Burnt Ramen @ 京都 五行 Kyoto Gogyo, Japan

I left Osaka for Kyoto on day 4 of my Japan trip and the first meal I ate was this famous burnt ramen at Kyoto Gogyo which I’ve heard plenty of. Why is it called burnt ramen? Well, it’s not that they burn the ramen (noodle). In actuality it’s the broth (shoyu/miso) that’s scorched in 300°C lard which resulted in an almost black-colored broth. I’m not sure if it’s healthy to eat it everyday but hey it’s my first ever visit, so why not? 😉

We arrived in Gogyo at 11.50am after half an hour of walking from our hostel. The plan was to have lunch there and visit Nishiki Market right after. In case the place is full, then we’ll have lunch at the market… ya know need to have contingency plan. Haha Gogyo opens at 11.30am and thankfully there were no queue! Okay, I find it weird since this ramen place is well-known. Inside, we were shown to our table and there were still some empty spots. Too bad the counter seating area was closed and therefore I can’t peak into their kitchen.

The vibe here is pretty relaxing. If I’m not mistaken, this used to be a house owned by a geisha.


Multilingual menu in English and Japanese.

I don’t fancy cold water so I requested for warm tea.

Before you start slurping your bowl of burnt ramen, make sure to request for a bib because you don’t want to soil your clothes especially this particular dark-colored broth ramen!

Kogashi shoyu-men (burnt soy sauce ramen) @ 890 yen. Savory, yummy and smokey (wok hei)!

Kogashi miso-men (burnt miso ramen) @ 890 yen. This one is even more savory and salty.

Gogyo tonkotsu-men (pork broth ramen) @ 890 yen. Another good score.

All of us ordered the regular-sized ramen which is more than enough to fill our hungry tummy. If you order special (extra 400 yen), you’ll be given additional egg and other ingredients.

Btw, I read that if you dine after 7pm, there will be an extra 400 yen per person charge. Besides, I notice dinner time is usually busy (source from google). So if you don’t want to pay the extra 400 yen (who wants to pay extra right?) and wait very long in line, why not visit in the afternoon for lunch?

All in all, it was a delicious ramen lunch. Problem is other ramen that I ate after that overshadow this one… including Ippudo! Still it was a great dining experience.

Photo taken after our lunch at 12.40pm. No queue again… as the latest queue group had went in.

Address:
京都 五行 Kyoto Gogyo
452 Jumonjicho
Nakagyo-ku Kyoto-shi
Kyoto
or
京都府 京都市中京区 柳馬場通蛸薬師下ル十文字町452

Tel: +81-75-254-5567
Opening time:
11.30am-3pm, 5pm-11pm for Monday-Friday
11.30am-4pm, 5pm-11pm for Saturday, Sunday, public holidays
Nearest station: Karasuma, Kawaramachi

Map: