the ramen blog & other goodies!

In case you missed the previous ramen festival in February, Mitsuwa japanese supermarket is having a Hokkaido Fair, featuring two of the previously featured ramenyas and apparently introducing highly rated Santouka Ramen to the San Jose Store.

Shoyu ramen specialist Asameshi Maeda Honpo will be at the Costa Mesa store from Thursday thru Sunday (9/11 to 9/14) and the New Jersey store next week from Thursday thru Sunday (9/18 to 9/21).

Sumire Ramen will be offering their Miso ramen and Miso Butter Corn ramen at the Torrance store Thursday thru Sunday (9/11 to 9/14), and the Chicago store next Thursday thru Sunday (9/18 to 9/21).

And last, but certainly not least, shio ramen fans can try Santouka ramen at the San Jose store next Thursday thru Sunday (9/18 to 9/21).

Remember to go early, as they tend to sell out of ramen early!

Mental Floss has some ramen trivia. How much do you know?

Craving ramen in the Bay area? Check out Melanie Wong’s prolific posts on the Bay Area ramen scene

I’m just a sucker for a cute ramen girl.

Speaking of Ramen Girl, meet the “Ramen Boy“.

And to finish off this batch of links…are you ready for the “perfect ramen”? Rameniac gives Ramen Jiro in Tokyo a perfect score! Ramen Tokyo also has an in depth guide.

Feeling a bit hungry after that bowl of instant ramen? Maybe it’s because there’s a bit less ramen in that bowl.

Even gourmet chefs like ramen. Here’s a gourmet ramen recipe from 20 year veteran chef chefRob.

If sumo champions recommend a ramenya, it’s gotta be good, right? Sumo great Konishiki and yokozuna (grand champion) Musashimaru both rave about Tenkaippin Ramen in Kapahulu, Hawaii.

Ma Ru Yu’s kurogama (black sesame) ramen: what lurks beneath its murky surface? No less than three brave souls weigh in on this ramen’s darkest (get it? get it?) secrets.

If black sesame ramen isn’t special enough for you, you can make your own buttermilk ramen!

If anyone’s in China for the Olympics next week and finds that special someone, remember to take them out for ice cream, not ramen. Ramen was rated the least popular place to take a date. Least?! Whaa–?!?     (Oops, sorry folks, I’ve had this link since March and it looks like the article is subscriber-only now.)

Garlic ramen at Minca, in New York City. Need I say more?

It seems like Santouka Ramen is everywhere now. Here’s a review of San Diego’s Santouka, and two takes on one in Singapore.

The SF Chronicle has a great guide to cold noodles for a hot summer in the Bay Area (including recipes!).

Heading out to Japan? Arm yourself with the Washington Post’s guide to ramen in Tokyo.

Recent ramen reviews and tidbits:

There’ve been a lot of reviews and news about Ippudo in New York City. Walking-ixus goes one step further and gives a behind-the-scenes look.

Join a “local girl” as she goes to Yotteko-Ya Ramen/Kyoto Ramen in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Have you ever wanted to combine ramen and sushi? Now, you can!

AsianWeek goes to Katana-Ya in upscale Nob Hill in San Francisco.

Is Kintaro the best ramen in Vancouver? Read Eat, Snap, Repeat for the details.

Everyone’s so focused on Ippudo in NYC. What about Ramen Setagawa?

Even the Associated Press knows that “Ramen noodles are hotter than ever”. Read what they, and AP darling Rameniac has to say about our favorite food!

Have any of you ever woken up in the morning and thought: hmm…it’s going to be 99 degrees today…what a great day for a nice steaming hot bowl of ramen! Since Mitsuwa Supermarket decided to hold their Gourmet Food Fair on the hottest weekend of the month, I found myself in the awkward position of doing just that and convincing my wife that I wasn’t already suffering from heat stroke! The wife and I went early to beat the heat, only to find an already packed parking lot and an already packed food court. We eagerly ordered the Kujiraken Shinasoba ramen (there’s only one choice) and circled the busy food court a few times before we were able to find some seats. (more…)

I’ve been looking forward to trying Ryowa in Berkeley, and I recently just had the chance to go up there. I’ve read a lot of good reviews from various web sites and I have to say…I’m disappointed. I had the Ryowa ramen even though I was sorely tempted by the shoyu ramen. The sesame soup base sounded intriguing. Well, the soup was just ok. The sesame was nice…strong but not overpowering, but a bit on the bland side. The noodles were a very nice texture, but they were really bland. The vegetable gyoza, however, were excellent! The gyoza were cooked perfectly and had a really nice blend of flavors. I didn’t miss the meat at all! I’ll probably come back if I ever get the chance and try the shoyu ramen. The Ryowa ramen gets a 6. The gyoza gets a 9 though!

Ryowa Ramen
2068 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 883-0667