r a m e n i a c: tasty things two

tasty things two

by rameniac | 11 May 2008

The Umaimono Gourmet Fair is back, and Mitsuwa is spreading the love coast to coast! This year's "tasty things" food fest will spotlight shinasoba (Chinese noodles) from Yokohama's Kujiraken and feature a return appearance by Chibaki-ya, which should most definitely wow with a rare take on "shark's fin ramen." Beef Tongue from Tsukasa in Sendai and takoyaki octopus balls from festival stalwart Kukuru round out the lineup. The fun starts this Thursday. Pretend you're in Japan by burning up a few $5/gallon tanks of gas! Here's your travel itinerary:

Chibaki-ya	5/15(Thu) - 5/18(Sun) 5/22(Thu) - 5/25(Sun)	Torrance New Jersey
Kujiraken	5/15(Thu) - 5/18(Sun) 5/22(Thu) - 5/25(Sun)	Costa Mesa San Jose
Tsukasa	5/15(Thu) - 5/18(Sun)	Costa Mesa
Kukuru	5/15(Thu) - 5/18(Sun) 5/22(Thu) - 5/25(Sun)	Torrance, Costa Mesa San Jose, New Jersey

click here for pictures from last year's event

tagged: features • news •

Comments

Was that you I saw at the Costa Mesa Mitsuwa food court Sunday afternoon around 4pm? I saw someone playing around with an iPhone, and it was driving me nuts, I swore it was you. Anyway, if it was, I was the skinny Chinese guy with super-long hair chowing down on the fritters in front of you. I wanted to try the beef tongue, but they ran out. :(

I did get to try the shark’s fin ramen at the Torrance Mitsuwa. I didn’t care for it, not for $18 and not when compared to a good tonkotsu ramen.

Posted by on 05/18 at 07:25 PM

lol YEA! and i was super pissed, as they’d stopped serving the ramen at 2pm and hadn’t bothered to mention the fact on the flyer.(after we did a little digging, we discovered that they hadn’t even actually run out!)

oh yea, and the old woman that was working there was hella rude when we inquired about it. i think they deliberately hire uptight old women at mitsuwa. i’m beginning to wonder if i should stop hyping their events, as it’s not the first time i’ve seen their staff be totally rude to random customers.

Posted by rameniac on 05/19 at 05:49 PM

I went to both venues and was also totally pissed that they ran out of the beef tongue bentos. I mean, that’s why my wife and I drove all the way out to Costa Mesa! I had both ramens. The shark fin was pretty good, though at $18 it was pretty steep. They did, however put a LOT of shark fin in--I think it’s because there just weren’t that many customers so they were being generous. Maybe one every 10 or so minutes (during Friday lunch, no less). The chinese ramen at Costa Mesa on Sunday wasn’t selling that well either, though it did taste pretty good. Good shoyu ramen and the noodles were nice and firm.
Still, it was the takoyaki that was crazy popular at both locales. And there’s nothing like burning your mouth on excellently made puffy, gooey takoyaki. Score one for Kansai I guess.

Posted by on 05/20 at 12:47 AM

Alright, next time, I’ll introduce myself and buy you a...well, not beer, since it’s the Mitsuwa food court...a Qoo or Pocari Sweat? :D

How was the takoyaki you guys? I didn’t try it (too full from ramen, and they were out on Sunday at CM), but my friend thought it wasn’t as good as Asa’s, mostly because Asa’s has a crispier exterior (which makes it different from the takoyaki I had in Osaka, but I must admit I prefer it that way too).

Posted by on 05/20 at 07:44 AM