the ramen blog & other goodies!

In Vancouver, it’s Menya vs. Benkai.

In prison, it’s Bread vs. ramen?

And on TV: ever try the “#2 challenge” at L.A.’s Orochon? The TV show Man v. Food gives it a shot on the Feb 18 episode.

Find out if Asa Ramen in Gardena “does what ramen should do.”

Can a master ramen chef be too popular to retire? If he’s the founder of Taishoken in Tokyo, the answer is a resounding yes.

“Making Ramen Sexy.” Oh yeah!

Ever have to fill out an application to eat a bowl of ramen? Ichiran Ramen in NYC will be member’s only. Is it worth it?

If you live in Japan and like ramen, or just like looking at pictures of ramen, get a free PDF issue of RamenBank magazine. via Ramen Tokyo

The Tops:

• Top 15 ramen dishes in Sydney
• GoRamen’s 2008 Southern California ramen ratings
• The rameniac 2009 king of the bowl rankings

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The 50th anniversary of instant ramen was a few weeks ago and to celebrate, THAT animeblog has a great writeup of the history of ramen.

CK Go Places goes to Tsukiya Ramen in Tokyo. You gotta love the signage and vibe, not to mention the ramen presented with a giant sheet of nori.

Yes, there are ramen shops on Mount Fuji.

A heroic soul makes ramen from scratch. And I mean, from scratch!

I had no idea that 500-pack “ramen blocks” existed!

JapaneseNoodle.net sells instant ramen from famous ramenyas in Japan. And they’ll ship to the U.S.! (Unfortunately, you won’t get far if you can’t read Japanese). Thanks to Japan Infusion!

Alpa Chino love Booty Sweat, and chicken and beef ramen.

Meet rameniac live and in person!

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.

Apparently, now is a really good time for fellow ramen blogger Keizo to be in Japan. The Aqua City mall in Odaiba, Japan has set up (for a limited time only!) a “ramen hall” featuring 6 different regional styles of ramen, complete with iron chef-like profiles of the chefs behind the ramen. Personally, I would love to try the there’s-plenty-of-chashu-but-where’s-the-ramen ramen at Bannai Syokudou, though the rich black shoyu ramen at Menya Iroha looks darn tempting too. If anyone’s anywhere near Tokyo, and you’re reading this blog, run, don’t walk, to Odaiba! It’s not that far!

via Sky Walker (who also has a lot more tempting pictures of this special occasion.)