Chuka Soba Uwezu (中華蕎麦うゑず); Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture; Apprentice of the King of Tsukemen

To say my go to ramen list is extensive would be an understatement with literally hundreds of ramen shops on my google maps that I have yet to visit. However, I do have a short list of places I’m dying to visit and Chuka Soba Uwezu has been on that short list for the better part of a year. The reason it has taken me so long to finally cross it off my list is due to its location in Yamanashi prefecture. It’s just far enough that a day trip from Tokyo is a bit inconvenient so I had to plan out a weekend to make a visit. Fortunately, my SO and I decided we needed a weekend getaway trip with Kofu as the destination with their amazing wineries. So, with the blessings from my beautiful girlfriend, I squeezed Uwezu in between some fantastic wines on this trip. The shop is quite the trek from Kofu station, but there are buses available to get you relatively close. We decided to walk as we had a breakfast earlier in the day that was quite filling and took about 30 minutes from our hotel which was near the station. Since we walked, we arrived at around 10:50 ish and there was a line of about 30 people in front of us. From the time we lined up to the moment our food arrived, we maybe waited around 2 hours. They limited the seats due to corona virus so that definitely played a role in how long we waited, but be prepared with some music or mobile games to pass the time regardless.

So some of you might be aware that I started a YouTube channel and I wanted to film my experience at Uwezu so I stupidly forgot to take a picture of the menu . While I don’t have photos, I do have ramendb at my disposal with menus uploaded there, so I’ll just describe it in English here. Anyways, while in line, staff will direct you when you need to purchase your ticket. The ticket machine is directly on the right as you walk in, but peep the photo sitting up next to it of the owner posing with the legendary Tomita chef in front of Chuka Soba Tomita. Run by Uwezu-san, this shop is technically an independent restaurant, but is listed on Tomita’s website. Uwezu-san was the most highly regarded disciple out of Tomita and was given the highest praise and blessings from Tomita to open this location. Anyways, Uwezu offers both ramen and tsukemen, but the tsukemen is definitely their most popular item.The tsukemen comes in five noodle portion sizes of small (180 g), regular (220 g), medium (330 g), large (440 g), and extra large (550 g). Each portion size can be ordered as is, with the soft boiled egg, tokusei with all the pork char siu slices & soft boiled egg, and yaki buta which only comes with the pork char siu. The ramen comes with the same topping options, but the noodles size vary from regular (180 g), medium (260 g), large (360 g), and extra large (460 g). Toppings include menma bamboo shoots, soft boiled egg, raw egg, and dried seaweed. The rice menu is plain white rice, and two different pork char siu over rice of either pork belly or pork loin. As for drinks, they serve highball (whiskey soda), beer, and oolong tea. In addition, they have their tsukemen as a take home option if you would like to bring it back to your accommodation. Be sure to have a kitchen though as you’ll have some preparation to do to get it ready.

Decided on the medium portion noodle, tokusei tsukemen. I also ordered a side of pork char siu over rice and it was way too much food. My SO ordered the regular size tokusei tsukemen and I should have realized that she wouldn’t be able to eat all of her noodles so just a regular order for myself would have been more than enough as I would just finish what she had left. Anyways, pictured above is the medium portion tokusei tsukemen. Like I said, it is a ton of food. I’m not sure if the amount of soup increases with different noodle portions, but I literally had just enough soup to finish….which was a bit sad since I couldn’t try the soup wari. Regardless, I started off with a couple strands of the noodle as is. Noodles are made in house and has the all too famous Tomita look to them. Flavor wise, it is reallly close to the Tomita ones. Not quite as intense on the wheat aromas, but way more than your typical ramen shop. Size wise, it is exactly the same. The squared, thick noodles is just as heavy and dense as the Tomita ones and has the slippery texture which soaks up the soup very well. Also, just like at Tomita, the noodles are insanely long. It was so long that you really only need a couple stands to fill your mouth with each bite. If you saw my video you may know I learned this the hard way so learn from my stubborn mistakes. Soup here is a Tonkotsu Gyokai blend with menma bamboo shoots hidden inside. Soup is topped with some gyofun (fish powder), thinly cut scallions, naruto fishcake, and a couple slices of dried seaweed.

