Tenkaippin Ramen

A pet peeve? Maybe. A common misconception? Definitely. It is a sad fact that most of Hawai'i doesn't understand the difference between ramen and saimin. The two words are used almost interchangeably and yet if you were to ask someone what the difference between the two is a common reply might be, "Ramen is that dried packaged stuff right?" wrong! Well, technically yes, but there is so much more to ramen than a two-and-a-half minute soak in boiling water. When someone asks me what the difference is I send them to Tenkaippin.

Located along busy Kapahulu Avenue, Tenkaippin Ramen provides parking in the rear of the building. The first thing that I noticed when approaching Tenkaippin Ramen was that there were chairs outside with a sign stating to form line to the right. Fortunately there wasn't a line out the door when I arrived and was seated promptly.

The atmosphere at Tenkaippin Ramen is one of a kind. In particular it was of the Ultimate Japan type. Ultimate Japan everywhere infact! Ultimate Japan playing on the wall-mounted TV, Japanese wall-mounted posters featuring ramen, and what's that in the corner on that bookshelf -- is that manga? It is no surprise that the mastermind behind this restaurant is the man himself Scott Suzui (co-host of Ultimate Japan).

Tenkaippin Ramen prides itself on providing the freshest, top-quality ingredients from all over Japan (which makes sense since the bulk of the restaurant chain is located in Japan). This is the phrase that stuck with me as I was considering my options of what to eat.

On my first trip to Tenkaippin Ramen I ordered the paitan ramen with fried rice and gyoza. The fried rice and gyoza both came out at around the same time with my ramen following about five minutes later.

The fried rice was interesting to say the least. It wasn't bad yet it wasn't good. Usually I am used to either local-style or Chinese-style fried rice so this was an interesting take (perhaps it was Japanese-style!).

The gyoza was next. I ate one without any sauce and it was quite bland. It was almost like the ones that you get frozen in a package at your super market. There also wasn't any gyoza sauce to be found so I ended up mixing the bottles of shoyu, vinegar, and minced garlic together to make a sauce for my remaining two gyoza.

I (of course) have to talk about the bottle of minced garlic. It is genius. Although I'm not sure of the actual recipe it seems that they mince a truck-load of garlic and mix in Japanese chili pepper flakes. The results are astonishing. Potent, slightly spicy and perfect when mixed into shoyu or ramen (I was told this upon the arrive of my ramen the second time that I visited).

Before we get into the actual ramen itself, there is the fried chicken which I also was able to taste. When it came out it was hot and sizzling from the oil and I wasn't able to eat it right away (good sign I suppose). However when I did take a bite into it a few minutes later I found it (again) lacking flavor and slightly dry.

As for the ramen... it was excellent. As I stated before, I ordered the paitan ramen on my first visit. Paitan ramen is made using a pork and chicken based broth. I orderd this over the ever-popular kotteri because I had just finished watching the movie Ramen Girl the previous day (good movie!) and was craving tonkotsu ramen (similar to paitan). The ramen was filled with ingredients including the more intresting toppings of fukujin-zuke (pickled radish) and fried garlic chips. In my opinion these two toppings overpowered the taste of the ramen (especially the garlic chips that had a slightly burnt taste). I moved these to my empty gyoza plate and dove right into the good stuff. The broth was thick and rich as well as full of flavor (as ramen should be). The milky white color of the broth is achieved through a long cooking process in which the pork and chicken bones give off all of their flavor and texture (produced from the breakdown of collagen).

After taking several spoonfuls of delicious broth to my lips, I took my first bite of noodles. I could tell immediately that these noodles were special. They were perfectly cooked and were a lot more dense than the ramen noodles that I have eaten at other ramen houses. This of course was a good thing (not a Martha Stewart "good thing" but a good thing texture-wise).

On my second visit to Tenkaippin Ramen I ordered the famous kotteri ramen. The kotteri ramen is what made Tenkaippin Ramen famous here in Hawai'i. The rich chicken based broth was robust and full of flavor. I then understood why people would line up on the sidewalk for a bowl of ramen here. The koterri ramen is unlike anything most of us have tasted here in Hawai'i. The kotteri ramen was topped with bamboo shoots, green onion and roast pork instead of the nasty garlic chips which was a pleasant surprise. Half way through, I dabbed some of the minced garlic into my ramen and I just couldn't seem to get enough of the garlicy goodness running through my ramen (four spoonfuls).

I must admit, when I first walked into the door of Tenkaippin I wasn't much of a fan of Ultimate Japan. But now I'm starting to understand what the hype is all about. The ultimate ramen straight from Ultimate Japan.

Tenkaippin Ramen
Rating System: 1-2.5-5 (poor-average-excellent)

Service: 1.75 (note: a bit pushy)
Food Quality: 3.5 (note: I'd mark it a 4.5 if it were only based on the ramen)
Monetary Value: 2.5
Quality vs Quantity: Quality
Overall: 2.5

617 Kapahulu Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96815
808-732-1211

NOTE: You may be wondering how I score all of my reviews. It is based on the type of restaurant (ex. a ramen house, a steakhouse, plate lunch, fine dining, etc.).

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