"They serve what!?" was my reaction when my friend told me about the BBQ Pork Bowl at Kamitora…read more神虎拉麵. That's right, barbecued pork over rice, served at a ramen joint. I had to find out for myself.
Kamitora is on Amoy street, exactly one street next to another ramen shop, 黑龍拉麵 Koku Ryu Ramen. Kamitora seems to be the more popular one as there was a small line when I arrived. After a 10 minute wait, we were seated and served.
I didn't know what to expect of a Japanese BBQ Pork Bowl, at a ramen place. Since I was thinking the local Chinese ones with a fried egg on top, drizzled with fragrant soy sauce. Only found in Cha Chan Teng's and bbq meat shops. It's a favorite local Hong Kong dish, immortalized by Stephen Chow's God of Cookery.
The Japanese version also had the fried egg on top, with a veeery runny yolk, meant to be pierced and mixed with the sweet soy sauce in the rice. The bbq pork was neither Chinese style nor the slices like in the ramen - it was cubes of fatty pork that were melt in your mouth. I took a spoonful of the rice, egg and soy sauce mixture, topped it with a cube of pork and egg. Heaven. An instant contender to my " what would be your last meal on earth" question. At Hkd 45, 1/3 of the price of the Kamitora Special, this was a great deal too. Next time, I'm ordering two.
The Kamitora Special was their classic noodle, with all the condiments, and extra slices of pork. It was decent, but the pork was very lean for some reason, had all the fat parts been used in the rice? It was decent, though I think Butao and Ichiran have more memorable noodles. But in all fairness, I was still being overwhelmed by the BBQ Pork Bowl. Mmm.