the ramen blog & other goodies!

What in the world is going on? Suddenly, within the last month or two, a half dozen or so new ramenyas have opened in Southern California. Have my prayers been answered? Will ramen shops eventually outnumber Starbucks? Unlikely, but I can hope, can’t I?

Over a year ago, I found out about the existence of a ramenya in Anaheim called Lai Lai Ken. Unfortunately, I found out about it after they closed, though there was a sign indicating that a new ramenya would be “coming soon.” “Soon” finally came true! A few weeks ago, Kappa Ramen opened with little fanfare. Apparently, they’re still in a soft opening, with the grand opening set for September. Kappa Ramen is in the back corner of a run-down strip mall, located next to a tattoo parlor and comic book shop. Yes, I said comic book shop: this was one seedy plaza. (more…)

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.

There’s nothing quite as exciting as finding out a new ramenya is opening in your city, except for finding out that it’s now open! Woohoo! Shizuma Ramen is located in a typical non-descript strip mall probably best known for a popular pho restaurant a few doors down. There’s seating outside, and the interior has a sparse, modern feel to it. (more…)

I noticed La-men springing into existence maybe a month or two ago on the way to a friend’s house. At first, my first instinct was to make fun of it. “La-men! Ha! They can’t even spell it right!” But later, when I found out it was actually run by Japanese people, I was intrigued. My friend told me that he heard it was decent, “but do you really want to go there instead of Gomen?” Gomen, my favorite ramenya in the area, called out to me from just a few minutes away. But duty calls! (more…)

This weekend and next weekend is Mitsuwa Supermarket’s “Explore diverse flavor of Japanese Cuisine” fair, with specialty ramen, of course.

First up is Ramen Tatsunoya (House of the Dragon), making a return engagement with their pork-and-water-only tonkotsu ramen. If you missed their first appearance last year, you owe it to yourself to try it out this year.

Thurs. to Sun. 7/8-7/11 at Mitsuwa in Torrance
Thurs. to Sun. 7/15-7/18 at Mitsuwa in New Jersey


OC peeps get a taste of Ramen Ezofukuro’s tsukemen. Tsukemen is a dipping ramen where the noodles are served seperately from the soup. Ramen Ezofukuro will be serving their Shiro Shio Butter and Aka Shio Butter tsukemen (white salt butter and red salt butter, respectively. The red version is spicy).
Thurs. to Sun. 7/8-7/11 at Mitsuwa in Costa Mesa
Thurs. to Sun. 7/15-7/18 at Mitsuwa in Chicago

See the Mitsuwa web site for more info or store locations.

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)!