the ramen blog & other goodies!

Kintaro Ramen…one of the “big three” of Vancouver’s ramen zone. Kintaro is a no-nonsense ramenya with an open kitchen. While its competitor Benkei Ramen has obviously spent some time on its interior decorating, Kintaro settles for bare, concrete walls. The ramen chefs dwell silently behind the counter, working efficiently and quietly. The waitresses clump near the back of the restaurant, also quiet, but alert, waiting to serve customers quickly. At times we almost felt a bit rushed, but given the small space and that it’s often very crowded, I can’t really blame them.

On a side note, I just want to establish my “ramen chops.” Not only did I walk for 45 mins to get here, I forced my poor wife to come with me. Then again, it was cold, and slightly uphill, but I can’t say I was barefoot, and it wasn’t snowing. (more…)

It’s the 2010 Winter Olympics, so we’ll be reporting from Vancouver this week! First up…Benkei Ramen. Benkei Ramen is considered to be one of the top ramenyas in Vancouver, with 4 locations throughout the city, including one in “ramen central” (more on this later). That location was a bit far for me, so I went to their newly-opened Thurlow St. location. (more…)

Have you been to Wonton Forest? Have you heard of Sapporo-Ya? How about Yukino Ya Ramen. There must be some sort of bad luck associated with this place, because Yukino Ya is the 3rd restaurant to be at this location in the past year. I happened to be in the area a week ago during a major storm and was excited to have a new ramenya to try out on such a cold, wet day. (more…)

A busy schedule and a bout of whininess (“it’s hot”…”it’s so far”…”my stomach feels funny”) almost stopped me from going to the Mitsuwa Kyushu & Okinawa Fair this weekend. But a combination of reading some positive reviews from bb’s (“blogger buddies”) Go Ramen, Waseda-ramen, and Exile Kiss this morning and a craving for mackerel sushi and custard cream puffs put me over the edge. Who kind of nut forces his wife to go with him on a 50-min drive (one way) for ramen? Ahem…(thanks for indulging me, sweetie!) (more…)

After months, and I mean months of dealing with just about every major problem that an aspiring restauranteur could face, my good buddy’s shabu-shabu dreams have finally come true. Yes, I said “my good buddy” and “shabu-shabu,” not ramen, so I’m going to go out of my way to be biased here. You’ve been warned! California Shabu-Shabu celebrated their grand opening last weekend, and today, the wife and I decided to pay an overdue visit.

For those of you who’ve never been exposed to the world of shabu-shabu, shabu-shabu is a Japanese hot pot. You start out with a boiling pot of water flavored with kombu, add in assorted veggies, and cook thin slices of meat, usually beef, in the water by swishing it around. Because the meat is sliced so thin, it cooks in the time it takes for you to say “shabu-shabu” (which translates to “swish-swish). Two types of dipping sauce are usually provided with shabu-shabu: a citrus-y ponzu sauce and a sesame-based sauce. Also something that can surprise the uninitiated: you cook your own food! (more…)

I’ve always had an instinctive aversion to “experimental” type restaurants. Over the years, I’ve managed to associate terms and phrases like “fusion,” “nouveau,” “a new take on x,” and “inspired by y cuisine” with chefs who’ve never quite managed to figure out the essential essence of the cuisine he or she is trying to replicate. But recently, the thinking part of my brain had a minor epiphany: hello, dumb-ss…ramen is a fusion food! Ramen (and gyoza!) is the Japanese take on a Chinese dish, remember? How is that not fusion? Hello!

A few days ago, Go Ramen invited me to check out Rameniac’s new find, Ramen California, with a few fellow food bloggers. “Rameniac’s been raving about it! It’s the next evolution of ramen!” Uh oh…did he say what I think he just say? Call me stodgy, but I like my ramen traditional. I have very set ideas of what a bowl of ramen should be. Give me a good bowl of shoyu or tonkotsu ramen, keep your fancy schmancy “inspired” ingredients out of my bowl, and stay off my lawn thank-yew-very-much.

But Ramen California has a pedigree. It’s not just some random ramen-ya opened by some random chef with a random dream. Ramen California stars the Shigetoshi Nakamura, a revered ramen deity in Japan. If Iron Chef ever decided to add a Iron Chef Ramen, surely Nakamura-san would be the first choice! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to meet up with my foodie cohorts that night, but spurred on by the superlatives from two of the most respectable ramen fanatics in Southern California, my wife and I decided to ventured out of the Orange Curtain today. (more…)