the ramen blog & other goodies!

I wish I knew about this before I got married! Natsuki Sakai and Ai Ito had their marriage ceremony at the Asahikawa Ramen Village, a ramen theme park in Hokkaido, Japan.
The groom, Sakai, told guests “We want our marriage to be as long and endless as a noodle and stay as hot as the broth in which noodles are served.”

Apparently, the only reason Sakai and bride Ai Ito could be married at the ramen village is because Sakai’s father is the head manager. I wonder if the RSVP cards read “shoyu or tonkotsu” instead of “chicken or beef”.

No word on how many nights the groom had to spend sleeping on the couch for pulling this off.

Source: Mainichi Daily News

It’s a shame that ramen yatai (street vendors) are disappearing from the streets of Japan. Catch a glimpse of a dying breed at Tokyo Daily Photo.

Even the Wall Street Journal is catching on to ramen. Check out this article, complete with video, about Ivan Ramen, the ramen shop in Tokyo opened by New York chef Ivan Orkin!

Ever think of the instant ramen industry as good corporate citizens? Ever thought they might be as greedy and corrupt as the music or oil industry? If you think the latter, you may be more right than you thought!

You’ve probably already seen Transformers, the movie? How about transforming ramen? via Canned Dogs 2007

Surveys galore about what Japanese people think about ramen (and an animated Cup Noodles commercial)

My wife and I recently went on a road trip to Portland, Oregon, and of course, I had to do some ramen research. After spending time surfing the web, I sadly announced that there were *zero* ramen shops in Portland (aspiring ramen entrepreneurs pay attention: there is no competition in Portland!). But wait…what’s this? “Guess what, dear…we’re making a stop at Eugene!” “Eugene? Where’s that?” “It’s about 2 hours south of Portland…and there’s a ramen house there!”

As luck would have it, we arrived shortly before they closed for the afternoon. Phew. That’ll teach me to not call ahead. Unlike most of the other ramen houses we’ve been to, this one had a huge gas station-type sign on the corner (which makes sense considering it’s located on the site of a former gas station), and a fancy logo. From the outside, Toshi’s Ramen looks more like a trendy pub than a cozy ramen shop. Inside, the sparse, modern decor gives off a coffeehouse feel. And the menu…the glorious poster menu features pictures of every combination of ramen goodness available here, beckoning hungry eaters. Read the rest of this entry →

No, we did not get bought out by a daytime talk show and no, People magazine is not sponsoring us. Here’s one woman’s account of how she lost 10 pounds by eating ramen! (Oh, and the picture above…*not* the woman on the ramen diet!)

Are you curious about how the ramen in a can tastes like?

Everyone’s heard of the famous hot dog eating contests. But is the world ready for a ramen eating contest?

Picture this…you’re in Japan…armed with a laptop and a wi-fi connection, and you want a bowl of ramen, but you don’t know where to go. What to do, what to do?

Sony is probably the last company you would turn to in the quest for ramen, but leave it to them to come up with the X-Ramen Radar, a software program designed to help ramen fans find their favorite food by cross-referencing your wi-fi location with a database of ramen houses. Crisis averted!

Sony, my hat’s off to you!

via gizmodo

Time for an “old school” ramen review. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a bowl of Sapporo Ichiban. I used to eat this as a kid and especially enjoyed the beef flavor, but for some reason stopped eating it as I grew older. Eating this ramen brought back pleasant childhood memories…too bad the noodles don’t live up to the memories.

The dominant flavor of the soup is the onion powder, with hints of garlic and msg, and just a touch of white pepper. The noodles are chewy and thick, almost udon-like in texture, and unfortunately tasteless. Oh, and there are a few onion flakes scattered throughout.

If you just want a quick bowl of noodles, these will do. My wife says these are “yum but not yum-o.” I say they get a 4.