流星軒 リュウセイケン (Ryuseutai Yoshinocho)

The blue line of Yokohama city has numerous ramen shops, and Yoshinocho station has two top rated shops nearby. I already visited Trick, so my next stop in this area was 流星軒 リュウセイケン (Ryuseutai). I was pleased to see shoyu offered so that I could continue my recent binge. I ordered the chashu premium and my friend ordered the shoyu premium. As was sat inside the cozy interior we were serenaded by some awesome old man rock. We had an open view to the kitchen so we watched our bowls being made:

Chashu roasted over an open flame is a first for me! Out came our bowls. Here's mine:

Topped with 2 kinds of chashu (one of which was roasted), an egg (ordered extra), negi, and nori. This is a fairly basic bowl of ramen, no bells or whistles here. The noodles stood out as a nice medium between thick and thin, soft and hard. Everything else was fairly basic. Not excellent, but not bad. After adding pepper the base was slightly elevated. I have had better eggs. Though it had a great smokey flavor from being roasted, I found the chashu to be slightly overcooked. Again, I have had better. So far the best shoyu ramen around Yokohama has been Raamen Dream! Ryuseutai gets a solid 4 for being good, but not great. 4/5

Map, twitter, annnnnnd tabelog!

らぁめん夢 (Raamen Dream Higashi-Kanagawa)

Is it real or is it a dream? My ongoing quest to uncover the best of the best in Yokohama revealed Raamen Dream near Higashi-Kanagawa station. I have also been on the lookout for shoyu flavors and though Ramen Naka Naka was good, I thought there must be better shoyu in the Yokohama area. Located near a park on a busy main road, Raamen Dream is not immediately impressive or noticeable. It isn't boutique for sure, and probably already had my heart from its very basic setting. Counter only seating and not many at that, but with a great view to all the action in the kitchen. I ordered the special which comes with nori, an egg, three slices of chashu, spinach, negi, 3 wontons, and a syringe of smoked dashi!

Without adding anything I tried the base, which my friend and I observed was made by combining the obligatory shoyu, oil, and a stock from the stove, and then more oil. It was absolutely superb. Our ramen chef moved with an impressive amount of attention to deatil.  My friend also asked for no pork and he refunded us for the missing pork. How kind! This is what I really love about independent shops, kindness and attention to detail. We both agreed that there must have been something to the oil. A deep flavor, but without being too heavy. Best shoyu I have had to date (though it is a flavor I need to explore more). Other standouts? A perfectly seasoned egg, which was heated for our consumption and very smokey thick chashu. I tried the dashi on the spinach because that was the only element lacking flavor, but I don't think it was needed overall. This is a standout bowl all on its own. 5/5

Their twitter, tablelog link, and a map!