無垢-ツヴァイテ Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum: Muku Zweite

The last time I was in the Ramen Museum was 20 years ago; I was so small. I'm still small, but the Museum doesn't look as big as it did before.

Muku Zweite is from Frankfurt, Germany. Muku means "pure," so we are getting the most unadulterated form of Zweite on the planet. Master Yamamoto used to be a salesman at a food trading firm in Japan, but he went to Germany ten years ago and opened his ramen shop in 2010. His knowledge in ingredients has guided his basic philosophy; he persistently uses only local foods or ingredients. Zweite is already popular in Germany, and Muku will only be in the Museum until 2015.

We ordered the Muku Ramen and Miso Ramen.

The Muku is supposedly a complex blend of pork and chicken bone broth, but all I could taste was grease. This was completely iekei, the greasy pork bone soup that originated in Yokohama. However, Muku isn't smelly and doesn't leave that unpleasant sticky residue in your mouth like iekei. It's a much less offensive taste, and is probably a bowl that has been adjusted to please most Japanese tourists, but because of this, the bowl lacks impact.

The Miso was much better. Zweite burns the miso with a mix of cabbage and bean sprouts in a cauldron of fire right before your very eyes. The smell and taste are wonderful.

The noodles are supposedly made from durum wheat flour, which is often used for pizza or pasta. But to be honest, they were a little limp. 

As a whole, this ramen should be a hit in Germany, but I was personally expecting something more creative considering the long lines. Here's hoping that Muku evolves just like a good ramen shop should. 

The Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum is about a 5-minute walk from Shin-Yokohama station. All shops are open from 11am-11pm. You can access the website at:

http://www.raumen.co.jp/english/

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