Why Ryuji Wrote That the Denny's × Iida Shoten Ramen "Wasn't to My Taste," and the 400-Yen Spicy Miso Ramen They Made Themselves

The trip was prompted by ramen YouTuber SUSURU, who had introduced this ramen as a sponsored PR video. The staff member watched it and wanted to try it, and Ryuji says they "came to find out the truth." SUSURU's video also included a message from the owner of Iida Shoten. Ryuji thought that, having been addressed that way, it might be hard to say anything negative. The staff member says they believe SUSURU's assessment was sincere.

The ramen was heavily promoted at the restaurant. They had expected around three varieties, but there were actually more. The prices read aloud were 1,496 yen including tax for the Five-Layer Miso Ramen and 2,398 yen for the Miso Chashu-men. Ryuji ordered the spicy miso chashu-men with a two-piece gyoza set (2,893 yen), and the staff member ordered the regular miso ramen. Ryuji also ordered a drink and estimated the bill would come to around 5,000 to 5,600 yen. The gyoza on their own cost 460 yen.

Many comments on SUSURU's video said it was "too expensive." Ryuji countered that it looks expensive at first glance but actually isn't. The reasoning: many Denny's customers linger for a long time and table turnover is poor, so the price should be thought of not as a ramen-shop price but as a café price. Ryuji explains that this is the same reason a single plate of pasta at a family restaurant is so absurdly expensive—a charge for being able to stay as long as you like is built in. Ryuji's own guess is that a miso ramen that would cost about 1,000 yen at a ramen shop has about 500 yen added for the right to occupy the seat. Ryuji also notes that since SUSURU mostly features ramen shops, it will always seem expensive compared to a ramen shop.

Right after that explanation, however, Ryuji also admits, "Even so, it's expensive." With a supervision fee added, even tantanmen would end up around 1,200 yen, and if you don't like that, you can just eat at a ramen shop. That said, Ryuji suggested that the whole point of this project might lie in deliberately doing it at Denny's.

According to the staff member, in SUSURU's video the owner of Iida Shoten especially recommended the chashu and the gyoza. The gyoza had been reworked many times, and the chashu is seared.

The spicy miso ramen arrived first without any chashu. A server took it back and returned with it a few minutes later. The toppings were bean sprouts and green onion, with a single slice of chashu. Its shape was irregular.

After tasting the soup, Ryuji called it "the salty type" and said it was unexpected, since they had assumed it would be mild because it was Denny's. The regular miso ramen and the spicy miso ramen tasted completely different, and Ryuji preferred the spicy miso. The spicy miso had strong heat and a strong punch.

Most of the complaints were about the toppings. Ryuji felt the chashu wasn't braised but had a firm, salt-cured-pork-like texture, like ham. The bean sprouts were unseasoned and couldn't be eaten without mixing them in well. The staff member agreed, saying the dish would be more balanced if the vegetables were seasoned a bit more.

On the spicy miso, the staff member said they wanted to taste a bit more of the miso's richness, and answered that they preferred the miso ramen. Ryuji praised the concept of creating punch with a Sichuan-pepper-like numbing sensation and aroma. The chashu was thick, and as family-restaurant roast pork it was tasty, but Ryuji's view was that it wasn't right for a ramen-shop collaboration. Ryuji also remarked that if they had supervised this and sold it at this price, there would be a huge uproar.

The staff member's verdict was "exactly as I imagined, for better or worse." They had come in expecting a family restaurant to be along these lines, so they weren't disappointed either.

Unlike the ramen, the gyoza were rated highly by both of them. Each one was large, packed with meat, and had thick, delicious skins. The staff member later said the gyoza left a stronger impression than the ramen.

What came to mind for both of them right after eating the ramen was Hidakaya. Ryuji repeated, "Hidakaya's is better." While cautioning that comparing them might not be fair since the price includes a supervision fee, Ryuji says Hidakaya's spicy miso ramen is tastier. Later in the video, Ryuji also praised Hidakaya, saying its noodles aren't soft, its toppings are generous, and although the noodles are cheap, it's still delicious. Ryuji went so far as to say that anyone who has been to Hidakaya will want to go to Hidakaya after eating this ramen at Denny's.

