Episode 2: Tenkaippin

Tenkaippin Ramen 

Location: 617 Kapahulu Ave, Honolulu, HI, 96815
(Kaimuki)
Phone #: 808-732-1211
Hours: Sunday - Thursday: 11am - 10pm
Friday & Saturday: 11am - 11pm
Price Range: $$, $11 - 30

Welcome to Episode 2! We had the privilege to dine at Tenkaippin Ramen, one of Honolulu's oldest ramen shops.  Tenkaippin has been in Hawaii for about 15 years, their first location was located in Waikiki, but in 2008 the owner, Scott Sukui, moved to there current location in Kaimuki.  Overall there are about 220 restaurant locations in Japan and only one in Honolulu.  They are known for their extra thick broth which comes from boiling chicken bones for 14 hours leaving lots of collagen.  Plus all of their ingredients come straight from Japan in vacuumed-packed bags.  Most people love to order their Konteri Ramen!  For some people they may not like the thick ramen at first, even the owner admitted he wasn't a fan the first time he tried it, but if you come back it'll soon grow on you and become addicting.

We ate at Tenkaippin Ramen around 7:30 pm on a weekday so there were a few open tables when we arrived.  But we noticed after we left their were a few people waiting.

As far as Tenkaippin's menu, they have a variety of different ramen flavors some of which include: konteri, miso, spicy tantan, paitan, salt, black tonkatsu, and even cold noodles.  If you aren't feeling like ramen that day, but got dragged along with your friends, you have the option of ordering garlic steak instead!  Another good thing about their menu is that you are able to personalize your ramen to your liking.  You're able to order extra noodles or extra toppings if you want, for example adding kimchee or aji tamago to your miso ramen.  If one bowl of ramen with extra noodles and toppings won't be enough for you they offer special sets for a good deal! Tenkaippin has five different special sets that come with fried rice, gyoza, fried chicken, or a combination of them with any bowl of ramen.  Personally I like to order the gyoza set and put it in the middle to share with the table.  To personalize your bowl even more, they have different sauces on the side to enhance the flavor of the broth with extra miso, garlic, shoyu(soy sauce) and vinegar.  Unlike some other ramen shops Tenkaippin offer alcoholic beverages, so its perfect if you like an Asahi to wash down your ramen with.

Ramen Hunter Takezo ordered one of their most popular broths, the Konteri.  He's a regular at Tenkaippin and says he craves the extra thick broth especially on rainy days.  Takezo added extra garlic just the way he likes to enjoy it every time!  He said he wanted to order gyoza too but wasn't as hungry as he normally was that day.  He still finished all his ramen only leaving a little bit of soup in his bowl.  

Ramen Hunter Kei wanted to try their miso ramen.  He has had Tenkaippin's miso ramen in Japan, but never in Honolulu.  Kei was skeptical at first, but then he soon became a believer that it was the same Tenkaippin in Japan!  It was very warming and reminded him of being back in Japan.  Since he's a miso enthusiast, he added more miso to his miso!  Just as thick as the broth is, so are its noodles, which Kei raved about.  It was so good that the table was silent for a little and all you could hear was them slurping noodles and soup.   

We all agreed that we prefer Tenkaippin's concept by offering basic ramen choices, and having the option to personalize it however we want.  Basically taking something simple and spicing it up to how we like it.  The fact that they have been open for so long proves everyone around the island loves it too!

Ratings:

Soup: 5/5

Noodles: 5/5

Service: 4/5

Value: 4/5

Overall: 4.5/5

**Click on the link to view podcast:**  

http://tim302.com/podcast/f2015/ramen/tim302%20ep2.3.mp4

Thank you for tuning in!