the ramen blog & other goodies!

“Nissin gotochi Hokkaido kegani instant ramen.” This may be the first time the name of the instant ramen is longer than the review…almost…

So we’ve got fancy packaging? Check. Promises of Hokkaido miso seafood goodness? Check. The reality? Well…not quite.

The soup has a pleasantly light miso smell and taste, but there isn’t much of a detectable seafood flavor. The noodles are typical for Nissin’s instant ramen and actually detracts from the soup. I would like this better as just a light miso soup instead of instant ramen! Overall, it’s a slightly above average instant ramen and gets a 6 out of 10.

(…hmm…”Avoid Direct Sunlight”…is Nissin marketing this as a ramen for vampires, or do I just miss True Blood?)

Santouka Ramen recently offered a limited edition, and very tasty toromi shoyu ramen, so when I found out they were offering another limited edition ramen…guess where I was this morning? The ramen offered this time is an awase aji ramen (literally combination flavor ramen). As with last time, it’s also limited to 20 bowls a day, and this time, it’s only available at their Costa Mesa location. I got there a bit early and found no line, to my surprise. I wandered around the store and came back at 11am, when they open, and managed to be 4th in line. (more…)

They’re doing it again! A few weeks ago, Santouka Ramen offered a special toromi shoyu ramen, limited to 20 bowls a day. Now they’re back with another special ramen, also limited to 20 bowls a day, and limited only to the Costa Mesa store for their 20th anniversary. This time, the ramen appears to be a miso base, and is called the Awase Aji Ramen.

I’m not sure if this is a cool new trend, or a marketing scheme gone berserk. Either way, if the ramen is good, I’ll keep coming back for more!

The special is happening this weekend, Friday 3/27 through Monday 3/30 and only at the Costa Mesa Mitsuwa.

Las Vegas. Sin city. The city of glittering towers. Where every casino outdoes the last in size, opulence, and sheer luxuriousness. Where every celebrity chef worth his or her Food Network credentials race to bring you their latest and greatest twist on the future of fine dining. But what about the simple foods? What if you’re in the food for something less. Something simpler than California-Spanish-Japanese-African fusion? Something that doesn’t require a Ph.D in gastronomy to figure out? What if you just want a good bowl of ramen? (more…)

Among the unique logistical nightmares I face when traveling with a group of people is: 1. how do I trick–I mean convince everyone to eat ramen with me, and 2. how far out of the way can I coerce everyone into going for ramen? Recently, I was excited to be able to try another bay area ramenya. Santa Ramen was not my first choice, but between one ramenya being closed when we wanted to go (damn you Ramen Club!) and one ramenya being too out of the way for us (damn you Kahoo Ramen!), Santa Ramen was the next best compromise (yay Santa Ramen!).

We arrived at Santa Ramen a little bit after noon, and braced for a long wait. The line was almost out the door, but at least it moved pretty quickly. Be aware that, like some “true” ramen shops, Santa Ramen only serves ramen at lunch (sorry “D”!). There’s no fried rice. There’s no gyoza. There’s no curry anything. Santa Ramen serves only three different types of ramen: a shoyu-tonkotsu ramen, tonkotsu ramen, and a miso ramen. (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…)