the ramen blog & other goodies!

Quick, describe the taste of chicken to someone who’s never had chicken before…having trouble?

Just as chicken seems to be one of the lowest common denominators in food flavors, so is the “instant ramen-ness” of Sapporo Ichiban’s original flavor. The “original” flavor doesn’t belong to the typical ramen flavor groups: it’s not shoyu, not tonkotsu, not shio, not miso. There is a slight miso-ness to the soup base flavor, but it’s barely discernable underneath the barrage of onion-ness, white pepper-ness, MSG-ness, and the plain original-ness of Sapporo Ichiban’s popular instant ramen. The curly instant brick noodles with a good chewy texture and the non-descript tangy aftertaste rounds out Sapporo Ichiban’s Original flavor experience. Ramen purists will turn up their noses at this instant ramen, but to a whole generation of college students and anyone who’s ever been on a tight food budget, this is a decent, affordable, and welcome alternative to Top Ramen.

Brick ramen rating: 6/10. Click through for the nutritional info. (more…)

More than one person has taken me to task for not trying the tokusen toroniku (choice fatty pork) ramen at Santouka. Interestingly, not one of my friends think Santouka is very good. But then again, none of them have tried the toroniku either. So finally, I convinced two other ramen-loving (well, ramen-enjoying anyway) friends to go to Santouka and splurge on a toroniku free-for-all. (more…)

Rumor had it that Daikokuya was opening in “the OC” in the beginning of March. I happily went there two weeks ago only to find a Daikokuya sign and an empty store. Darn. Finally, after asking around, I found out that the official grand opening was set for “some time in April” (this was from two different Daikokuya employees, but neither could give me a firm date) and that the owner was currently in Japan buying decorations. The good news though? The location is already up and running and open for business!

The ramen shop does look a bit unfinished, with no real signage or posters; there’s only a little hand-written blackboard menu on the counter. The only items on the menu (so far?) are the Daikokuya ramen, a shredded pork bowl (a rice bowl with shredded pork), and the gyoza. (more…)

Off the Vegas Strip, away from the 99-cent shrimp cocktails, the iron chef restaurants, the all-you-can-eat buffets, things become a bit quieter and less boisterous. Drive a few miles away, and you’ll come across a quiet strip mall that could just as well be located in Anytown, USA. This is the kind of deserted strip mall that makes you feel like you might get mugged if you’re there after the sun goes down. In this unassuming strip mall, you’ll find an interesting mix of an Ethiopian restaurant, a kosher restaurant, a bagel shop (Harrie’s Baglemania…it’s damn good!), and–a ramenya?! Score! (more…)

Kohryu Restaurant has gone through not only a change in ownership but a complete remodel since my last review. After their grand re-opening in January, I thought I’d give them another try. We arrived in time for a late lunch, hoping there’d be less people…wait, why are all these people huddled outside (it was really cold that day). We ended up waiting for 45 mins…45 mins!?! (Apparently, my idea of having a nice hot bowl of ramen on a windy cold day wasn’t quite as inspired as I hoped.) My expectations soared as my stomach growled even louder.

When we were finally seated, I was eager to order the special-order paiko ramen. Alas, not only do they not serve paiko ramen any more, but I didn’t even see paiko-don on the menu. Still determined to try something new, I ordered the “new” Koi (”love”) ramen. (Hmm…I dug out an old pre-ownership-change menu from over a year ago and noticed that Koi ramen is still there, under the “new” section.) (more…)

(Disclosure: I’m very sleepy, so if this review comes across as a bit loopy…well…you’ve been warned.)

The-wife-is-away-so-I’m-eating-ramen-all-week week continues with this special ramen. It’s got “PH adjustment” and “antioxidant”! Really! Scroll down and look at the label for yourself! Oh, It looks like the tonkotsu ramen I had a few days ago also had antioxidant (yes, it’s also singular). Who says instant ramen isn’t healthy?

I don’t know why you readers voted for us to show nutritional info on the ramen we review. I think I was happier not knowing what I was eating.

I was excited when I opened this bowl ramen…it came with four packets of accoutrements! Somehow, my expectations go up with every packet I see in my instant ramen. Oh, and ginger gets its own packet…yay…(I don’t like ginger, which always makes my wife roll her eyes and ask “are you really Asian?”). On the plus side, the soup powder has a very strong pork smell that reminds me of Chinese “pork sung,” which, according to wikipedia, is also known as “pork floss.” That sure sounds appetizing.

The noodles were decent, with a nice hard texture, and had a hint of instant-noodleness to them. The toppings gave the ramen good flavor, and the tonkotsu soup was rich and well-balanced. Being negi ramen, there were lots and lots of green onions, which suits me just fine. The strange thing was, while the soup had good flavor, you could barely smell it, which was especially surprising after the strong smell of the soup powder.

Overall, this was a slightly above average ramen. If you like green onions, it’s hard to go wrong with negi ramen. Marutai’s negi ramen gets a 7.