Ninjomenya Gyukotsuo — Restaurant in Osaka

This particular ramen shop is what you would call "a hidden gem" when in search of a tasty and satisfying bowl of ramen. It is a tiny bar style shop with limited stool seats with the owner operating in the kitchen right in front of you.

That being said, this shop easily is one of the best ramen shops I've been to. (ラーメン屋の中で五本の指に入る位美味い！).

Personally, I think it's the broth that is the deciding factor when it comes to ramen, and this place definitely checked all the boxes. However, the only thing I have to call out is the portion as you can see in the picture, which I had to reel up the noodles hidden under the soup.

Oh, also the owner could use a smile, but the saving grace was his skill made up for the lack of friendliness, probably not personal, but still. Actually, this goes out to all the single-handedly run ramen owners because it's not my first time running into these shops with somewhat deadpan faced owners that almost even seem condescending, which is something you would find out by visiting and observing their gesture when being served. So, I'm kind of used to their aloofness, but that never convinced me to visit for the...

Best ramen * ever *. Little, nine-stool, hole-in-the-wall gem of a place. A little guide to how the ordering works: First, you need to look at the online menu and get an idea of how much you're going to spend. Just inside the door is the ordering machine. You put in enough money to cover your entire order (only ¥1000 and ¥2000 bills are accepted). The amount you insert will be displayed. Then you tap the button for an item in your order. The machine will deduct the cost of that item from the amount of cash you put in and display your remaining balance available. It will also print a little ticket for that item. Once you've entered all the items in your order and collected all your tickets, press the refund/coin return lever and your remaining balance will be returned to you. Once you're seated, give the tickets to the very hard-working man behind the...

I wish I had more photos but we were busy demolishing the food both times. Yes, it was so good we went twice in one day! The beef bowl (under Rice) and beef tendon bowl are so cheap at 300yen and the karaage was juicy. Don’t forget to add the fried garlic and pickles in the condiment jars. It’s true comfort food. The chef doesn’t speak English but he tries and we used Google Translate to communicate beyond my partner’s rusty Japanese. I suggest you look up the dishes on the English or Korean menu hanging on the side of the machine and match the characters for what you want to order. I’m posting the menu here because no one should let language issues get in the way of trying this place.

The counter only has 8-10 seats but people come and go pretty quickly so it’s not a long wait. In the evening,...