Latest news with #GyutamaStaminaMazesoba
SoraNews24
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Yoshinoya's new ramen doesn't smell like it tastes【Taste test】
We head to the beef bowl king to try their first attempt at beef mazesoba. We recently found out that Yoshinoya was adding ramen to its menu, and it was surprising for multiple reasons. First, Yoshinoya is, quite famously, Japan's favorite beef bowl joint, and they've never had a noodle dish served by the entire chain before this. Second, Yoshinoya was promising that it would be a 'refreshing' meal that's 'perfect for the hot summer.' Looking at preview pictures of the Gyutama Stamina Mazesoba, though, we weren't so sure about that claim. See, in Japanese foodie jargon, 'stamina' is often used to refer to garlic, which is indeed thought to help cope with heat exhaustion by some people in Japan, but isn't exactly a taste that most people would describe as 'refreshing,' and the pre-release photos were giving us the impression of a boldly flavored but also heavy-feeling meal. But hey, what were we going to do, not eat ramen? So when Yoshinoya started serving the Gyutama Stamina Mazesoba on July 4, our Japanese-language reporter P.K. Sanjun sauntered over to try it for himself for 767 yen (US$5.30). Before we get to the taste test, though, let's unpack that name. Gyu means 'beef' and tama here is short for tamago, or 'egg,' and the Gyutama Stamina Mazesoba's toppings include Yoshinya's famous simmered beef strips and an egg. Mazesoba, meanwhile, is a kind of no-broth ramen where you mix (mazeru) everything together in a bowl before you start eating. You might feel a twinge of disappointment when the tray placed in front of you doesn't look like the picture on the poster, but that's because the garlic sauce and egg come in their own separate dishes, and you combine everything yourself. ▼ That's better. Speaking of the sauce, it's pretty pungent stuff. As P.K. poured it into his noodle bowl and began to stir with his chopsticks, he could feel the sharp garlic notes prickling his nose. The garlic aroma was strong enough that P.K. braced himself for a powerful punch to his taste buds as he took a bite, only to be swiftly startled by a much smoother flavor profile than he'd expected. That doesn't mean that it's bland, and the flavor that's here is quite nice. It's just that the way Yoshinoya's mazesoba looks and smells had P.K. building up an intense image for how it was going to taste, and when what he actually got was the exact opposite, it was kind of hard for his brain to process right away. But then again, the flavor is entirely in keeping with how Yoshinoya itself told us the Gyutama Stamina Mazesoba was going to be: 'refreshing' and 'perfect for the hot summer.' There are ways to dial things up a notch here, and if you want to Yoshinoya recommends adding a side order of extra green onions with rayu (chili oil) or kimchi to the bowl. But for what it is, and for what Yoshinoya says it is, its first noodle dish does the trick. Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
Japan Today
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
Yoshinoya to start serving ramen this week with new beefy 'mazesoba'
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24 There's no dish Yoshinoya is more strongly associated with than gyudon (beef bowls), and no restaurants is more strongly associated with beef bowls than Yoshinoya. The mental connection between the two is so strong that it's not uncommon for people in Japan to mash the words together and refer to the chain and its flagship food as 'Yoshigyu.' But this summer Yoshinoya is stepping out of the beef bowl box, and while they're not ditching beef in their newest offering, it'll have no rice, because it's beef ramen. Specifically, this is mazesoba. The maze part comes from mazeru, meaning to stir or mix, and while 'soba' by itself usually refers to buckwheat noodles, it can also indicate ramen noodles (as it does in the stir-fried ramen noodle dish yakisoba). Mazesoba is a type of non-soup ramen where instead of the noodles floating in liquid broth they're placed in a bowl with sauce and other ingredients, and you stir everything together just before eating so that the flavor mixes throughout. For its Gyutama Stamina Mazesoba, the key co-star for the noodles is the same strips of simmered beef that Yoshinoya fans know and love from the chain's beef bowls. Accompanying them are sliced onions, diced leeks, tempura flakes, an egg, and a thick-consistency spicy garlic sauce, which is served on the side so that you can add as much or as little as you want. Yoshinoya says the result is tasty and satiating, but surprisingly describes the flavor as 'rich yet refreshing.' Considering that just about every ingredient in Yoshinoya's mazesoba is meaty, pungent, or fried, it's probably best to take that 'refreshing' claim with a grain of salt, but the bold and filling parts of the promise definitely sound plausible, and with Japanese folk wisdom holding that garlic is supposed to boost physical endurance, the Gyutama Stamina Mazesoba, priced at 767 yen is set to go on sale July 4, right as the midsummer heat starts showing up. Source: Yoshinoya via Hachima Kiko Images: Yoshinoya Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- Yoshinoya beef ramen? Gyudon king's sister chain opens first Tokyo branch【Taste test】 -- Japan's beef bowl king, Yoshinoya, releases new line of canned, ready-to-eat beef bowls -- From beef bowl to beef pouch? Taste testing Yoshinoya's instant gyudon packs External Link © SoraNews24
SoraNews24
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Beef bowl king Yoshinoya to start serving ramen this summer with new beefy mazesoba
It has beef and it comes in a bowl, but it's not a beef bowl. There's no dish Yoshinoya is more strongly associated with than gyudon (beef bowls), and no restaurants is more strongly associated with beef bowls than Yoshinoya. The mental connection between the two is so strong that it's not uncommon for people in Japan to mash the words together and refer to the chain and its flagship food as 'Yoshigyu.' But this summer Yoshinoya is stepping out of the beef bowl box, and while they're not ditching beef in their newest offering, it'll have no rice, because it's beef ramen. Specifically, this is mazesoba. The 'maze' part comes from mazeru , meaning to stir or mix, and while 'soba' by itself usually refers to buckwheat noodles, it can also indicate ramen noodles (as it does in the stir-fried ramen noodle dish yakisoba). Mazesoba is a type of non-soup ramen where instead of the noodles floating in liquid broth they're placed in a bowl with sauce and other ingredients, and you stir everything together just before eating so that the flavor mixes throughout. For its Gyutama Stamina Mazesoba, the key co-star for the noodles is the same strips of simmered beef that Yoshinoya fans know and love from the chain's beef bowls. Accompanying them are sliced onions, diced leeks, tempura flakes, an egg, and a thick-consistency spicy garlic sauce, which is served on the side so that you can add as much or as little as you want. Yoshinoya says the result is tasty and satiating, but surprisingly describes the flavor as 'rich yet refreshing.' Considering that just about every ingredient in Yoshinoya's mazesoba is meaty, pungent, or fried, it's probably best to take that 'refreshing' claim with a grain of salt, but the bold and filling parts of the promise definitely sound plausible, and with Japanese folk wisdom holding that garlic is supposed to boost physical endurance, the Gyutama Stamina Mazesoba, priced at 767 yen (US$5.30) is set to go on sale July 4, right as the midsummer heat starts showing up. Source: Yoshinoya (1, 2)via Hachima Kiko Images: Yoshinoya ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
