Mission: Ramen (Kutchan, Japan)
An usually sunny day in the winter while in Kutchan
Mount Yotei from Kutchan
Yamaokaya Ramen Shop in Kutchan
One of my favorite dishes to eat is ramen. Luckily i’m in Japan where there are over 32,000 ramen shops. I am currently staying at the Park Hyatt Niseko, and the closest town is Kutchan, which is a 13 minute drive away, but because of the winter terrain it would take about an hour to walk. Luckily the hotel provides a free shuttle from the hotel to the local grocery store called MaxValu. Kutchan is only a town of about 15,000 residents so it’s not very big. The town has three grocery stores, a hardware store, four gas stations, and thirteen ramen shops. One of my favorite ramen shops is only a 5 minute walk from the MaxValu grocery store. So when the shuttle arrives, I will walk to the ramen shop to get some lunch. Yamaokaya Ramen is actually a chain restaurant which has over 30 locations in Hokkaido (the northern island of Japan). To order my food, I go directly to an electronic vending machine which displays which menu items are available on the touch screen. There’s a button for “english” which helps, but there are also pictures of each type of ramen. After I choose my selection, I put money into the machine also, and then it spits out some printed tickets. Then I find my seat, and an attendant will take my tickets, and then I wait. It takes about 15 minutes to get the ramen because the restaurant is busy, but it’s perfect. It looks exactly like the picture when I ordered it on the machine. After adding some minced garlic, and some spicy chili sauce, I give it a good mix. The steam from the boiling hot soup erupts from the bowl like a dragon awoken from it’s slumber. I take my first bite, and as I was a little too eager, burned my mouth a little bit. But it doesn’t matter, it tastes so good. I finish the entire bowl. I always think of this type of ramen experience as a special treat. Like getting ice cream when your a kid, it makes me so happy. Oh, here’s a video I made of my experience.
