Hello everyone. I'm Takeya, a writer who does a lot of food reporting for Niigata Repo.

I visited Aeon Niigata Nishi today on a wild business trip and saw a huge tent in the car park and many people.

When I approached to see what it was, I found that yes, the Niigata Ramen Kingdom National Noodle Festival 2015, which is being held between 29 Oct and 3 Nov, was underway, and it was a project of BSN Niigata Broadcasting's popular programme 'Wednesday Watch Night'.

The system is that you buy a ticket for 800 yen each and visit the ramen shops in each tent. It looks like a festival and sounds like fun.

I am a festival lover and my motto is "If I come across a food event, I'll just attend it". I have eaten two meals to try it out, so here is a short report with photos.

Ramen 1: 'Naniwa no thick chicken pota-soba' (Osaka, Midorino Mutsuya Shoten).

１食目はこちら。大阪・緑乃互助商店さんの「浪速の濃厚鶏ポタそば」です。他県のラーメンを食べる機会があまりなく、しかも関西のラーメンとなればなおのこと気になる！ということでチョイスしました。名前の通り、鶏から抽出されたうま味が活きた、実に濃厚なラーメンでした。スープ、とろっとろでした。関西のラーメンには濃厚なスープが多いと聞きましたが、まさにイメージ通りと言いますか。麺によく絡む、口当たり濃厚な一杯でした。ちなみにお店の方によると、「鶏ポタ」というのは鶏白湯とポタージュをかけた造語とのこと。ポタージュ！道理でこの濃さ！…と膝を打ちながら頂きました。ちなみに、こちらのチャーシューはトッピングで、¥２５０でした。他には味玉（¥１００）、ジャンボ海苔（¥１００）があり、すべて乗った男気溢れる「全部のせ」は¥３５０と、お得。男性の皆様は是非お試しを（私はこの後、打ち合わせを控えていたので自粛しました。笑）。

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Ramen noodles eaten 2: 'Tonkotsu Ramen - German version' (Ramen Jun Frankfurt, Niigata).

Next is this one! This is Ramen Jun from Niigata. This is a well-known restaurant in Niigata. But wait a minute... Why is there a German flag and the word 'Frankfurt' dancing? I'm curious!

There is a queue of about 10 people waiting in line. As soon as we got in line, a lady from the shop staff said to us, "We can do German sausage toppings! How would you like it? She pushes enthusiastically. Dodo do Deutschland...? I was overwhelmed, but did as I was told and decided to have the Aged Bavarian & Coarsely Ground Frank (400 yen).

Germany! Germanic! The one that is pushing the "Germanic" feeling to the fore is Ramen Jun, which has opened a branch in Frankfurt, Germany. The name is also "Ramen Jun Frankfurt".

The display of the Frankfurt stall was very interesting. Very popular in Germany! Amazing..! By the way, the logo of the Frankfurt shop looks good. I'm sorry it's hard to see because I took a small photo, but the logo is "a swallow flying over the Japanese flag". Ramen Jun-san has its head office in Tsubame City. It is a chic design.

Here you go. Here is the second ramen meal. Tonkotsu Ramen - German version. It's already a great visual, which can be said to have already been served. Incidentally, I hear that the so-called sausages over there are called 'wurst'. The presence of the wurst is such that I can't find the words to describe it. Well, well, I've never seen it before.

The noodles are thin noodles that go well with tonkotsu. The soup is quite thick. The soup contains porcini mushrooms, which may have something to do with the fact that the soup is called 'Daichi no Tonkotsu' (pork bone marrow soup). This also adds a nice flavour. It was intertwined with the tonkotsu and produced a good flavour.

It may seem like I'm repeating myself, but the presence of wurst is not half bad..! The ramen itself is a normal portion, so it's easy to gobble it up. The ramen itself is a normal portion, so you can eat it with gusto.

Of course, the taste was great. I would have loved to take this alone as a souvenir... (laughs) This event runs until 8:00pm, so it's a great way to enjoy it with a beer. Let's go back during this period... (Laughs)

This was a food report of only two meals by a bad-ass food fighter. There were many other tasty ramen dishes. Why not visit Aeon Niigata Nishi during the event period?

Thank you for reading!