tonkotsu Tenjinki is a 5-minute walk from Kamishinjo Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line, the nearest station.

This is how I left the restaurant after being thoroughly satisfied with Hakata Tonkotsu Tenjinki‘s nighttime “ clear tonkotsu” ramen. However, I still wished they would offer Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen at night as well…. It is rare to find a place in Osaka where you can eat good Hakata tonkotsu ramen other than national chain restaurants such as Ichiran and Ippudo. If the restaurant owner sees this blog, would you please consider offering Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen at night? Even if it’s just one item from the lunch menu…

Here are the details of the restaurant…

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