I was walking randomly around Taipei to get a feel of the place and managed to see this well-presented Japanese restaurant. Fortunately, it was not open at the time. However, I saved it in my Google Maps for future reference. I also discovered while putting it into my Google Maps that it had a 4.8 rating.

That evening, I decided to try Chikumo and see why it got that 4.8 rating. Chikumo has quite a few seats for single diners, which was a bonus as I was dining alone, and when you are seated, you get your own QR code. Initially, I thought the waitress would come and take your order. However, luckily, I saw someone else use the QR code to order off their phone. Thankfully, the website was in English, so I didn’t struggle with Google Translate.

I ordered the Tsukemen; deluxe fish, chicken broth, dipping noodles, and kaarage chicken. The kaarage chicken was very light and nicely cooked. It had a nice flavour, and it was nice that there was a slice of lime and kewpie mayonnaise. Also, there was some chilli that I added to it, which is the first time I have ever done this with kaarage chicken. I first dipped the chicken in the mayonnaise and then dropped it into the fresh chilli, and it was a perfect combination.

With the tsukemen, some thinly sliced beef and chicken pieces were on top of the cold noodles, and of course, the seaweed and boiled egg. Inside the broth, there were some chicken meatballs, small fatty pieces of pork, and finely diced pieces of red onion. With my first bite of the Ramen dipped in the gravy. I was super impressed. The flavours in the sauce were outstanding. There was this smoked flavour in the gravy, combining it with the umami flavours and saltiness of everything else. I was super thankful I found this place on my random walk. Every bite was different as you could add the thinly sliced smoky beef, the nice tender chicken, the chicken meatball, a fatty piece of pork belly or the thin slice of seaweed, which made the mouthful slightly more salty.

Overall, I was super impressed with this place. The food was so good, and even though they could not speak English, the service was excellent, and the website ordering made everything so much easier. I highly recommend this place to visit in Taipei, and maybe I might return during my stay here.

Address: No. 1號, Lane 3, Linyi St, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 100