Today's location is the final member of the Katsuryu group in Tsukuba that specializes in chicken-only ramen (鳥だけ). In reality, it is a combination of seafood and chicken, similar the the other Katsuryu location nearby. As always, I had to get tsukemen. However, this time, I got ajitama (味玉) as a topping and a torched chicken bowl with mayo.
Let me start with the bowl. The sear/torch on the chicken breast and thigh added a nice note that complimented the shoyu glaze. The addition of kewpie mayo was added an ice creaminess that helped add additional flavor to the bowl. Finally, the green onions added a nice fresh component that helps lift the bowl quite a bit. Definitely worth trying at least once.
For the tsukemen itself, it definitely tastes very comparable to the original Katsuryu location. There's a bit of seafood note from the broth followed by the chicken broth. There was also an addition of julienne yuzu in the broth. The toppings are maybe worth talking a bit about however. The first topping is a poached chicken breast that was probably seasoned with just salt and cooked perfectly. The second piece was a chicken thigh prepared in a way to resemble cha-shu (including the rolling + the simmering in タレ or the sweet shoyu braise). This was quite interesting to see and appreciate how well the ramen chef executed this. Finally, the ajitama was cooked almost perfectly, with a nice jammy consistency on the side.
I'm going to give this place an 7.5/10. Overall, it basically was the same recipe as the original katsuryu location with the pork replaced with chicken so there's not too much to write home about unfortunately. It's still worth going if either one can't eat pork or if the other location is busy (or if you just want to have chicken!).
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