Kishimoto Ryuzo Shinise

Not many people, even those who call themselves ramen connoisseurs in the Kansai region, can think of Kuramayama Ramen in their minds when they hear the name. In fact, after tasting this simple dish served in Kurama, deep in the mountains of Kyoto, post-meal comments like “I wasn’t expecting it, but it’s good” have been popping up all over the Internet…

Kishimoto Ryuzo Shinise｜”I wasn’t expecting it, but it’s really good! What is Kuramayama Ramen?

To sample such Kuramayama Ramen, I took the Eizan Electric Railway to its terminus at Kurama. As soon as you exit the station, you will be greeted by a large red-faced Tengu on your left… the legendary Kurama Tengu, who once taught swordsmanship to Ushiwakamaru

A little further from the Kurama Tengu, you will find the store you are looking for, “Kishimoto Ryuzo Shinise”. This store is both a restaurant and a souvenir shop, where you can purchase tengu masks and “kinome-ni” (a specialty of Kurama).

As soon as I sit down, I immediately order this “Kuramayama Ramen”. After about 10 minutes of waiting, the ramen arrived in front of me. Here is the ramen that was brought to me…

At first glance, it appears to be nothing more than ordinary Chinese noodles. It was probably not the result of much research and study. It looks and tastes simple, and there is no market-like smell of “I’m going to make a profit with this! The soup is light, sweet, and tastes like soy sauce. The soup has a light, sweet soy sauce flavor. The dashi broth is probably used for other Japanese dishes as well. The noodles are also popular and commonly distributed.

So what is so special about this ramen? The prickly pear seeds that come out from the back of the bowl as you continue eating. These go surprisingly well with the ramen.

Throw the peppercorns into the mouth with the broth and chew on them… the cool sensation spreads throughout my mouth… the broth dilutes them, so I don’t mind the unique spiciness of the pepper at all (although if you overdo it, you will feel numbness on the tip of your tongue…). ). I was so pleasantly surprised that I sprinkled a lot of powdered sansho (Japanese pepper) on my bowl.

Sansho in ramen…a bit of a surprise discovery for me personally. It made me want to try sansho in the ramen I make at home.

A simple Kuramayama ramen using Kurama’s famous sansho (Japanese pepper)…Kishimoto Ryuzo Shinise is a one-minute walk from Kurama Station on the Eizan Electric Railway.

Now, here are the details of the restaurant…

There is also an entrance just outside the entrance to Kuramadera Temple, so why not use it to fill up on a small snack after a day of sightseeing?

P.S. How about taking a relaxing break at a nearby hot spring after having lunch at Kishimoto Ryuzo Shinise?

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