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With matcha popping up all over our social feeds, the quintessential Japanese green tea is experiencing a global boom. More so in Japan, where news has been circulating that its popularity is causing a shortage of the green powder. (Long story short: it’s not, at least not at the moment; you just need to know where to look.)
Matcha is incredibly versatile. It tastes great with just hot water as tea, with milk as a latte, and especially in desserts from cakes to ice cream. But here’s the question: do you love matcha enough to also enjoy it in a bowl of ramen?
The newly opened Ramen Nishiki Sui in Kyoto’s Gion district claims to be the first ramen restaurant in the world to serve only matcha ramen. While matcha is usually associated with sweets, it can work beautifully in savoury dishes, too – in this case, adding depth and subtle complexity to the broth.
At Ramen Nishiki Sui, you’ll find four matcha ramen bowls. The classic Nishiki, named after the original sister restaurant, features that outlet's signature sea bream broth. But here, it's enhanced with matcha for a bolder umami flavour.
The Yuzu takes it a step further by incorporating the bright and refreshing Japanese citrus into the same broth.
The namesake Sui bowl is the restaurant’s signature dish. Here, the umami notes in both the matcha and the creamy white sea bream broth complement each other perfectly, while the powdered green tea also gives the soup a richer consistency. The noodles are topped with grilled sea bream, red pepper, deep-fried enoki mushrooms and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
For a more complex flavour, the Sho ramen adds aromatic sansho pepper oil to the matcha and sea bream broth. Toppings for this robust bowl include seared pork belly and edible flowers.
Located just a short walk from Gion-Shijo Station, Ramen Nishiki Sui is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 11am to 2.30pm for lunch and 6pm to 9pm for dinner.
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