01 / ABOUT THE PLACE
About this place
A pronounced soy-sauce flavour meets substantial noodles at Gensan, where the menu also includes rice dishes made with the ends of roast pork. The chuka soba is served in a clear broth simmered with chicken bones from jidori, a Japanese variety of locally raised chicken, and vegetables. Its soy-sauce flavour is described as gentle and rounded, and a regular serving costs 800 yen. Diners have praised the pairing of a well-defined soy-sauce broth with chewy, extra-thick noodles; some add extra spring onions. It may suit those looking for a richly flavoured soy-sauce ramen, though perceptions of saltiness and intensity vary. The menu’s description of a mellow broth and reviewers’ accounts of a sharper flavour offer different points of reference when choosing.
For a more substantial bowl, consider the chashu ramen, generously topped with pork-belly chashu. The pork is seasoned with the broth in mind and slowly infused with savoury flavour; a regular serving costs 1,100 yen. Choose the chuka soba to focus on the noodles and broth, or the chashu ramen if you want the roast pork to take centre stage.
To add a little rice, try the heta nigiri (2 pieces, 400 yen), a rice ball mixed with chopped roast-pork trimmings. One diner who ordered it with chuka soba said its seasoning was just right. The menu also offers heta don (450 yen), a rice bowl topped with the pork trimmings, spring onions and a house-made sauce. Gensan is in Tamatsu, Higashinari Ward, Osaka City. It opens for lunch and also serves in the evening on every day except Sunday.
