Kobe Beef Ramen Kakehashi｜Center Plaza Basement Level 1, Kobe Sannomiya

The Kisshokichi Group, which operates several Kobe beef specialty restaurants in the Sannomiya and Motomachi area, has opened a Kobe beef ramen shop, so I decided to check it out.

The restaurant is located in the basement dining area of Center Plaza. It has both counter seating and table seating, and the space is fairly large, so you can probably get in without much of a wait. Since it was my first time visiting, I was thinking of trying their standard ramen, but they had a limited-time menu item called Shrimp Tsukemen, which really caught my attention, so I decided to go with the shrimp tsukemen instead.

However, since I was there, I still wanted to have some meat, so I added the set of beef sushi and also ordered Kobe beef chashu as a topping. After waiting about five minutes from ordering, the tsukemen and the beef sushi were ready.

First, I take a sip of the soup.

Since it’s made for tsukemen, the broth is a bit on the stronger side, but the soup—made from shrimp extract and finished with a sprinkle of sakura shrimp—delivers a rich shrimp flavor that really comes through.

The noodles themselves weren’t particularly distinctive, but they were solidly above average and simply tasted good. As for the Kobe beef chashu topping, since it comes from a restaurant specializing in Kobe beef, the natural sweetness of the meat spread through my mouth the moment I took a bite, and it was absolutely delicious.

The beef sushi had a different flavor profile from the chashu. It was tender yet still had a satisfying bite as meat, and when eaten with a bit of wasabi, the flavor blended nicely with the richness of the fat, making it very enjoyable as well.

As for the tsukemen itself, compared directly with specialty tsukemen shops it does fall a bit short, but as a place where you can enjoy it together with Kobe beef, I think it’s worth recommending. Also, based on how good the Kobe beef chashu was, I feel that a salt-based ramen would probably pair even better with it, so I’d like to try that next time.