Value set @ Ramen Taisho — shio tonkotsu + sesame cold tofu + lemonade ($17.40)!
Ramen Taisho value set: shio tonkotsu ramen with chashu and ajitama, sesame cold tofu side, beansprout starter and a Chasho lemonade. $17.40.
Value set at Ramen Taisho: shio tonkotsu + sesame cold tofu + lemonade, $17.40! 😍😋👍🏼
What was on the table:
- Shio tonkotsu ramen: the pale, creamy pork-bone broth in the classic red-spiral bowl, two broad rosy chashu slices, half an ajitama with the orange jammy yolk, kikurage (black fungus), scallion, thin straight noodles underneath
- Sesame cold tofu: a chilled block under roasted sesame sauce with spring onion, the palate-cooling side
- Beansprout starter: the seasoned moyashi nibble while waiting
- Lemonade: tall cup from Chasho (茶将), their in-house tea-and-drinks brand
- Hot tea in the paper cup to round it out
Shio tonkotsu is the lighter-handed branch of the pork-bone family: the same long-boiled, collagen-cloudy broth, but seasoned with a salt tare instead of shoyu, which keeps the colour pale and lets the pork sweetness sit forward. Done right it’s rich without the heavy salt-soy punch, and this bowl stayed clean enough to keep drinking past the noodles.
The chashu came in the rosy, low-temperature style, two wide slices that warm through in the broth, and the ajitama yolk hit the proper jammy stage. Thin Hakata-style noodles suit the broth; eat them fast before they soften.
The value-set maths is the reason to order this way: bowl alone runs around $14 at most ramen shops, so getting the sesame cold tofu (genuinely good, the roasted sesame sauce worth stealing for home) plus a fresh lemonade for $17.40 all-in beats assembling the same spread a la carte. The cold-tofu-then-hot-broth alternation is the underrated pleasure of the set.
Overall: 4 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Honest shio tonkotsu with the sides doing real work. Would re-order the set over the bowl alone every time.
