It's been three months since the ramen shop "Tsugaru Niboshi Chuka Katsaburo" (Nouchi, Aomori City, TEL 017-762-0565 ) opened.

This restaurant serves soy sauce-flavored Chinese noodles made with a blend of dried sardines such as ``hirako'' and ``anchovy.'' It opened on July 7th near Shin-Aomori Prefectural Sports Park. The store's name, Katsuzaburo, was chosen by the owner, Hiromi Kodera, after his grandfather's name.

Kodera says, ``My grandfather loved sardine ramen, and when I was little he often took me to a ramen shop in the neighborhood.Thanks to that, I developed a love for sardines, and that gave me the opportunity to open my own ramen shop.'' '' he recalled.

Starting in 2015, Kodera ran Kanaboshi (Yaeda), a ramen restaurant that serves ramen with a rich soup made from dried sardines and tonkotsu soup, for three years. Although it was popular with young customers, they started thinking that they wanted customers of a wider range of age groups to come. ``I researched and made soups because it was my preference, but the more I made soups, the deeper the depth of soups became, and in the end I ended up with a light soup.Now, my grandfather and I as children would eat it together. "I try to make simple ramen that people of all ages can enjoy," says Kodera.

The store area is approximately 17 tsubo. There are 6 counter seats, 8 table seats, and 12 raised seats. The menu is ``Tsugaru Niboshi Chinese Soba'' (medium = 700 yen, large = 800 yen). The topping menu includes ``char siu'' (250 yen), ``negidaku'', ``flavored egg'' (more than 100 yen), and ``abura'' (free of charge), as well as ``egg yolk meat rice'', which is made by putting egg yolk on top of crumbled char siu, and ``egg yolk meat rice''. We also have rice menus such as ``Sujikomeshi'' (350 yen or more) and ``Tarakomeshi'' (300 yen). ``Since we named the restaurant Tsugaru, we wanted to offer a menu that uses sujiko,'' says Kodera.

Mr. Kodera says, ``Three months have passed since we opened the store, and the number of repeat customers has been increasing.I'm also happy that there are many elderly customers.I want to continue to pursue new flavors.Even people who don't like dried sardines should give them a try. I want it,” he says with a smile.

Business hours are 11:00 to 16:00. Closed on Wednesdays.