I hate going into L.A. because of all the traffic, but on the plus side, I get to try out new ramenyas. I chanced upon Ramen Ajido Izakaya recently and was excited to give them a try. Even though the small restaurant was non-descript from the outside, I was greeted warmly by the lady (owner?)…
bassanova ramen – new york, ny
New York. 5 days. 1 stomach. 8 bowls of ramen. Day 3. Bassanova Ramen is almost legendary in the accolades it’s received. Bassanova Tokyo has been named one of the best ramen shops in Tokyo by CNN and the New York Times has declared Bassanova NY as one of the top 10 ramen shops in…
ramen shack – brooklyn, ny
New York. 5 days. 1 stomach. 8 bowls of ramen. Day 2: dinner time! I’ve been looking forward to tonight for a long, long time. If you’re a ramen fan, you’ve probably heard the story of Keizo Shimamoto, a ramen fan who took his love of ramen to the next level. A few years ago,…
ivan ramen slurp shop, part 2 – new york, ny
New York. 5 days. 1 stomach. 8 bowls of ramen. Day 2. Time for breakfast! I love the idea of a breakfast ramen and couldn’t wait to try it. I went back to Gotham West Market the next morning and ordered the “8AM Ramen,” described as having Taylor ham, dashi & cheddar fondue, scallion omelet,…
ivan ramen slurp shop – new york, ny
New York. 5 days. 1 stomach. 8 bowls of ramen. Day 1. I’ve been wanting to try Ivan Ramen ever since I’ve heard of him years ago when he became well-known in Japan. Now that he’s opened multiple locations in New York, I finally had a chance to try it. I wasn’t able to make…
hakata ikkousha ramen – costa mesa, ca
Popular Japanese ramen chains have been slowly breaking into the American market and recently Hakata Ikkousha has joined in with with the soft-opening of their award-winning hakata ramen. They offer 5 types of tonkotsu ramen…a standard tonkotsu, shio (salt) tonkotsu, black tonkotsu (with fried garlic), miso tonkotsu, and the fearsome-sounding “god fire” with 4 levels…
ramen rating: ramen mottainai – gardena, ca
One fine Saturday morning, as we discussed our plans for the weekend, my wife suddenly declared that “today’s ramen day! You’re going to eat nothing but ramen today!” Wait, what? Did I win the lotto? Am I dreaming? I guess all my recent whining about wanting to try some new ramen shops paid off. Of…
ramen rating: ramen setagaya – new york city, ny
This is what happens when you wait a full year before reviewing a restaurant…I went to Ramen Setagaya’s University Place location a couple of months after it opened last year, and now, when I’ve finally gotten my act together enough to write the review, I find out it closed about a month ago. Sigh. I…
ramen rating: ippudo – new york city, ny
It’s been a while since my last trip to New York. It’s been so long that instead of having to go to Ippudo, New York again, Ippudo came to Costa Mesa. So how did the Costa Mesa experience compare to “the real deal” in the Big Apple?
ippudo ramen – costa mesa, ca
Those of you who missed out on Ippudo Ramen’s first California appearance…all I can say is, you missed out! The ramen was delicious, and as tasty as the ramen served in their New York location. Since I’m determined to write up the review for their New York location this weekend, I thought it’d be redundant…
ramen rating: kintaro ramen – vancouver, bc
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…
ramen rating: benkei ramen – vancouver, bc
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…