the ramen blog & other goodies!

There’s been a lot of ramen happenings in Southern California lately, some exciting, some maybe not.

As the weather is starting to cool down, ramen is heating up!

Rameniac covers Studio City’s Ramen Jinya.

Ramen Mottainai in Gardena is tripled teamed by Exile Kiss, Go Ramen, and Rameniac!

Happy Cup jumps into the food truck craze with a ramen food truck. Has anyone tried this place yet?

Yours truly covers two new OC ramen shops: Shizuma Ramen in Irvine, and La-Men in Buena Park.

The OC Weekly reports on a soon-to-open Okazu Ramen House in Orange.

And finally, Santouka Ramen in Santa Monica will be serving a limited edition (20 per day) Spicy Miso Vegetable Ramen 8/5 to 8/8, and 8/12-8/15.

I’m not quite sure what it is that makes them imitations (the ingredients are “wheat flour, water”)…or wait! I got it! Since noodle is singular, only ONE of the noodles is an imitation, and you just gotta find it. Good fun.

A reader from Autumn Heart writes:
I’m doing a painting of a Ramen package (I picked Maruchan chicken flavor.)  It looks pretty lonely sitting all by itself, however, so I’d like to surround it with rays extending from it like a sun, some related imagery.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

After some digging, we determined that it was not Nissin’s Chiken ramen, and she continues:

The image I’m thinking of is somewhat similar to this…

This is also going back to c.1983, so the possibility that it’s gone for good is quite real.

So can anyone out there help out? Show off your instant ramen knowledge! Leave your suggestions and/or questions in the comments below.

Mizuki ramen, judging by some of the comments, isn’t getting a whole lot o’ love. But if you’re not put off by that, and want some cheap grub, they’re offering $5 shoyu, miso, or tonkotsu ramen from 11am to 1pm on 6/24 as part of their World Cup celebration. Go (insert your favorite country here)!

Ramen fans might’ve heard of Ippudo, Shigemi Kawahara’s (aka the “Ramen King“) famous hakata ramen chain in Japan. With one location in New York, West Coasters have been left out…until now. For 4 days only, Ippudo’s original Shiromaru Motoaji Ramen will be available at the Costa Mesa Mitsuwa supermarket during their Japanese Gourmet Foods Fair.

…I guess it’s about time I write my review of Ippudo NYC from my ramen escapades in New York…

Dates: 5/27 Thursday to 5/29 Sunday
Location: Mitsuwa Marketplace
665 Paularino Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 557-6699

Is there really an iPad at Ramen HQ? No…at least not yet. This teaser is just a pic of us goofing around with one at our local Apple store this morning. (Thanks for the free coffee and Krispy Kreme, Apple! Sorry we didn’t buy anything today!) It sure is purty…a bit heavier than I expected, and I had a lot of trouble typing with one hand while holding it with the other, especially with the space bar, which I kept missing. I guess you really need to hold it in your lap or set it on a desk. But it’s still very lust-worthy. We’re not a gadget blog, but if this was a ramen, it’d probably get a 9 out of 10!