Ena, Gifu, Japan｜ラーメン碧天

Saturday, October 13, 2023 I discovered this Viet Cong Ramen on SNS and the pictures looked delicious, so I took a high speed train and came over. When I arrived just after the store opened at 5pm, the owner of the store was in the parking lot and was interested in the car I was driving, so he approached me. I was the first one there right after we opened, but customers gradually started arriving. Many of the regulars were exchanging friendly greetings with the shop staff. I ordered the Miso Viet Cong Ramen and a small bowl of rice which I wanted to eat. Shortly after the rice bowl arrived, I was greeted with the sweet aroma of miso and the aroma of fragrant garlic. The garlic is roughly chopped and stir-fried with the ingredients, so the flavor transfers well to the soup. In addition, there are plenty of chives, bean sprouts, and pork, which gives the soup even more depth. Shinkyo-san's and Shoka-san's lineages are mainly made of bean sprouts and chives, and are characterized by a refreshing texture, but this one has a high proportion of pork, which reminds me of the old Daikoro-san. The noodles were medium-thick straight noodles with a low water content that held the soup well. I enjoyed slurping up the noodles while they were still fresh, and then slowly ate the rice with the toppings and soup. It was very delicious, thank you for your meal. The general called out to me as I was leaving. It's a little far away, but I'll be visiting regularly.

On my way back from Ena Gorge, I was looking for a good ramen shop along Route 19, and the Viet Cong ramen here looked delicious, so I went in there. I ordered the miso Viet Cong ramen, which has received good reviews. I think the Viet Cong miso flavor is rare. Aichi's Viet Cong has soy sauce soup with chunks of garlic, but this miso Viet Cong uses coarsely chopped garlic, so it's a strong specification that allows you to feel the garlic flavor more directly. The soup made with Marutaka miso from Shinshu is also exquisite, and the richness of the miso gives off the punch of garlic and the sweetness of the vegetables. The balance of stir-fried vegetables and meat is just right. I like the firmness of the medium-thick noodles, and the soup was so delicious that I drank it all the way to the end. My companion was eating white sesame tandan noodles, which he said was also very delicious. Miso Viet Cong Ramen is likely to become Ena's hidden specialty. If I go to Ena again, I would like to eat there again.

My wife and I visited on a Friday night after 7pm. The parking lot was almost full, and the seats were almost full. I had soy sauce Viet Cong ramen, Biten ramen, and fried chicken. The fried chicken had a crunchy coating, the meat was soft and the meat was juicy, and it was really delicious. The Viet Cong ramen had a strong aroma of garlic that stimulated my appetite and was very delicious, but the amount of garlic would have made me reluctant to meet other people if I ate it, so it might have been a good idea to eat it on a Friday night (lol). I also had a little bit of Hekiten Ramen, and it was a timeless soy sauce ramen that was easy to eat and delicious. There were 3 pieces of thick and soft char siu, so it was quite filling. I think I'll try a different menu next time. I visited again. This time I ordered chicken paitan and fried rice. The chicken paitan was thick and thick, but the taste was light and very delicious. The fried rice was also fragrant and tasted like fried rice from a Chinese restaurant. I think this is a delicious ramen shop with a lot of attention to detail on every menu item.