Cold Tsukemen @ Reimenya, Otemachi, Hiroshima

 

Well now, who knew noodles would make another appearance this fast? But then again, this is not just any other serving of ramen. Rather it is the unique and pretty cousin of the ramen bowl, which is the cold dip tsukemen. 

I recently got back from a trip to Hiroshima not long ago, and being the exploratory eater that I am, I had to try some of their local noodles. And after some research, cold dip spicy tsukemen seems to be the forte of this town. Long gone were the anguish and nuclear fallout that ravaged this city. It is now a bustling metropolis with a lot of fun things to see and to eat too. 

Inviting. 

One shop that specialize this local noodle dish is Reimenya. Not related to Rayman, although that would make a cool backstory, the noodle shop serves cold dip noodles with a huge helping of veggies. The dip consists of a vinegar and chilli base sauce. And at first glance it was the healthiest looking noodle dish I ever had. Along with the noodles was a pile of boiled veggies and layered with boiled meat slices, which is their answer to charshu. 

Healthy?

Despite having an appearance like it is from some hipster health bar, this was full of flavour. The dip was spicy and nutty as it was made with a lot of sesame and chilli oil. I was also surprised at the spice level. I think I can hold heat very well but I found myself ticklish after I just ordered medium heat. Cannot imagine what high heat would be like. 

A spicy and oily bath 

The noodles were cold (go figure right) and they were a bit bland on their own, but once mixed with that spicy and decadent dip, slurping was just a no brainer. It just works. And the dip works like a salad dressing for the veggies that accompanied the noodles. They were more like vessels that carry that intense and impactful sauce.

A close up of the noodles, before I started messing around

This was an odd noodle slurping experience, but in a good way. Contrasts of temperatures, flavours and textures were aplenty here. But everything seems to work well.  And its not too bad as well, as my bowl stood for 890 yen. Now that is synchronicity. If you are ever in Hiroshima, why not give it a go? The address is as follows:

2 Chome-4-6 Otemachi, Naka Ward, Hiroshima, 730-0051

Another angle of the front of the house.