yea i need to give SSG and daikokuya their own full blown reviews real soon. i take those places for granted way too much!

chair, thanks for the heads up on gomen.
and okama, for that bombay bad boy! LOL i asked my sister if she could find that flavor in the UK and if she does, she’ll be sending me some, although i’m kind of scared…

BTW, I ate at SSG-to-go inside Marukai today.  They offer a shoyu ramen, but I got the Hakata ramen.  They don’t have the paper for you to write your order onto, so if you want katamen or stronger soup, you have to tell them.  As you might expect, it wasn’t as good as the regular SSG; the katamen noodles weren’t quite firm enough, and the soup...I don’t know, it was just off - less flavorful, a little too salty, and not as milky.  And their chasyu is different as well - it’s fattier, and it looks like thinly-sliced buta kakuni.  It’s a little cheaper to eat there, but kaedama costs 5 cents more.  :D

The Mitsuwa market in Costa Mesa has a food court with a few shops, one of which is exclusively ramen. The broth is wonderful, but very rich and heavy. I recommend trying it on one of SoCal’s few cold days.

ah thanks for the report JC! i need to hit up that marukai again. i usually go for the SSG yakitori. someone i know tried the new shoyu there and said it wasn’t very good, but i guess i should give it a try anyway.

and dietrich, thanks for the tip. if you’re talking about the costa mesa mitsuwa food court, do you mean santouka? or is there a different ramen shop there as well?

rameniac - 29 May 2007 11:42 PM

and dietrich, thanks for the tip. if you’re talking about the costa mesa mitsuwa food court, do you mean santouka? or is there a different ramen shop there as well?

hm, don’t know the name, though i went regularly when i lived down there. but after reading your Santouka review, and seeing the pics, i think it must be.

I have two suggestions for you on opposite sides of LA.  Over in the Valley I would suggest Kyushu Ramen in Van Nuys. I may have a slight slant towards it since it was one of the first ramen places I visited but they always made good dishes.  In OC, I’d recommend Ebisu in Fountain Valley.  It has a wide and varied menu of ramen, udon and soba.

Sigh. I would’ve said Chabuton in the Marukai in Costa Mesa. But they closed and got replaced by a Super Udon. I also would’ve said Ebisu in Fountain Valley, but they’ve gone downhill...sigh…

i would say shikuramen in Kobe near Hankyu rokomichi station, i consider their ramen the best i had since my 3 year stint in Japan
http://teikoku.kamomeline.jp/gourmet/354.htm
http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/0002383906/M0028013223/
http://www.doko.jp/search/shop/sc40386903/

that looks like some fine stuff. i have a friend in kobe who says there’s good ramen in the area. my last trip there i was totally distracted by beef lol…

Do you go to Osaka often?
There is this one Ramen shop in the Namba area a few shops away from kamakura ramen and kinyu ramen (which you reviewed) where they have this really good melts in your mouth pork rib tonkotsu ramen, I don’t the name because its in Japanese but its my all time favorite ramen place in Japan.

I’ll try to look and post some pics of the shop here =)

Chopstix
4633 Convoy St, San Diego
(858) 569-9171

Good shoyu based ramen (Wonton and Chasu)
They have Ma Po tofu Ramen also which I have not tried.

In a small plaza between Jasmine Chinese restaurant and Honda Dealer

I like Foo Foo Tei
15018 Clark Ave
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
(626) 937-6585
-
Get a side of Gyoza, best I’ve had.  Chilean Sea Bass is good too.
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Most of the customers are Asian, but not Japanese, not that it makes a difference.  Just an observation.  The owners are very nice.
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Tamaya, 17142 Colima Rd
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
(626) 581-3223
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I like the food.  Never been disappointed. 
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I’m no means a connoisseur of ramen. We eat instant noodles all the time. We regularly buy Sapporro Ichiban by the case from Marukai.  Just to let you know where I’m coming from.

rameniac - 23 May 2007 01:26 AM

yea i need to give SSG and daikokuya their own full blown reviews real soon. i take those places for granted way too much!

I was worried that there was something wrong with the Rosemead Hakata Ramen (SSG)-I look forward to hearing your review. My friend drank with the cook and ended up getting free ice cream at the end-good times. The Yakibuta on a bed of scallions was a refreshing side. Their Kara-age could use some seasoning in the batter-needs some ginger.

Thanks to your review on Santouka in Culver City, I had a great large bowl of Shio ramen-the broth is wonderful. Minor knit (sp?) to pick-They need to have mugicha or green tea to be sold alongside the ramen.

Thanks for the great site. I will be going down your list of reviews visiting each and every one.

From Gadling Website:

Two Guy’s Ramen,
a neighborhood landmark in the Nakameguro ward of Tokyo.

It has an ad with the two guys from DOTCH cooking show

Hello Rameniacs! I’m a newby here but grew up in Tokyo, now live in San Francisco and can’t get enough ramen.
Next time you get back up to San Francisco, I suggest you check out Katana-Ya, near Union Square. As you know, SF has a sad lack of real tasty ramen joints and after looking forever, this is definitely my current fave.

No tonkotsu, but the shoyu with chashu is the bomb.

Katana-Ya
430 Geary Street
(at Mason St)
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 771-1280

Thanks for the great work!