Abura-soba Kirinji Amemura — Restaurant in Osaka

Japan makes a big deal out of their ramen but their oil soba noodles are not something to turn your nose down at.

For those who are not necessarily wanting a bowl of soup or broth with your noodles, this joint is a firm recommendation.

It is usually an easy process of putting in money and selecting your choice from the vending machine. Unfortunately, we took so long trying to decipher everything that the chef himself came out to help us.

It is a no frills soba restaurant that serves their noodles al dente so you get a good firm chew. Plastic cups on the table for water and the chef brings a plastic jug of iced water for you to serve yourself.

Condiments on the table include sesame oil (darker fluid in bottle), vinegar (lighter coloured fluid), and spicy miso. I would recommend tasting the dish as is before adding on what you want. I am usually not a vinegar kinda guy but the vinegar worked surprisingly well in lightening up the oily aspect of this dish. Mix and match as you feel is needed.

Very popular with salarymen as they all poured in right after we left for lunch.

Feel free to Google Lens translate the vending machine options photo or if you're there, you can Google Lens it yourself.

One interesting thing to note is the TKG - it stands for tamago kake gohan, which is a raw egg served on top of hot white rice. A commonly eaten meal, eggs are super quality controlled in Japan and hardly anyone ever gets sick. You basically beat the raw egg, pour it over the rice, and mix it all together into a gloriously yellow concoction. Slurp it down. If it tastes a bit bland, there is a soy sauce bottle in the table to add some flavour it it.

Great flavour and service, and an easy go-to meal. 5 stars, would...

I stumbled into this while visiting dotonbori just because I was super hungry. At first I didn’t expect much from the vending machine and small first floor. Although it wasn’t super easy to order as an English speaker, papago did good enough of a translating job.

The noodles, poach egg (most red and jammy egg I’ve had; 10/10), and overall sauces were absolutely splendid and super filling/worth it for the price. I’m so glad...

This place was very friendly and quick service. I thought the special sauce at the bottom of bowl was a bit bland and the pork slices on top very small. The noodles were excellent however. I used the table condiments to add additional flavor. I think the sauce needs stronger flavor or more volume and to be delivered a bit hotter. Was decent overall I would go back...