WHAT WE ATE

• Champon – 50/100, Kashima, Saga

Kakuya isn’t actually a ramen restaurant; it’s more of a souvenir shop that also serves food. Located along the quiet old shopping street leading to the famous Yutoku Inari Shrine (one of the three great Inari shrines in Japan), you’ll find Kakuya on the main street. The shopfront displays a variety of local snacks and pastries, while a hidden corner signboard lists the food menu. With limited food options in this sleepy town, we decided to give it a try and were pleasantly surprised.

Note: The dining area is facing a garden and pond. It actually is very serene and pretty.

Champon: 50/100

Noodle: 10/35
The noodles are thick and rounded, with a slightly mushy and clayish texture. They don’t hold their texture well in the soup, becoming bloated and soggy as the meal progresses. This results in the taste of lye water gradually seeping into the soup. In terms of taste, there’s a light wheat flavor, and the noodles seem to have absorbed the sweetness from the soup, characteristic of Champon as the noodles are cooked together with the soup instead of separately like other ramen.

Soup: 20/35
The soup looks and tastes milky, with a mild sweetness and savory undertone. It has a watery consistency and is generally quite light-tasting. The flavor suggests a blend of pork and chicken bases, with the sweetness more likely from chicken than pork.

Meat: 10/20
The meat in Champon comes in small, shabu-like slices. It has a subtle aroma from being stir-fried and is tender with a bit of chewiness and springiness. The meatiness is well-managed, with no porky odor.

Topping: 10/10
The toppings are generous, as is typical of Champon, including cabbage, leek, bean sprouts, black fungus, carrot, fish cake, and shrimp.

DISCLAIMER

One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
Find out more about our palettes and how we evaluate our ramen here. 😉