My First Time Trying Daoyue Ramen
Intro
Meow meow, hello everyone~ It’s me, Mydondon. Today we’re heading to… drumroll please… bom-bom-bom-bom… (drum sounds) That’s right! The one and only Daoyue Ramen that you’ve all been waiting for! I rolled out of bed bright and early today and set off on a quest for that legendary ramen everyone says you have to queue forever for.
Following Ms. Google’s directions, I strolled my way over to the front of the ramen shop. At first everything seemed fine—I didn’t look too closely at the sign, I was just trying to confirm whether this was the right place, and once I spotted the stuff set out front I relaxed. I quietly backed up onto the street, ready to snap a “Dondon was here” shot of the storefront, and… well, it was fine until I actually looked. Whoa… is the owner using the signboard as a sticker album or what? One sign says “billiards,” another says “school uniforms”—completely unrelated symbols all mashed together into a storefront, while poor Daoyue Ramen quietly hides in the corner. So… so very Japanese, right?
Daoyue Ramen on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/9nYSJX8M3XtZpvus9
Anyway, whether the ramen tastes good is what really matters. By the time I walked in it was already 1:20 p.m. There happened to be a group of customers ordering at the ticket machine ahead of me, so I quietly lined up behind them and took a look around the place. It looked a lot like Inkaya Ramen—apparently they’re run by the same owner, which would explain the resemblance. Since it was well past the usual lunch rush, there were relatively few customers inside, though a handful were still around.
The chicken paitan broth and toppings
I ordered a bowl of char siu rice and the chicken paitan (creamy chicken broth) ramen. The char siu rice came out at 1:24 and the ramen at 1:29—so the wait wasn’t long at all. Let’s start with the chicken paitan! When it first arrived it looked like this: a bowl brimming with milky white broth that melded perfectly with the bowl itself, as if there were an endless supply pouring out from within. The broth tastes like a traditional chicken paitan, but here’s the twist—it’s got a milky, creamy note to it. Remember those milk hotpots you’d get at a night market? Take that creaminess, crank it up 10x, and pour it into chicken paitan, and that’s exactly the flavor. It’s rich, yet it never overshadows the chicken’s own shine—like two leads on stage, arm in arm, dancing the waltz they do best.
Some folks might wonder: what’s the difference between this and a milk hotpot with a chicken flavor? The difference is in the mouthfeel. Every sip you take picks up a little of the foam it can produce, adding another layer to the texture so it never gets boring. On top of that, the sous-vide chicken comes off a touch dry and stringy at first—but I think all sous-vide is made that way on purpose, otherwise the meat would be falling apart by the end of the bowl and there’d be nothing left to eat. So my usual advice still stands: let the sous-vide chicken soak in the broth for a bit before you eat it, and it gets much better. The noodles are like any other budget-friendly ramen joint’s—solid noodles, but nothing distinctive. If I’m remembering right, you can ask for an extra serving. The only minor gripe I have is the bits of onion and green onion inside; partway through eating they felt a little out of place and didn’t quite play nice with the broth, but they do add to the bowl’s richness, so they earn their keep.
The char siu rice
As for the char siu rice, I’d call it just okay. The char siu is savory; they shred it into strips, lay it over white rice, drizzle on some sweet mayo, and then—Do Re Mi So!—cast a little magic and it becomes a bowl of char siu rice. The char siu on its own is a bit too salty, but it pairs nicely with the rice and the portion is just right. Trouble is, if you don’t manage the ratio carefully, you’ll end up with a lump of plain rice or a leftover pile of salty pork. Personally, I think that’s a bit of a downer.
Thanks for making it this far! If you enjoyed my post, go ahead and hit follow—we’re only 8 people away from hitting 100! And if you really don’t feel like following, there’s a little heart button right over there; tap it so I know you stopped by. If you’d like to support me even more, the link on my homepage will whisk you off to my blog, where just watching a few ads earns me a tiny bit of income. Thank you for giving me the motivation to keep going!
Here’s a ramen shop you might be on the fence about—I went so you don’t have to, and it’s right here!
Dcard –
https://www.dcard.tw/f/food/p/238786698
Pixnet –
Next up—where could it be?