So with the tokusei version the tsukemen comes with the above (going from right to left) charred pork belly char siu, soy sauce tare braised pork loin, grilled pork back, and a sous vide pork loin. All of the pork char siu comes from the same pig which is locally sourced from a farm in Yamanashi. Finally we have the marinated soft boiled egg to complete the tokusei set. Overall, if you’ve never had Tomita before, you’re probably going to think this is the best Tsukemen you’ve ever had in your life. As someone who has had hundreds of bowls of ramen in my life, including Tomita, I have to say it was a bit too similar to Tomita for my liking. Don’t get me wrong, this is a fantastic bowl and one that trumps any tsukemen I’ve ever had outside of Tomita, but the similarities are just way too high. First off, I’ll go back and start with the noodles. Even though Uwezu makes them in house, it literally tastes like they shipped it straight from Tomita. There are subtle differences like that the wheat flour isn’t as strong, but overall it is quite literally the same noodles to me. I honestly love these noodles though and is probably my favorite to have because of its ability to stand on its own without any soup. In terms of the soup, it is the iconic Tonkotsu Gyokai with the all too familiar thick tonkotsu base with gritty, umami enriched dried fish goodness, but my mind would not stop comparing it to Tomita. Again, this soup is way better than any Tonkotsu Gyokai you’ll have in Tokyo, or in the world for that matter, but it’s just not as good as Tomita. It’s missing a bit of the funk and the overall flavor is a tad less intense. I think the soup is a bit thicker than Tomita though as it clings so well to the noodles that I didn’t have any left over at the end to enjoy with some soup wari. The creaminess of the tonkotsu really stand out and it has that velvety finish that is then muddled with the dried fish and makes for some amazing slurps.

Toppings is where I think it may actually be a tad better than Tomita. Using all locally sourced Yamanashi pork, the true flavors really shine through and I love how each cut is prepared in its own unique way to showcase its better characteristic. The sous vide pork loin is just a tad overcooked and isn’t as rosy pink as a lot of shops, but I enjoyed how juicy it was and the meatiness it provided while eating with the noodles. The grilled pork has that awesome charcoal, smoky flavors that really enhance the overall flavors of the soup. The gentle shoyu braised pork loin has a great salty element to them and the meat/fat ratio is really on point. Finally the pork belly charred char siu, which may be the best pork belly char siu I’ve ever had in my life. It is definitely the most tender as it falls apart in your chopsticks with how long it’s been cooked. The fat is so incredibly soft and melts in your mouth as it explodes with Maillard flavors. The smokiness from the char gives the soup this really nice fragrance and it just made the entire meal complete to me. I did enjoy that it came only in the one thick slice because any more would have been complete overkill.

Finished off the meal with the pork char siu over rice bowl. Again, like I said previously, I ordered way too much food and I was honestly struggling to finish my meal. With that said, even with how uncomfortable I was feeling from eating all of the Tsukemen, I polished this rice bowl off. Now that I think of it, I actually have never ordered the rice bowl from Tomita so I don’t have anything from them to compare it with, but it is one of the top five pork char siu rice bowls I’ve ever had. They usually have an option of either pork belly or pork loin, but I guess with the corona virus limiting guests, they’ve decided to combine the two. The pork belly is prepared completely different from the one served with the Tsukemen (which I love because some shops are a bit lazy and just put what they serve on their ramen over a bed of rice and try to pass it off as original). The cut is more lean, but still has enough fat content that you’re getting a great overall experience with each bite. Since the fat content is low, it doesn’t melt in your mouth like the topping option, but it still has great flavors and aromas that keeps you shoveling rice to go along with it. The shoyu based sauce was the perfect combination of savory and sweet with the balance of the soy sauce and mirin shining really well here. Chopped green onions gave it a refreshing crunch in between bites of the pork and made for a great compliment. The pork loin hidden in the back was also phenomenal with the cubes giving some textual variety to the bowl. While it is a ton of food, I definitely recommend grabbing a bowl, even if it means sacrificing some stomach space by ordering a smaller noodle potion.

Overall, Uwezu is a fantastic tsukemen shop. Feel like I’m being a broken record here, but if I have never had Tomita before, this is definitely the best tsukemen I have ever had. However, since I have had it, I did leave feeling like I kind of just got the same dish. If you’ve never been to Tomita before, I wholeheartedly recommend making a visit here. Really great stuff, using the best, locally sourced ingredients Yamanashi has to offer. However, if you’re on the fence about it and you’ve already visited Tomita, I don’t think you should make a trip just for this bowl. If you’re like me and made a weekend trip out of it visiting the nearby wineries, Uwezu is of course a fantastic place to squeeze in some top quality ramen. Anyways, I also made a YouTube video on my experience at Uwezu so if you want to check that out, I left it below. If you could like, comment, and subscribe for me, I would greatly appreciate it.