Tonkotsu Ramen from Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin

Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin is not a place that one would normally go to for ramen. But the pork that I wanted was sold out tonight, so I figured that I'd give their tonkotsu ramen a try. Frankly, I wasn't expecting much. After all, this wasn't exactly their specialty, and was presumably only added to the menu in an attempt to broaden their addressable market.

My first bites into the annoyingly sweet chashu and egg weren't exactly encouraging either. And I really didn't care for the noodles, while the lack of condiments available felt like something was missing. But the broth was good, and was so rich that I almost suspected that they added milk to it. Even if they did, I didn't care. I still drank the thing down to its last drop. That says a lot, considering that I really didn't care much for any of the other ingredients in the bowl.

The other pleasant surprise were those mini burgers featuring little bite-sized pieces of tonkatsu and a squirt of mayonnaise. It just further went to show how their lightly breaded fried pork is clearly where they shine the brightest, so next time I hope that the limited edition cut that I was looking for today isn't sold out again.