When a reporter for popular social news site BuzzFeed ate at Ramen Jiro recently, Japan’s netizens had plenty to say about it!

Ramen Jiro is a ramen chain in Japan which is fairly notorious for being extra salty, garlicky, and stomach-stuffing in comparison to some of the county’s more refined ramen shops. In fact, when we took our lovely RocketNews24 Japan Wish competition winner Ashley to the chain back in July this year, she could barely handle the full, greasy impact of the experience (though she gave it her best shot with her winning “gambaru” spirit!). In essence, Ramen Jiro is sort of a “ramen on steroids” kind of deal—you get more grease, volume and (sometimes) regret for your buck, and for some of Japan’s ramen connoisseurs, that’s just what they like.

But what happens when Japan’s netizens get wind of a foreigner struggling to get to grips with a bowl of Ramen Jiro’s finest? Well, it turns out – they love it! When reporter and Deputy Global News Director at BuzzFeed, Ryan Broderick, visited Ramen Jiro last week, he wrote an article for the site providing a blow-by-blow account of his battle with a giant bowl of the salty stuff.

When the article was picked up by Japanese websites, netizens were quick to weigh in on every aspect of his report, from debating the ethics of Ryan not finishing his entire bowl to offering tips on chopstick techniques (speaking of which)!

In Ryan’s report, he pointed out that the noodles seemed to expand in circumference during the course of the meal. In his own words: “As I championed through the massive bowl of meat and noodles, I noticed that the noodles were getting bigger because they were absorbing the broth! This thing just wouldn’t die.” Commenters on Japanese site Yurukuyaru advise Ryan to work on his chopstick speed, as ramen noodles aren’t meant to sit in the broth for too long and must be quickly slurped before they begin to lose their structural integrity.

Ryan also lamented the effects the ramen had on his sinuses, reporting: “Ramen makes your sinuses run like crazy! And there are NO napkins at Jiro. So halfway through, I looked like an insane person.” Netizens were quick to point out that almost every ramen place has tissues near the counter, with one netizen confidently explaining: “Foreigners don’t carry handkerchiefs, so that’s why that happened.” (Note to travellers, pack tissues just in case your face starts leaking in Japan!) And there’s also apparently no need to worry about the supposed rudeness of blowing your nose at a ramen restaurant—another commenter claimed that “Nobody will mind if you do that at a ramen place, since no one will notice over all the slurping anyway.” Good to know!

Commenters also lamented over Ryan’s inability to finish every last drop of his “Large” size bowl. “Don’t order the Large the first time you go to Ramen Jiro!” wailed one commenter. “Those who order Large and don’t eat it all are just the worst!” moaned another. “Hubris!” barked yet one more. Another decided to make an international issue of it by bellowing: “Foreigners don’t know what they’re getting into!”. Yikes!

Still, the overwhelming majority of commenters were tickled by Ryan’s report, with one commenter claiming “This is a fine report“, and another gushing: “We should be commending his valiant effort!” Another confidently claimed that “For all the complaining in this report, you know he’s going back again next week.”

See you there next week, Ryan?

Source: Yurukuyaru, Buzzfeed
Main Image: Twitter/@broderick