[Closed] Konoshima Otatsu - Experience the nostalgic taste of Kasaoka City once again! Aiming for the flavors of a famous restaurant, with added individuality to Kasaoka ramen.

Interview with the manager of Konoshima Otatsu, Habara Toshihiko

At Konoshima Otatsu, you can enjoy delicious and beautiful Kasaoka ramen and abura soba.

I spoke with Habara Toshihiko about his background, his passion for ramen, and his future plans.

Originally a chef at a Japanese cuisine and kaiseki restaurant

I want to know the background of the opening.

Habara (honorific omitted)

Originally, I was a chef at a Japanese cuisine and kaiseki restaurant called Otatsu located in the Sanyo Ryokan in front of Kasaoka Station.

The ryokan was established shortly after the war, and Otatsu has been a long-established restaurant since its founding.

In fact, Otatsu served Kasaoka ramen, which was very popular.

Later, the ryokan and Otatsu closed in June 2019 (Reiwa 1).

At that time, through an introduction from an acquaintance, I joined a company located in the current Kamishima area.

Then, the company opened a restaurant with me as the manager.

That restaurant is Konoshima Otatsu.
It opened in March 2020 (Reiwa 2).

By the way, what is the origin of the restaurant's name?

Habara

The name of the former Otatsu comes from the nickname of the founder.

Her name was "Tatsue," so it became "Otatsu."

By the way, she was born in the year of the dragon, so her name contains "tatsu."

The ramen bowls at our restaurant have illustrations of dragons drawn on them, which is derived from that.

Konoshima Otatsu also carries on that tradition.

I want to eat the nostalgic ramen loved by Kasaoka citizens once again

What was the trigger for serving Kasaoka ramen?

Habara

There was a ramen shop called Saito right next to my house.

It was a famous shop loved by Kasaoka citizens, and I also loved Saito's ramen.

It was the ramen known as Kasaoka ramen.

However, due to old age, Saito went out of business.
I think it was around 1997-98.

At that time, I thought of serving Saito's ramen flavor at the Japanese restaurant where I was working as a chef.

I have always loved ramen and often went out to eat it.

When I was young, I worked in marine research in Tokyo and traveled a lot for business, eating ramen from various places during my trips.

There are many delicious ramen shops, but what I really wanted to eat was Saito's ramen.
For me, it was like a model of ramen flavor.

So, with the feeling of "I absolutely want to eat that taste of Saito again!", I decided to create ramen that captures Saito's flavor.

What was difficult about recreating the nostalgic taste?

Habara

The owner of Saito was not someone who taught others about flavor.
Since the shop is no longer there, it was difficult to investigate the flavor.

So, while recalling the taste, I repeatedly adjusted the flavor and attempted to recreate the nostalgic taste.

Finally, I was able to create a ramen that I was satisfied with, and I put it on the menu around the end of the 1990s.

That said, I have no way to confirm whether the taste is accurately recreated (laughs).

It might be more accurate to say it is a ramen that pays homage to Saito's flavor.

And based on the ramen aimed at Saito's flavor, I added my own touch.

By the way, the hand-sliced menma that we still serve now is something I incorporated from Saito.

Customers from all over the country visit for Otatsu's ramen

Was Kasaoka ramen well received?

Habara

Yes, thanks to that, we gained many fans.

Around the same time, a ramen boom occurred, and customers came from all over the country, including Tokyo and Osaka, to eat ramen at the shop.

From the early 2000s, Kasaoka ramen began to gain attention as a local ramen, and many customers started visiting the shop specifically for Kasaoka ramen.

In addition to the regular Kasaoka ramen (chuka soba), we also offered various seasonal limited ramen, which were also popular.

We even tried experimental ramen.

Like cold ramen or the world's smelliest ramen made with surströmming (laughs).
I also tried to recreate the flavor of instant ramen from scratch.

Creating a restaurant where you can enjoy ramen while relaxing

What are the features of Konoshima Otatsu?

Habara

It is a spacious restaurant where you can enjoy ramen while relaxing.

There is a lot of nature around the restaurant, and you can hear many birds singing.

When customers park their cars in the parking lot and head towards the restaurant, many of them stretch.

It seems they are truly relaxing, and I think it's a scene that symbolizes our restaurant.

We have both tatami and table seating, and families with children are very welcome!

Also, I think it is the nostalgic taste of ramen that Kasaoka citizens can enjoy.
That said, there are many people who no longer know Saito.

Looking to revive "limited ramen" in the future

I would like to know about your future plans and what you want to try.

Habara

Once the COVID-19 situation stabilizes and customers become stable, I would like to try various seasonal limited ramen at Konoshima Otatsu.

Also, there is currently construction for the Route 2 bypass nearby.

Once the bypass is completed, access to our restaurant will improve even more, so I think it would be nice to hold events.

Our restaurant has a very large parking lot.

It might be interesting to utilize this large space for a flea market.

From the Writer

The local ramen known as Kasaoka ramen, the nostalgic taste of a famous Kasaoka shop, and the manager's background and sensibility in Japanese cuisine.

These elements beautifully blend to create the unique and delicious ramen that is the charm of Konoshima Otatsu.

Please be sure to enjoy the ramen at Konoshima Otatsu at least once.

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