Ok it's been a while I know but it doesnt mean I was too busy to explore new intresting and delicious food for you culinary explorers out there..... Last week I was shopping when I felt a bit hungry. Yeah we all know shopping can make you build quite the appetite. And I realized I just had to eat a good bowl of ramen noodles. So I searched on google maps where to find a ramen speciality restaurant. I didnt wanna go those all you eat places as I only wanted ramen. I stumbled upon Hinoki which was close to city-centre and most importantly close to where I was. Now Hinoki is not located in the centre of shopping heaven, no you need to be a bit outside of that. One small street outside of the path of shopping galore and you find it. On the opposite of Hinoki is also a great Chinese restaurant by the way but that is not our topic of today. Back to my craving for ramen.
Now you may wonder why i love noodles so much and specifically ramen noodles. Well I went to japan more then 3 times and I love japanese food (see my other posts about that) but I absolutely am addicted to ramen. I love the variaties of ramen, the presentation and the broth they serve the noodles in. You have to, you HAVE to respect the broth. it gives the whole dish so much flavour and because a bowl of ramen noodles comes in so many variaties I just cant refuse it! So there it is, plain and simple. Now before I wonder off about my travels around Japan I just stick with this cosy but good restaurant that is Hinoki.
The restaurant looks very cozy and small but I like that as a lot of ramen places in japan are small (or even smaller) like this one. The interior is welcoming and luckily not the typical western japanese style much locals like but a good ambiance for the dish they are serving. The background music is relaxing and not like some other restaurants where you are to relax and eat but have to put up with dance music or whatever. So my first impression is a nice one and I noticed it's rather quiet. This had nothing to do with Hinoki being not a good restaurant but it's late afternoon and most people are at school or at work.
The menu is not very big but offers enough choices of ramen dishes. You can get the Miso soup ramen with of course lots of miso and tofu goodness. different ramen dishes with vegetables for the vegatarian people among us. The wellknown tonkatsu ramen and of course the yummy spicy ramen noodles with minced pork and a good amount of different vegetables and lets not forget the most dishes are also topped with a nice boiled egg which has absorbed the flavours of the broth. You ramen fans know what I am talking about.
Besides ramen noodles they also serve a range of side dishes like cocked soyabeans and egg with spring onion. Gyoza is also good, they like small meat filled japanese dumplings which goes along nicely with a beer or two. Also on the menu is takoyoki which is a piece of squid inside a ball of dough with herbs. Takoyaki is a very popular snack from Osaka. If you love terriyaki flavour well you got your wish as they have tender chick which is marinated with this flavour.
The last one I will sum up for now out of the small side dishes is a strange one considering the type of restaurant....kimchi! Yeah indeed that heavenly delicious spicy fermented cabbage that the koreans love. And I do too. I had my fair amount of kimchi when I visited Korea several times. But it is a bit odd to find kimchi in a japanese ramen noodle shop. For a lot of local Dutch people it would be okay as they often dont know kimchi is from Korean and ramen noodles are from Japan. For culinary explorers and food lovers like me it is a bit strange.
Well quickly I got my eyes on a spicy ramen noodle dish. Those who follow my blog know I have a thing with asian AND spicy food. With this dish comes a stack of delicious fresh vegetables like spring onion, cabbage and sesame. For this dish I get minced pork meatloaf in a spciy sesasme miso broth. Luckily for my stomache I didnt need to wait long. Within 5 minutes i got this bowl of noodles in front of me and for a second i thought I was back in Japan.
As you can see above the bowl of noodles looked so good it was almost a legit crime to start eating. The aroma of the seasme, spicy broth was soooo inviting that I decided to first try to broth. The broth tastes very rich. I almost feel it tastes like Tom Yung Goong soup but more heavy. Tom Yong Goong is a thai shrimp soup which is also very spicy but also refreshing due to the coconut. However this broth is too heavy for that but I do love the flavour. It's an intense broth, soothing and makes you feel you eat comfort food. The ramen itself taste very fresh, have a good crunchy texture and cooked perfectly. No soggy mashy noodles, no these noodles could easily be served in one of the million noodle bars in Japan. The crispy fresh veggies, the perfect ramen noodles and the broth which makes you wanna eat more is a complete meal as i was stuffed to the max.
The whole experience of this bowl was great, like having a great dinner at your grandmother's home and she made your favourite food. So far this is the best noodle bar I ate in a long time!
My craving for ramen noodles was stopped and the bill which followed was not an awful surprise. For the regular size bowl of ramen you pay 12,50 but for about 2 euro more you get a big bowl and hell yeah how I wil lbuy that one next time haha. Also next time I will try the sidedishes again. Expect an updated version of this post in the future. Oh the sidedishes come with a price between 4 to 8 euro depending on your choice. Considering the portion it is a fair deal although I advice to be a bit more cheaper.
So if you love ramen noodles like I do, if you love Japanese food in general like I do and if you are really hungry sometimes, like I do, then try out this hidden gem a little outside the centre of Rotterdam. It's on walking distance so no need to drive all the way there. Park your car in city-centre and walk to Hinoki. When you are stuffed and satisfied it's good to take a walk to your car. Hinoki is one of those authentic japanese (small) restaurants that knows how to serve good, comforting, japanese food. I found my perfect bowl of ramen noodles in The Netherlands.
Leave a comment below if you need more info or let me know how you experienced Hinoki if you ate there before.
Website: http://hinoki.nl/
Average price range: 15 - 25 euro per person (including a drink)
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