There once was this ramen-ya in San Jose called Do-Henkotsu. What made this place unique among a dozen or so ramen-ya in the area was its regional color and the owner’s (whose name I never got to know) pride in it.

The ramen itself was pretty good, maybe not the best, but different from most of the Kanto-style ones. The shop also displayed quite a few posters and offered magazines about Tokushima, a town in Shikoku where the owner is from (it’s where I learned about “Awa Odori”, a local festival whose dance I recognized immediately while watching “Kaze no Haruka”).

But the best part about the restaurant was the “itame”, stir-fry rice dishes. I still remember first trying the “nira itame” (stir-fry with leek, vegetables and pork over rice), then “kimchi buta itame” (stir-fry with kimchi, vegetables and pork over rice), and then finding out that “kimchi don” was the same as “kimchi buta itame”, but cheaper! :p Man, I really really loved “kimchi don”.

Then it closed, in early 2007 and is replaced by another (more generic) ramen-ya, Kahoo in March 2007. This place serves pretty standard ramen with their own “spicy” versions.

I’ve seen the chef of the new restaurant before. He used to help out the Do-Henkotsu’s owner. I think I first saw him late last fall. I was thinking he must be helping out and was secretly hoping that this new guy might be a new “franchiser”…

But alas, he was just learning the ropes, and the transition plan must have been going on for quite some time. I am just sad that I didn’t have a chance to say thank you and goodbye.

So, thanks for all the kimchi-don and other itame I enjoyed. If you ever plan to get out of a retirement, again, let me know.

As I was looking for different ramen places around the area, I found this shop last December. It might have been around longer, but I didn’t know about it.

Tokushima Ramen Dohenkotsu (徳島ラーメンどへんこつ) is in the same complex as the Mitsuwa market, so the traffic seems to be relatively high. It is “hidden” onto one corner, but it’s not that difficult to find the place (right next to the PC Bang).

Tokushima is a prefecture in Shikoku (四国). It seems the owner is from the prefecture and the shop claims Tokushima ramen is different from others, and you can kind of see that. I can’t tell the difference about the noodle itself, but the chaashuu is definitely different. It looks close to marinated thick slices of bacon.

I think the soup is a pork flavor (豚骨, tonkotsu, “pork bone”) and they have only one flavor. They have two bowl sizes: medium and large. I think their large is about the same size as or a bit smaller to that of Ryowa.

As I mentioned in another post, it’s interesting to note that in this shop, ramen is also called chuuka-soba (中華そば, “chinese noodle”) and you can see the term all over the shop walls.

Beside ramen, they also have some stir-fries and stuff (a la Chinese). I haven’t tried them though.

I like their ramen. Their flavor is much stronger and their soup has more body than Ryowa’s, I think. However, they are pricier.

They have bars (for about 10?) and several tables (5 or 6). It’s a bit small. They have a satellite TV showing Japanese broadcasts (whatever is on, usually) and a small collection of manga (with a tongue-in-cheek warning to return them to the shelf when done).