I’ll admit that the two bowls of tonkotsu ramen I’ve had so far in Fukuoka threw me for a loop. I love that style of ramen… or do I? The two bowls I sampled in Fukuoka (the birthplace of tonkotsu ramen) were one-note porky in a way I found vaguely unsatisfying.
It made me question myself. Do I really like tonkotsu ramen? I certainly thought I did, but maybe every bowl I’ve had up to this point — both back home and elsewhere in Japan — have been a pale imitation. Maybe the thing I thought I loved was actually a watered-down photocopy. Maybe everything I believe about myself is a lie.
Thankfully, my visit to Genki Ippai has put a very thorough end to this particular existential crisis: tonkotsu ramen is delicious. Those other places just aren’t particularly great.
The funny thing is, the ramen at Genki Ippai is just as single-mindedly porky as the other bowls of tonkotsu I’ve had here. It’s just that it’s so, so much more satisfying.
Eating the ramen here actually helped to clarify my issues with the other two bowls.
The other bowls were extremely porky, but in a really boring way. They basically tasted like if you boiled really fatty pork and then served that, with a one-note flavour and a mild underlying gaminess.
The ramen at Genki Ippai, on the other hand, was more like the best roasted pork you’ve ever had, only with that flavour condensed down into a soup. There’s so much more to it, and it’s so damn satisfying.
This time, no condiments were required. The soup manages to wring a very impressive amount of complexity out of its amazing porkiness.
The bowl was also incredibly rich, and unlike the other bowls of tonkotsu ramen I’ve had here, it was actually quite greasy — you can feel it coating your lips and the inside of your mouth as you eat. At one point, a small drop of soup hit the table, and it almost instantly congealed into something cloudy and solid.
This stuff isn’t kidding around, that’s for sure.
And yet, somehow, it doesn’t feel too greasy. It’s a bit intense, but it’s also so satisfying that the greasiness feels like a feature rather than a bug.
The chashu was equally special (and equally intense). It was profoundly fatty; I’d say the slices of pork were maybe 70 percent fat? But they’re so perfectly cooked and tasty that it totally works.
Sometimes, when you’re writing about food, you’ll use the term “melts in your mouth” as a shorthand for something that’s very tender, but doesn’t actually melt in your mouth.
This chashu, on the other hand, quite literally melted in my mouth. It was amazing.
The whole bowl was amazing. It’s easily in the top five bowls of ramen that I’ve ever had.
Location: ４-31 Shimogofukumachi, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, 812-0034
How to find it: This place is actually quite well known for not having a sign, and for hanging up a blue bucket next to their door when they’re open.