Dotombori Kamukura Sennichimae

With endless shopping and things to see in Osaka, one of the best supper options will be ramen, as most ramen outlets open till very late throughout Japan

We originally wanted to go to Ichiran Ramen for their famous Tonkotsu broth and joined the super long queue, which was moving every 10 minutes or so. We waited for almost an hour, got too tired and hungry, and decided to go to another ramen shop with a shorter queue. Just opposite Ichiran was Dotombori Kamukura Sennichimae, with no queue, so we quickly made our orders via the machine

Unlike Ichiran, this restaurant serves Chinese-style ramen with relatively clear soup and is topped with lots of cabbage. They also offer chicken char siu versions for customers who cannot eat pork. Their noodles are also quite affordable, from JPY 1000 to JPY 1200. Their sets, including gyoza and a drink, are priced as low as 1,382 JPY

Like most ramen bars in Japan, there is a narrow walkway for customers to walk to the counter seats, which surround the main cooking station. There are usually hooks behind each of the seats for customers to hang their coats or belongings, since the space around each counter seat is very tight. We managed to get a seat right at the front of the restaurant and could see the chefs cooking the noodles and sending them to each customer in a very fast and experienced process

I ordered the char siu ramen, which is topped with loads of cabbage and bean sprouts. As a bean sprouts lover, this bowl of noodles was totally enticing. The soup is clear and glistening with a layer of sesame oil on top. I was expecting the broth to be bland, but it was surprisingly deep and flavourful and paired extremely well with the yellow noodles. The char siew was lean with a light braised flavour, which complemented the noodles and soup nicely without overpowering one another. It was a very comforting bowl of noodle soup, especially for supper during Winter

The restaurant also comes with free green spring onions for customers who like their noodles with green onions. The onions are lightly seasoned, so they add an additional flavour to the noodles. I topped my noodles with green spring onions to try, and it adds a kick of spiciness to the noodles, which changes the flavour profile slightly. It makes the soup extremely refreshing and cuts out any oiliness

Overall, I was surprised by how satisfying the noodles were in terms of taste and flavour. I am glad that I stepped into this gem and discovered they have great ratings from other customers as well. For those looking for a refreshing bowl of noodles and are sick of Tonkotsu broth, this is a refreshing change

Address: 1 Chome-7-3 Dotonbori, Chuo Ward, Osaka, 542-0071, Japan

Opening hours: 9 am to 11.30 pm