Tsukemen Oku｜Sannomiya, Kobe

I visited “Tsukemen Oku,” located on Kitanozaka in Sannomiya.

From Sannomiya Station on any line, cross the crosswalk on the north side of Amore Plaza and head up the slope. You’ll see a karaoke shop, and the restaurant is just to the left right before it.

There is a staircase leading down to the basement, and when you go down, there are two restaurants inside. The one at the back is the shop.

Inside the restaurant, there were about 10 counter seats and around 3 or 4 tables.

The first thing I thought when I entered the restaurant was that it was stylish. Perhaps it used to be a bar in the past given the location, but it had a nice atmosphere underground—quiet and refined—almost like a place where you would have cocktails, yet here you are eating tsukemen in that kind of setting.

When you enter the restaurant, the first thing you do is choose your meal from the ticket vending machine. This time, I ordered the Ajitama Chashu Tsukemen with an extra topping of roasted seaweed. There were many other tsukemen dishes that looked delicious as well, so I’d like to try them next time.

After handing the ticket to the staff, you wait for your order to be prepared. This restaurant also has an open kitchen, so you can watch the cooking process, which makes the waiting time enjoyable even if you come alone. After waiting for just under 10 minutes, the dish is ready and served to you.

First of all, the bowl used for the noodles is different from an ordinary one, with a unique shape that opens at an angle. This makes the noodles easy to pick up and also looks very visually appealing.

The noodles themselves are slightly thinner than typical tsukemen noodles, but they are smooth and flavorful, making them very delicious. This restaurant also lets you choose between a regular and a large portion. I ordered the regular size this time, but the noodles were so easy to eat and had such a good texture that I feel I could have finished a large portion without any trouble.

What makes the dipping sauce unique is that it contains motsu (offal). It was rich in fat and carefully prepared, so there was no unpleasant odor and it was very delicious. There was also a menu item called “motsu tsukemen,” so I think motsu is one of this restaurant’s signature ingredients.

It was my first time trying tsukemen with motsu in it, but it didn’t clash with the seafood-based flavor at all, and I really enjoyed the texture and taste of the motsu.