Taiho Ramen Head Shop

I went to Taiho Ramen Head Shop to try Kurume Ramen, one of the three major pork ramen restaurants in Fukuoka. Taiho Ramenstarted out as a food cart in 1953 and has now been in business for more than 70 years. It is said to be the originator of the “Yobimodoshi” soup, in which new broth is added to the broth that has been cooking since the establishment of the restaurant. Furthermore, the restaurant was recognized as a Bib Gourmand in the special edition of the Michelin Guide Fukuoka/Saga 2014, and cup noodles supervised by the ramen shop are sold by Myojo, so it can be said that the restaurant is quite well known nationwide.

Deciding to eat Kurume ramen for the first time in my life at such a legendary restaurant, I woke up early in the morning and took the train to Kurume, where the restaurant is located. I walked from the nearest station to the restaurant, wondering such questions as “How is Kurume’s tonkotsu ramen different from Hakata’s tonkotsu ramen?”, and…

Surprisingly, there were a lot of family customers with small children… this is what Taiho Ramen Head Shop is like…

I arrived at Taiho Ramen Head Shop at around 10:30 a.m., almost the time when the restaurant opened. I had heard that it was a very popular restaurant, so I was thinking “Oh no, I’m late…” on my way to the restaurant, but luckily there were only about 10 customers in the storefront. I entered my name in the name book that was displayed in the store and waited for a while. A few minutes later, the store opened and I was able to enter on the first round.

The main shop of Taiho Ramen operates in its own four-story building, but only the first floor is used as a store. The restaurant has a total of 35 seats, including 15 counter seats and 5 tables for 4 people, so it is not really a very large restaurant. So, all the seats in the restaurant were filled in the blink of an eye after the store opened. It is indeed a popular restaurant…but what was a little unexpected was that there were many family customers with small children. Was this by any chance a gifted education? Or was it just a coincidence that this was the time? Whatever the case may be, the things I have eaten repeatedly since I was a child, I find myself wanting to eat them again as an adult, don’t you think? For the next 30 years, Kurume’s pork ramen culture will be safe and sound… I thought that on my own while waiting for the ramen to be served.

I was not sure if I wanted to try the Old Ramen or the new ramen, but I decided to try the default ramen to experience the “basic soup” of Taiho Ramen Head Shop.

This time, I ordered the default ramen (ordinary ramen, price 780 yen including tax) at Taiho Ramen Head Shop. When I found out that there was a “Old Ramen” on the menu, I was a little confused as to which one to order. It was my first time to try Kurume Ramen, and I had originally decided to order the standard ramen. After a few minutes of hesitation, I decided to go for the standard ramen, which is the “basic soup”, but I was also attracted to the “rich taste of the street stall days” of Old Ramen (I actually looked at the menu after ordering and found the “Eating Comparison Set (price: 1040 yen including tax)”, where both can be eaten at once, and regretted it intensely)… 

After about 5 minutes of waiting, the ramen noodles arrived in front of me. The soup has bubbles in it, but it doesn’t look too fatty. Compared to the soup at Hakata Daruma Sohonten, which uses the same priming method to cook its soup, the quick taste impression is much different. The soup seems to be uniformly cloudy with pork bones, giving the impression of a fine, smooth-tasting soup.

As the menu describes the soup as “mellow”, the pork bone flavor is rich, but the density is gentle and easy to accept in general. As it looks, the texture is smooth on the tongue, and there is a sensation that it falls into the stomach smoothly. There is also a pork bone smell, but it is only slightly noticeable, so there is no “I can’t eat it because of the smell…” I think. Even a small child could eat it and say, “It’s delicious!”.

The noodles are straight and slightly thicker than the noodles used in most Hakata tonkotsu ramen. The noodles are slightly hard-boiled, but instead of having the crispy texture of Hakata Ikkosha‘s noodles, they have a firmness that bounces off your teeth.

There are two slices of chashu pork as toppings, but they are thinly sliced, soft, and melt away, so you don’t feel as if you’ve eaten meat. The boiled egg was also a bit disappointing as it was a thinly sliced, not a half size. Well, this is 780 yen per serving, so it is not something to complain about.

Finally, there were tabletop items to change the flavor, such as red ginger, white sesame seeds, spicy garlic, grated garlic, and western pepper. I tried various items, but I personally thought a small amount of grated garlic was the best. I think it is best to use it to counteract the smell of garlic and pork bones. Well, it is much easier to eat than some Hakata tonkotsu ramen without any seasoning, so even if you don’t like the smell of pork bones, it is worth a try…I think.

Examples of other menu items at Taiho Ramen Head Shop (prices include tax)

• Old ramen 830 yen
• Old Chashu-men: 980 yen
• Old Wontanmen: 980 yen
• Chashu ramen 930 yen
• Wontanmen 930 yen
• Shoyu tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen 910 yen
• Yobimodoshi Black 830 yen

Ramen can be ordered from the website… To get to Taiho Ramen Head Shop, a 10-minute walk from the nearest station, Nishitetsu Kurume Station.

Taiho Ramen also operates an online store where ramen can be ordered. The official online shop offers all products at a price that includes tax and shipping, so you can order with peace of mind. Also, it seems that you can experience the comparison of standard ramen and old ramen, which I hesitated to order this time, by using the Furusato tax payment. If the conditions are met, you can get it for free, so if you are interested, please click the link below to order it.

【ふるさと納税】大砲ラーメン セット 替玉 緑茶付き 生ラーメンセット 冷凍 豚骨 お取り寄せ グルメ ギフト ご当地ラーメン スープ お店の味 屋台ラーメン 呼び戻しスープ 本場の味 送料無料 価格：15,000円（税込、送料無料) (2024/8/12時点) 楽天で購入

Now, here are the details of the restaurant…