Another day, another new ramen shop! Ramain39 (named after the intersection they’re on), opened just a couple of months ago and still has a slight “new store” smell. Ramain39 specializes in tonkotsu, so I went with the black ramen version. I was warned it’s spicy. Bring it! The fully loaded ramen comes with black bonito,…
I know, I know…I really shouldn’t be expecting much from a sushi place, let alone a sushi place inside a supermarket. But I mean, it is a Whole Foods, and I’ve had decent to great food in their food court. I ordered the spicy tonkotsu ramen, and watched them make it to order. That’s a…
New York. 5 days. 1 stomach. 8 bowls of ramen. Day 5. I was actually not planning on having ramen today but, as luck would have it, I was early for my plane and Jun-Men was only 3 blocks away! I was able to get a counter-side view of the open kitchen. Hello, blow-torched chashu!…
New York. 5 days. 1 stomach. 8 bowls of ramen. Day 3. Bassanova Ramen is almost legendary in the accolades it’s received. Bassanova Tokyo has been named one of the best ramen shops in Tokyo by CNN and the New York Times has declared Bassanova NY as one of the top 10 ramen shops in…
New York. 5 days. 1 stomach. 8 bowls of ramen. Day 2: dinner time! I’ve been looking forward to tonight for a long, long time. If you’re a ramen fan, you’ve probably heard the story of Keizo Shimamoto, a ramen fan who took his love of ramen to the next level. A few years ago,…
Popular Japanese ramen chains have been slowly breaking into the American market and recently Hakata Ikkousha has joined in with with the soft-opening of their award-winning hakata ramen. They offer 5 types of tonkotsu ramen…a standard tonkotsu, shio (salt) tonkotsu, black tonkotsu (with fried garlic), miso tonkotsu, and the fearsome-sounding “god fire” with 4 levels…
Ken Ramen opened up about a month ago near Triangle Plaza in Costa Mesa and today’s perfect ramen weather! I tried the ramen trifecta: gyoza, fried rice, and the tonkotsu ramen. The gyoza was really good: perfect texture and a juicy and meaty but not too dense filling. And the fried rice was great. The…
One of the first things you’ll notice when you at Ikemen is the posters proclaiming their mantra: “No Ramen, No Life.” Owned by Shigetoshi “Sean” Nakamura, also known as one of the “Four Ramen Devas” in Japan, Ikemen is no run-of-the-mill ramen shop. I’ve been looking forward this for months after rameniac broke the news…
“The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here!” That was my reaction when I found out that Ramen Yamadaya finally opened in Costa Mesa. The renowned ramen shop opened its first store in Torrance almost a year and a half ago and is already on its 4th location, finally, in Orange County. Set…
Hmm…a plaza with a “Big Wong” next to a massage parlor featuring blacked out windows. Ah, this brings back memories… I don’t usually frequent these kind of places, but this is Vegas. Though Go Ramen! gave it a somewhat lukewarm review, long-time reader “Peter” has been urging me to try this place. Monta Japanese Noodle…
Specialty food trucks are all the rage, and finally there’s a ramen truck in OC. Billing themselves as “The first Ramen on wheels in OC,” Ranchan Ramen has been on the road for just under 2 months. It’s hard to miss their big pink truck with their ramen-slurping pig. I trotted up to the truck…
Toki Underground is now open for ramen and more. (Actually, I got their e-mail over a month ago. My fault for being so late.) The ironically named (they’re upstairs above what looks like a pub) specializes in tonkotsu ramen, and they also have a vegetarian option. The design and layout of the place (not to…