Oishi Ramen: (오이시라멘)

Would you care for some delicious ramen?

You can find Korean Ramyun joints anywhere.  There’s three that I know of within a block of my house.  But for genuine Japanese Ramen, there wasn’t a lot available until Oishi Ramen showed up.  This is a chain restaurant, and you might already know about it.  But just like Ulsan was lacking a Japanese ramen restaurant, UlsanOnline was lacking a review of a Japanese ramen restaurant.

They have four locations in Ulsan that I know of — one in Shinae, one in the basement of Lotte Department Store in Samsandong, one down the road from Hyundai Department Store Samsandong., and one in Mugeo-dong somewhere.  That third one is the one I went to.  Head east from the Hyundai Dep’t Store parkade, two or three blocks.  It’s on the left.  They’ve got an open kitchen, a bar along the wall to sit and eat like you’re in Japan or something, and a bunch of wooden tables.  Their menu’s only in Korean, without pictures, but half the items are just “[word]Ramen]”, and the other half are side dishes or Japanese curries.  If you can’t memorize it, just write down the one you want from my review and cross-reference the menu.

If you know your Ramen, you’ll recognize the options refer to the different kinds of broth the noodles come in.  Straight up, they’re between 6,000 and 7,000 won.  I’d suggest getting the egg and pork added, for a total of either 8,500 or 9,000.  If you can’t read hangul, just point at the one that says your favourite kind of ramen with “+차슈+계란” beside it.

The egg and pork are both done well.  The egg is hard-boiled and let to soak in the broth for extra flavour, the pork is seared but not over-done.  It could do to be a bit crispier.

The noodles themselves could be a dealbreaker for some – but rest assured, they know how to cook them here.  They’re firm and flexible, but not slippery.

They have:

Shoyu Ramen (soy sauce broth) 쇼유라멘.  6,000 won without additions.

This is your typical, ordinary, absolutely magical soy sauce ramen broth.  I’m told it’s as authentic as authentic can get.  Tangy, salty, savoury, and light.  The egg soaks up the flavour really well.

Shi-o Ramen (salt water broth) 시오라멘.

Shio Ramen is apparently an ancient recipe.  Miss.  Some people like the super-salty broth, but for me, I’d rather have the noodles boiled in seawater.  At least that way there’d be some flavour besides salt.

Miso Ramen (miso soup broth) 미소라멘.

Delicious, delicious Japanese soybean paste.    A robust, strong, earthy flavour.  Add some roasted garlic to taste from the little metal container on the table.  It tasted to me like they use a pork base for the miso ramen.

And two different spicy Ramen bowls –

Tantanmen, 탄탄멘.

This is a Japanese adaptation of Sichuan noodles.  It has a deep and delicate spicy flavour, hot without overpowering the flavours underneath.

Tantankarayimen 탄탄카라이멘.

This is those Sichuan spicy noodles again, but with extra crazy hot spices.  It’s also the most expensive item.  I wouldn’t recommend it unless you really like crazy hot spicy food.

I also tried two of their side dishes – tempura shrimp and soft fried something-or-other. Seriously lackluster.

 

The shrimp was greasy and sodden, rubbery, and not much like tempura at all. I would not recommend getting any side dishes to go with your delicious ramen.

 

Price: 7,000 – 10,000 won

English: NO

Star Rating: 3.5/5