Kikuchi Hiroki / きくちひろき - Kumagaya

Kikuchi Hiroki (きくちひろき) is the best ramen shop in Kumagaya if all the locals I talked to are to be believed. It is a direct descendant shop from the infamous Ichijyoryu Ganko Ramen, or just Ganko in short. Even without this information here, the ramen nerds in the know might deduce it from the big beef femur bone at the entrance, which is a telltale sign of shops with a relationship to Ganko.

While there are many similarities between Ganko and Kikuchi Hiroki, it is not a simple copy, which would be hard to do anyway. Rather, Kikuchi Hiroki builds upon its Ganko heritage and creates a new interesting style that Ganko fans can surely appreciate as well.

*“Kotteri” shoyu soup with lots of seabura pork back fat.*

The soup is a wild mix of a hard to pin down broth and an almost violently strong and salty soy sauce tare. If I had to guess, I would say that there are at least in some amounts pork, chicken, beef and dried fish elements in the broth. The noodles look basically like the yellow eggy noodles of Ganko, they might possibly even be the same.

*Yellow noodles with egg, same as at Ganko.*

The most obvious visual topping is the copious amount of "abura" pork back fat that covers the whole surface of the bowl, if you order the "kotteri" option (こってり), but there are also "assari" (あっさり) options on the menu with much less pork back fat. The negi green onion and menma bamboo shoots offer a welcome zing and crunch to distract a bit from the heaviness and saltiness of the bowl. The chashu is very well seasoned and basically falls apart if you try to pick it up.

*Vending machine and menu of Kikuchi Hiroki.*

On the counter of Kikuchi Hiroki you will find basically all tare seasoning varieties that the ramen shop has to offer, so if the bowl is not seasoned enough for you or palate fatigue is setting in, you can easily adjust the bowl to your liking. In similar fashion, there is also dashi on the counter, so you can actually thin out the bowl if it is too strong or rich for you.

*The kotteri shoyu ramen at Kikuchi Hiroki in all its glory.*

Since Golden Tiger has opened basically on the other side of the block which Kikuchi Hiroki is on, there is finally some real ramen competition in Kumagaya. However, since Golden Tiger is a relatively new shop, most locals will still recommend you to go to Kikuchi Hiroki. It's going to be interesting to follow up in a few years. Who will be the local favorite then? Will Golden Tiger take the crown or will Kikuchi Hiroki stay on top. Let's see, but I can personally tell you that both shops are definitely worth the trip, might as well eat at both back to back. Bring an empty stomach, you'll need it.