Hakata style Ramen in Yokosuka

There are many great ramen restaurants in Yokosuka and everyone is bound to have their favorites. As many of you probably know, and what is perhaps one of my favorite things about ramen, is how much the flavor of the dish is influenced by the various regions of Japan that have their own unique way of preparing the dish.  The restaurant I'm reviewing today specializes in the Hakata style of ramen which hails from the Fukuoka Prefecture of Japan and is easily identified by its milky white broth.

The name of the restaurant is Kaedama Shokudo and is located two blocks off of blue street (in between Iwamatsu and Ebisu-ya on the Yokosuka Food Corner map) and has a few things going for it that make it rather unique.

Look for the pinkish colored building with lots of flags and pictures of ramen on the outside and you'll have found Kaedame Shokudo.  There is parking right next to the restaurant as well as across the street.

This picture does a great job showing the milky white broth that Hakata style ramen is known for.  The color comes from the fact that this style of ramen boils pork bones for hours to achieve an intense flavor and milky white color.  As you can see in the bottom left of the picture, there is also a black and red ramen served...more on this later.

As with many other ramen shops, you order via a vending machine at Kaedama Shokudo.  They did not have an English Menu; however one of the workers was quick to come over and help with the ordering.  Once you go there once or twice you'll know your way around their machine but for now, the most important thing to know is that the very top left button is the classic/normal Hakata style ramen, the one directly below that with a little red oval and white kanji on it is the Spicy Miso ramen, and the button to the right of that is the "Black Ramen". 

The black ramen, pictured above, uses the same milky white broth as a base and is then seasoned with "Mayu".  Mayu is sesame oil in which garlic has been slow cooked until it's achieved its black color and then blended together.  This style of ramen is from the prefecture of Kumamoto and is growing in popularity along with the Hakata style.  I don't think it's typical to have this much mayu added to the ramen because other restaurants I've been to drizzle the mayu on the broth so that you can very clearly see the white broth.  This is one of the things that makes Kaedama Shokudo unique.

Two last items of note about this ramen restaurant.  First, each bowl of ramen comes with a kaedama which is an extra serving of noodles that is served to you upon request. Secondly, you get to choose the firmness of your noodles at this restaurant.  Above the counter, there is a banner which has the different levels of firmness listed which are; barikata (extra firm), katame (firm), futsu (medium), yawa (soft), and bariyawa (extra soft).