Sunday Japanese ramen lunch with BB — tori chashu ramen at $11.90 each. The chicken-broth variant on the standard ramen format, less heavy than the tonkotsu and the right kind of lunch ramen.

We ordered:

Tori chashu ramen — $11.90 each (two bowls)

Tori (鶏) means chicken in Japanese, and tori chashu is the chicken-version riff on the classic pork chashu (sliced pork belly) ramen topping. The broth base usually shifts from tonkotsu (pork bone) to tori paitan (chicken bone) to match, giving the whole bowl a lighter character.

The broth was the tori paitan style — opaque-cream coloured from the chicken bones reduced down (similar visual to tonkotsu but with chicken instead of pork). The flavour was distinctly chicken-bone — clean, slightly sweet, with the long-simmer collagen giving it a slightly viscous coating in the mouth. Less heavy than tonkotsu, easier to finish the whole bowl without feeling weighed down.

Tori chashu slices were the protein. Chicken thigh or breast slow-cooked sous-vide-style or low-braised until the meat shreds with the slightest pressure. Pale-pink colour, tender all the way through, with the slight gloss of the marinade soaked into the meat. Different texture from pork chashu (which has the fat layer) — leaner but still tender.

Standard ramen architecture filled in the rest. Wavy alkaline noodles cooked to firmness, a soft-boiled marinated egg (ajitsuke tamago) with the runny yolk visible, menma (bamboo shoots), chopped scallion, a sheet of nori.

The lighter chicken-based bowl is the right choice for a lunch slot. Tonkotsu and miso ramen are too heavy for a midday meal that has to be followed by an afternoon of activity; tori chashu sits in the sweet spot of substantial-but-not-coma-inducing.

At $11.90 each this is fair Japanese chain ramen pricing — slightly below the premium tonkotsu options, slightly above the entry-level shoyu sets.

Overall: 4 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Solid tori chashu ramen — would re-order on lunch shifts.

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