The cold has arrived, and with it, the instinctive need for comfort food. In Lisbon, KOPPU has responded to this change of season with a sophisticated and very specific offering: Yokohama Iekei Ramen.
It’s a bold promise. It takes 20 hours on the stove to refine this broth, resulting in a strict limit of 20 bowls served per day. Anyone who’s too late to order the 21st bowl will inevitably have to come back the next day.
But this new broth from KOPPU has a story behind it, and we went there to find out more… and to taste it, of course!
A blend of pork and chicken broths that’s here to stay
The story of this limited-edition offering begins in 1974, in Japan. Minoru Yoshimura, a former truck driver, decided to blend the intense creaminess of Hakata-style pork broth (tonkotsu) with the lightness of Tokyo-style chicken broth and soy sauce.
This alchemy left a lasting impression on the KOPPU team following visits to the Yokohama Ramen Museum in 2017 and 2024. The desire to replicate the original flavor in Portugal led to months of research by chef Rafael Gonçalves and Susana Diogo, the business owner, with additional consulting from Japanese expert Fabio Ishizuka to fine-tune the preparation.
We kicked off ramen season in the best possible way
We went to try this new offering to kick off our own ramen season, and the verdict is clear: the technical expertise is evident in every bowl.
The broth from this geographical blend surprised us with its rich flavor—it’s dense and creamy, yet light at the same time. The base of pork and chicken bones, combined with a tare made from soy sauce and aromatic chicken oil, ensures a perfect balance without becoming cloying.
The contrast of textures and flavors in the toppings takes the dish to another level. The generous slices of pork shoulder chashu are sure to satisfy, but one of the hidden gems is the marinated quail eggs. Served in sets of three, they’re small, dense, and offer a genuine burst of flavor with every bite, perfectly complementing the essential whole Ajitama egg.
The dish is rounded out with thin noodles, spinach, chives, and three sheets of nori. They fulfill their role impeccably, but take a back seat to the brilliance and intensity of the meats and the broth.
Yokohama Iekei Ramen is a limited-edition offering available at KOPPU only through October 31. If the dropping temperatures call for a comforting bowl, this is a trip to Yokohama worth taking—as long as you can be among the first 20 of the day.
Useful information:
Address: Rua do Salitre 131A (Avenida)
Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, 12 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. (Sundays until 11:00 p.m.)
Price: €18.50 (only through the end of October)
Reservations and menus: on the website
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