Yamashita ramen ラーメン

-A hidden gem inside a department store

Mar & Apr/2021
Sunny

Every time when visiting this department store, I always saw so many people queueing on a floor. Base on their dressing, I immediately reckon those were Japanese animation fans. However, after becoming a ramen fan and having the ramen map in my pocket, I realised those people were queuing for a famous ramen store inside that department store. Shorlty, I became one of them.

The interior was very bright and clean, and like most popular ramen store, there was a order machine to choose the flavour and the sides. Compared with other ramen store, Yamashita ramen was very considerate to let customers choose the saltiness between Japanese (saltier) and Taiwanese style. Customers can also choose how fancy you want the ramen to be. By adding extra fee, there would be bigger portion and variety of meat plus more eggs and veggies. The dining area was separated into two. One side was for rice and the other was ramen. Customers can enjoy all the preparations and my favourite part was watching the chef torching the rolled pork. The aroma from the pork fat was sensationally incredible.

As a Jiro-style fan (for more Jiro info, please see this essay), I was delighted for trying one at Yamashita ramen in April 2021. In fact, Tue and Wed were the store’s specific Jiro days to offer big-sized challenges for customers like me. The broth was so good, but my favourite was the fried bean sprout and sliced rolled pork. Their fried bean sprouts so far stay at the top of my rank. Like other times of eating Jiro, people felt so surprised when seeing me with a big bowl and finishing all, haha.

One month before the Jiro ramen day, I visited Yamashita and ordered the soy sauce ramen with pork and chicken plus gyoza as the side. Before talking the ramen, Gyoza was really the highlight of the day. It was so beautiful with the crust bottom and the bonito and seaweed flakes dressing with mayonnaise on the top. It was so colourful, and the taste was really amazing, too. Recommend for those who want to order the side. Although the gyoza was the champion, I also had a good time with the ramen by a “hidden” way. Adding a bowl of rice was free at Yamashita. (Each ramen store has their own rule of extra free ramen and rice) After finishing the noodle of ramen, I ordered a bowel of free rice and enjoyed another free dish by putting the left meat, veggie and eggs aside and dressing with few spoons of ramen broth and Japanese shichimi powder. Really playful and cost-effective to enjoy two dishes by paying one.

Overall, I highly recommend people have a go when coming to Taichung City. The store was located inside a CBD department store with fresh and high-quality ingredients. The only disadvantage I would say is the long queue. Therefore, getting a free day and having an amazing ramen at Yamashita as the brunch would be a better choice!