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: 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…