Nagoya Cochin Kamatamaya Ramen - Whatsamatta? Ya Chicken?

Finally! A ramen for chicken lovers!

Greetings Ramenators,

This time around, we visit a local ramen shop that hopefully won't leave you crying, "fowl". Sorry. I just couldn't help myself. The local treasure in question is the poultry-lover's dream, Nagoya Cochin Kamatamaya Ramen. While many ramen shops have a pork/chicken/fish/whatever wanders into the trap-base to their soups, Kamatamaya Ramen is all about the cockerel.

Nagoya Cochin Kamatamaya Ramen - Near Kurumamichi

Giving you the bird...so to speak.

The Nagoya Cochin is a local breed of chicken dating back hundreds of years that has garnered acclaim among livestock circles for producing flavorful and tender meat. This restaurant uses Nagoya Cochin chicken to make a tori-gara (chicken broth) soup to base its menu upon.

The main flavor choices are miso or shoyu (soy-sauce), served regular or Kamatama (broth-on-the-side).

 The Soup.

The soups are light and salty, with a nice poultry tang. That is, unless you order from the Kamatama Ramen menu. In those dishes, the miso or soy sauce is served in a bowl with the noodles and toppings for you to mix up and enjoy, but you are given a pitcher of tori-gara soup to add as much or as little as you like to control how tangy or chickeny(?) you want your soup to be.

A pitcher of hot chicken soup. How awesome is that?!

But Wait...There's More.

One thing that really stood out when trying out the food here, was the toppings. Specifically, the charshu (roasted meat) topping. Charshu is almost always pork, but in keeping with the poultry-dedicated menu, the charshu served at Kamatamaya Ramen is made of smoked Nagoya Cochin chicken.

The Bird is the word.

All things considered.

 Kamatamaya Ramen is a nice change of pace from a lot of the main fair. It's light, tangy, and the smoked chicken really is a delicious soup topping. While I still favor tonkotsu (pork-marrow) as my soup of choice, I really enjoyed the light, delicate flavors of Kamatamaya. Check out their menu and a map on their website here.

Kamatamaya's Shoyu (Soy Sauce) Ramen

Happy Ramening!