Some restaurants you drop into once out of curiosity, others become regular haunts. Mujinzou Ramen Restaurant is definitely one of the latter and is the "go-to" restaurant if you want a great bowl of noodles in this area. It is part of a chain, so if you are yet to have the pleasure, you might find one nearby. Our local branch is in Muikamachi, just off Route 17 and shares a car park with a McDonald's.
The big selling point at this ramen joint is the special recipe that they use to make the noodles. They add persimmon juice into the mix which makes them high in polyphenols, giving them a unique texture and taste. I flunked chemistry but can certainly vouch for the texture and taste part.
There is a large selection of ramen and side dishes on offer year round, but one of the main reasons to drop in regularly are the seasonal specials. With the colorful leaves out in all their splendor at the moment, there was a choice of autumn flavors on the menu. I went for the mushroom ramen which had five different types of mushroom in a rich soup with a big slab of butter on top - perfect for packing on the calories in preparation for a long, cold winter ahead. As promised, the polyphenol-rich noodles were slightly chewy and delicious. During a previous visit during the summer months I was lucky enough to have a cold tomato ramen salad that was wonderfully refreshing and again delicious.
An advertisement on the wall for vegetable dumplings looked too good to pass up. These consisted of a variety of chopped, mixed green vegetables wrapped in a spinach leaf and then steamed in the dumpling skin. These green tinted gyoza were served with a spicy miso dipping sauce and were fantastic.
There are almost fifty of these restaurants around the country and as with all good chains, you can also buy their produce to take home with you. I'm no noodle expert but always enjoy the offering at Mujinzou - whether this is because of the addition of persimmon juice to the noodles, who knows?
