Rocking Billy Super One / ロックンビリーS1 - Amagasaki
Rocking Billy Super One (ロックンビリーS1) is a legendary ramen shop in Amagasaki, just outside of the doors of Osaka. The shop is run by the eccentric owner Junichi Shimazaki, who has quite the reputation among ramen fans and has one of the most recognizable faces (and hairdos) in the ramen world.
And eccentric is putting it lightly. You would imagine from his style and general appearance, to find a ramen shop that is brimming with life, a classic rock soundtrack playing in the background and overall good and positive vibes. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The atmosphere is tense, almost cuttable with a knife. Nobody is talking, everyone is trying to avoid making any kind of unnecessary voice. The kind of atmosphere that implies: If you sneeze too loud or if your phone starts ringing, you’re going to get kicked out. No soup for you!
Now, to be fair. I have not observed anyone getting kicked out. However there are quite a few reviews on Google Maps that talk about the intimidating nature of the owner and warnings that people have received after talking to each other in the shop. Just be aware of what is expected and you won’t have a problem.
Besides all this, the shop and a bowl made by Shimazaki-san should be on the itinerary of every ramen head that makes it to the Kansai region and Osaka. So let’s take a look at the actual ramen here.
Amarock (尼ロック) shoyu ramen at Rocking Billy Super One in Amagasaki.
The two main bowls that draw people in are the so called “Amarock” shoyu ramen and the “S1” shio ramen. But it is worth keeping an eye out for gentei (限定) special bowls, which are only available for a short time and can be quite out there, like a coca cola ramen bowl.
Some people, especially locals, consider Shimazaki-san to serve the best shoyu ramen in Japan, so that’s what you will see most people ordering here. With his refined chicken ramen bowls, he has been at the spear tip of what would be considered refined “kodawari ramen” today. Some would even argue that he invented this kind of refined style of ramen.
Shimazaki-san uses a special breed of chicken called “Hinai jidori” (比内地鶏), which is a chicken breed originally from Akita prefecture in the North of Japan. The ramen broth itself is a mizudori-kei type, which produces a very clear broth that is fully concentrated on highlighting a powerful chicken flavor. Lots of fragrant and aromatic chicken oil is added to the soup as well, which provides further chicken flavor punch to this already extremely flavorful soup.
Low hydration straight noodles that perfectly match the shoyu ramen at Rocking Billy Super One.
The noodles are low hydration straight noodles, which are perfectly slurpy and match the soup really well. I can recommend really going deep into the bowl with your face and slurping as hard as you can, to slurp up as much soup and aroma as possible with your noodles. Don’t be afraid, slurping is the only noise that will absolutely not get you kicked out of this ramen shop.
In terms of chashu, you get a rather lean, but big cut of pork that does not overpower the soup with an extreme seasoning and fits in with a rather subdued nature. In terms of menma, you get a long piece of hosaki menma, which has a good funk to it, but again, nothing too extreme.
Thank you for this great bowl, Shimazaki-san. ごちそうさまでした!
This bowl of ramen is truly a piece of history that every ramen nerd should try at least once. I personally believe it has been surpassed by now in shops like Toy Box or Tsuta and the likes. But Shimazaki-san was pumping out this bowls way ahead of all the others that followed and essentially paved the way for them and this style of refined ramen.
The shop itself can be found in Amagasaki city, right to the North East of Osaka. The nearest train station is Tsukaguchi station of the Fukuchiyama line, although the Tsukaguchi station of the Itami line and Kobe line is not that much farther away either. Which will be better for you, mainly depends on where you start your journey.
More information about Rocking Billy Super One (ロックンビリーS1):
