Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lunch is Served
Men-Baka Ramen Restaurant (めん馬鹿)
Kyoto, Japan
I'll follow up my post about Restaurant “Kiev” with another Kyoto restaurant of note, Men-Baka (“Noodle Idiot”, めん馬鹿一代), which Damien Douxchamps brought me to.
The proprietor saw my big camera and warned that I'd be too dangerous to take photos of my own ramen, so suggested that I take the opportunity to photograph a pair of high-school boys receiving theirs.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Protective Aprons for All
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Typical Kitchen
of a ramen-noodle joint
Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
In All Seriousness
applying a hot pink hair scrunchies
The proprietor was a riot. With the dead-serious voice reserved for topics of grave concern, he had the boy with longish hair pick out a colorful hair scrunchie and proceeded to apply it to his front bangs, citing the impending danger of the flames.
Of course the little bit of hair didn't make the slightest difference one way or the other, so the scrunchie and the grave concern was all just a joke, but I don't think the kids realized it because the man was so serious. It was pretty funny in retrospect.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Serious Instructions
The set of instructions one receives before the meal is important, and long... keep your hands behind your back, don't flinch, don't touch the bowl nor the table until given the okay, etc. At this point none of us knew what exactly was coming, so we all listened carefully.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flaming Pan
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Spout of Flame
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
This is why you don't try to put out an oil fire with water
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 cropped — 1/640 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pretty
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 cropped — 1/500 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Slightly Different Color Balance
balanced for the flame instead of the sunlight streaming in
Then it was time for the second boy's noodles...
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/1600 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
See No Evil
the second boy didn't see either display
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ready To Eat
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 cropped — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Speechless
the middle girl in the background
Then it was my turn. This flaming ramen is called negi ramen (ネギらめん), or “scallion ramen”.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Scallions
I didn't get to photograph my fiery display, but I could pull out the camera once things had settled down.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1600 — map & image data — nearby photos
My Bowl of Negi Ramen
If you have a camera, the proprietor takes a picture for you with your camera, directing you with the same grave seriousness to a ridiculous mouth-agape pose. I'd seen it with the two high-school boys, so was able to temper my pose a bit, but it's still silly:
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/320 sec, f/1.4, ISO 3600 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Bite
photo by Masamichi Miyazawa
You can find plenty of videos of this event on YouTube.
The ramen was not bad, but aside from the fun spectacle of its preparation, was otherwise not outstanding.
The flames look really bad. That flat orange that reminds of old ACR profiles. Are these the ColorChecker-generated profiles?
Well, thanks for the kind words. /-: All photos except the one are colorchecker color balanced against the shade streaming in from the front of the store. For the record, I like the look of the flames (despite that the dynamic range is vastly more than a digital image sensor can handle). —Jeffrey
So cool! I want ramen now…
Those flaming shots are AWESOME! The Proprietor looks like a son of the gods. Nobody looks canned or posing in any of the shots… save for you.. but you earned it.
Seriously its amazing how in one shot your in a Kyoto Ramen shop and then the next in the fiery bowel of seventh hell. ( I love See No Evil, -wouldn’t fault you at all for photoshopping out the lightbulbs from above victim #1 at all)
I will chop my own hand off if we don’t visit that ramen shop on my next trip to Japan.
Also, please tell us how you took those shots. I see the exposure settings, and I’m surmising you put everything on Auto and then did rapid fire. Impressive photos, camera and shooter.
I generally shoot in manual-focus aperture-priority mode. I knew something was coming so had it on 10FPS rapid fire. It makes for a nice movie, though the flames move too quickly make the movie smooth. —Jeffrey
Wow, that is… really something. It must have been quite an experience! Your photos of the flame display came out very well.
That last photo… priceless! 😉
Really nice shots! You can feel the heat in the expression on the face of the students 🙂
Wow those fire photos are soooo awesome! Thank you for an awesome post!! Hope I would be able to find the place in Kyoto next week 😀