Ryuji framed it this way: the assessment changes depending on where you set your expectations. If you expect to eat ramen-shop ramen at Denny's, you'll probably be very disappointed. If your expectation is just that Denny's new ramen is reasonably edible, then it's "acceptable."

As for the soup, Ryuji said the miso used is probably good, and the soup alone deserves some credit. On the other hand, Ryuji pointed out that it was too neatly put together, lacked depth of flavor, and that the quality of the toppings was very low. Ryuji questioned whether this was acceptable as the taste of Iida Shoten, and worried that when a ramen shop supervises something, people come away thinking, "So this is what Iida Shoten tastes like."

Even so, Ryuji also said that delivering the same flavor across a nationwide chain with hundreds of locations is difficult, and that within the constraints of Denny's, they did a proper job. The version tasted during development may differ from what's actually served at the restaurants, and it could be a matter of differences in operations. While saying it would taste better if they made it themselves at home, Ryuji's overall verdict was: "It tried reasonably hard by family-restaurant standards, but by the standard of a ramen shop's supervision, it's completely no good." Ryuji has been eating a lot of supervised and chain-restaurant ramen lately, and says this ranks pretty far down among them.

However, Ryuji stressed repeatedly that this is a personal assessment. Ryuji's point was that not everything they say is right, so people should actually eat it and see for themselves, and it wouldn't be strange for some people to find it delicious. Ryuji also said that the ramen from other supervising shops has been delicious, so it's probably just difficult in a setting like Denny's.

When Ryuji posted these impressions on X, criticism poured in and it even made the news. The headline was apparently along the lines of "2,500-yen ramen wasn't to my taste." Ryuji explains that they never said it was "bad"—they only wrote that it "wasn't to my taste." The criticism included comments like "An influential influencer shouldn't say that" and "Don't you understand how the people who made it feel?"

What Ryuji emphasized first was that none of the people criticizing had eaten this ramen. It would be fine for someone to eat it and say, "It was delicious, are you an idiot?"—but please stop complaining without eating it. Ryuji said in strong terms that reviewing a movie you haven't seen or a restaurant you haven't been to is lame.

To the argument that they should consider the feelings of the people who made it, Ryuji replied that once you decide to release a product and sell it to customers, you have to accept both good and bad opinions. Ryuji says they themselves have never pushed back when someone said their food or products weren't tasty, because the person who paid money and chose to eat it is the one who is most right. Ryuji also confessed to having written the post because they couldn't hold back, thinking, "A shop that makes such delicious ramen made this?" Ryuji added that a few people wrote that this was exactly what they liked about them, and that this was a comfort.

In response to people asking, "Well then, how well can you make it?", Ryuji made the ramen they would serve if they were at Denny's. They recreated the spicy miso version, the one that had been tasty.

In the comments, there was information that the restaurant's chashu was apparently from Nippon Ham. Ryuji cautioned that they didn't know whether that was true, but recalled that it had the bouncy texture of chashu from a ham maker. Because they're used to homemade chashu, it felt off to them.

So instead of chashu, Ryuji used thick-cut pork loin meant for shogayaki. It costs about 180 yen, and there's no need to buy a block of meat. Just coat the meat in soy sauce and sugar and microwave it for just under two minutes; no MSG goes on the meat because plenty goes into the soup. After heating, cover it and let it sit so the slices stick together, and it becomes like a single slab of chashu. Ham-like chashu lacks meatiness and tastes like processed meat, so Ryuji says this is "100 times better."

Between takes, the conversation turned to how Denny's apparently isn't in Kyushu and exists in only about 16 prefectures. The two were surprised, since being in the Kanto region they had assumed it was everywhere. The reason Ryuji gave for focusing on a home version was that some people, such as students, can't afford a 2,500-yen bowl of ramen.

For vegetables, Ryuji uses Japanese leek, garlic chives, and bean sprouts. Because Iida Shoten's message mentioned that they were going for a stir-fried-vegetable feel, Ryuji decided the leek should be stir-fried. The restaurant version didn't have much garlic flavor and had few garlic chives, but Ryuji adds them anyway. The bean sprouts are tossed with a pinch of salt beforehand; osmosis draws out the moisture and makes them crisp. It's a method Ryuji has been using lately.

