Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Tsurukamedou

Tsurukamedou means the hall of crane and tortoise. 
Ramen chef Masayuki Nomura founded Tsurukamedou and envisions the restaurant as a place to cultivate the great spirit of Tsuru and Kame. The crane flies gracefully and harmoniously to different continents in search of breeding grounds during its long migratory route. the tortoise  moves slowly but definitely and with all the life's energy and purpose. 


After more than 8 branches in Japan, Tsurukamedou open their first branch in Jakarta at the streets of Taman Ratu, Greenville. The moment I saw their IG couple weeks ago, I have been waiting impatiently to taste one of the well known ramen in Japan for its authentic Hakata style super Tonkotsu ramen. 

Tonight, a day after their soft opening, Hubby and I went there for dinner. Being strategically located in the busy streets with various of diners, the place was not hard to notice. I found the whole design concept quite earthy with the warm grey stone color on the entrance welcoming us inside the natural soft wood interior. Simple, clean, modest. As always, the loud Japanese shout outs which I can never remember greeted us and we were ushered to a seat.

The menu offer two types of broth, pork and chicken with 2 options for each. I chose Tonkotsu ramen (39k) and Hubby went with Tonkotsu shisen ramen (39k) which was practically the same broth only saltier and spicy. The super friendly waiter explained to us beside the saltier and spicy broth, my Tonkotsu ramen comes with more complete toppings from two slices of charsu, a slice of nori, half tamago, and couples of kikurage, while the Tonkotsu shisen comes with lesser toppings, 2 slices of charsu, bean sprouts and negi. We added a plate of tamago (5k) and Spicy tori karaage (28k) for our side dish. 

Tonkotsu shisen ramen
Tonkotsu Ramen
Spicy Tori Karaage... Good seasoning, well fried.

Our orders were promptly served. Sipping the broth, I got to understand on what they said about the soup is made purely from bones, cooked at high temperature for over 16 hours, it was not that addictive but very much enjoyable that I can't stop until the bottom of the bowl slowly getting clearer, and I know... that's the clue, I must stop. I like how savory, thick and the right amount of saltiness on the broth. I love the charsu, probably one of the best charsu I found in Japanese ramen which mostly cooked too mushy and sliced too thin. This one was cut in thicker slices, enough for us to feel the meat. 
The Tonkotsu shisen tempted me with the redness, unfortunately it was way too salty. I'm not sure whether it was supposed to be that salty or it was one of our bad night where the chef put too much salt inside. Personally, both of us prefer the Tonkotsu ramen. Oiishi!  

With only a day after their soft opening, I was impressed with the staff's attentiveness and promptness. Despite of the too salty Tonkotsu shisen, we enjoyed our dinner very much. My hearty congrats and best of luck to them... See you on my second visit. 


Tsurukamedou
Jl. Ratu Kemuning Raya Blok A2 No. 8A
Taman Ratu, Greenville
West Jakarta
Ph. +6221 56940711
 

2 comments:

irene said...

its this delicious as like marutama ramen/ikkousha? judge from the picture you taken looks son drooling! but so many ramen restaurant didnt really serve mouth watering pork bone soup, so i just aware and want your opinion! :))

Ivy said...

Though personally, i still prefer ikkousha, tapi yg ini reccomended koq. Yup, skrg byk ramen baru yg kuah ramennya so so aja, tapi Tsurukamedou punya pork bone soup reccomended. Worth to try ;) let me know suka ga ya klo tar uda coba hehe