The first shop of Tenkaippin, the ramen chain born in Kyoto. The signature kotteri is a thick soup of chicken bones and vegetables, topped with green onion. Add the table kimchi partway through to enjoy the change of flavor. The wooden sign by the door says the shop was founded in 1971.
Maison Shirakawa 1F, 94 Ichijoji Tsukudacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto
Sources: tenkaippin.co.jp rurubu.jp
This moment in the journey
Kotteri at the original Tenkaippin
Kyoto is a city of fierce ramen competition, and Tenkaippin was born here. For lunch I went to the sohonten, the original shop, in Ichijoji. By the door hung a wooden sign reading "Chuka soba specialists, founded 1971," and a paper lantern that said "Main Shop."
The bowl that arrived was kotteri, the rich one: a thick, almost velvety soup of chicken bones and vegetables, topped with green onion. Kimchi goes well with kotteri, but add it from the start and it takes over, so the trick is to add it partway through and enjoy the change of flavor. I shook on plenty of pepper and ate it the proper way.
On the walls were a kotteri poster and a map of Japan marking the shops across the country. This is where that flavor began.
Watch this scene on YouTube1:56
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