The leek is stir-fried in 1 tablespoon of lard to bring out a nearly charred, toasty aroma. Ryuji had identified the defining feature of the restaurant's spicy miso ramen as "a charred-like flavor." Ryuji's own guess is that since Denny's can't stir-fry as part of its cooking process, the toastiness is built into the soup. Doubanjiang is then added and stir-fried.

Instead of the usual white miso, Ryuji uses a dark rice miso. White miso would make it taste off, so this matches the deep brown of the restaurant's soup. If you want miso ramen instead, just use more miso in place of the doubanjiang. Next comes water and a little iriko (dried sardine) dashi (1/3 teaspoon). It's a recent technique: adding fish stock creates richness. Chūka Aji is added for pork flavor because the restaurant's soup didn't seem chicken-bone based.

MSG goes in generously too. Ryuji figures Denny's surely uses MSG as well. To the question of why granulated dashi wouldn't work, Ryuji explained that granulated dashi contains salt, so the more you add, the less miso you can use. A little sugar, about 10 shakes of garlic powder, and pepper are added. Ryuji chose powder because grated garlic would be too aromatic. Finally, about 1/3 teaspoon of Sichuan pepper powder goes in—the flavor that hit hardest on the first sip at the restaurant. Ryuji says, "Definitely add this." Ryuji had test-made this recipe once beforehand.

Ryuji deliberately chose thick noodles. Ryuji recalls the restaurant's noodles being medium-thick. This time, the chashu was forgotten in the spicy miso ramen, and the noodles had gone quite soft while it was being remade. Ryuji's thinking is that at a family restaurant, where you never know how long it will take for a dish to be served, thick noodles hold up better. Thick noodles also suit a rich miso soup better. However, Ryuji also said the restaurant probably uses frozen noodles, and that a family restaurant likely has no choice. Ryuji also understands that with elderly customers, it's hard to make the noodles firm.

When something is made nationwide, the flavor varies, so the version the owner of Iida Shoten tasted may have been made perfectly and been delicious. Ryuji also suggested that the owner might try going to a restaurant incognito sometime. Ryuji added that the noodles in the miso ramen they ate first weren't good either.

The bean sprouts and garlic chives go into the soup about a minute before the noodles finish boiling and are simmered briefly. The restaurant's bean sprouts had no flavor and required a "mysterious step" of deliberately submerging them in the soup while eating. Simmering them in the soup makes that unnecessary, but Ryuji says they fully understand that Denny's operations make it unavoidable.

The finished dish is, in Ryuji's words, a "2,500-yen ramen" that can be made for 400 yen. Cooking took only about 10 to 15 minutes. The staff member says the restaurant's spicy miso ramen didn't have much aroma, but this one has a strong miso aroma.

Both of them agreed in their tasting: "It's delicious." The heat was right at the limit for the staff member; according to Ryuji, they usually use about 1 teaspoon of doubanjiang per bowl, but this time used one and a half. If you don't like spicy food, reduce the doubanjiang and add more miso. The two say the balance is good because the chashu is actually meat. Ryuji reflected that the restaurant's chashu was so salty it was like salt-cured meat, which didn't go with the ramen. Ryuji also said that for people who go around eating ramen, it's probably less that it's bad and more that it feels off.

Even so, Ryuji called the idea of using Sichuan pepper "genius" and praised the owner of Iida Shoten as having great sense. Ryuji wants to keep this as a go-to spicy miso ramen recipe, and says they like it better than the copycat spicy miso ramen recipe they made before. If this came out at a family restaurant, it would get a standing ovation, but Ryuji also said it might be difficult with family-restaurant operations. There was also talk that changing the noodles might bring it quite close.

What bothers Ryuji is whether SUSURU really thought it was delicious. SUSURU described it as "ramen of a quality never seen before," but made no comment when eating the chashu. Ryuji speculates that SUSURU may have noticed its ham-like quality. Ryuji also says that SUSURU wasn't involved from the development stage, and since it's labeled PR, money was presumably involved. Ryuji joked that they themselves tell companies from the outset, "I won't take the job unless you let me be honest," which is why most restaurant chains dislike them.

Ryuji said it's rare for a famous ramen shop to collaborate with a family restaurant, and that the effort itself is important. Still, the feeling remains that it's a shame people will think this is what Iida Shoten tastes like. Ryuji closes the video by thanking Denny's and Iida Shoten, saying that thanks to them, a delicious spicy miso ramen recipe came out of it.