Sapporo Restaurant is as old as Times Square itself, a noodle shop from the days when the Dutch purchased New Amsterdam for trinkets and a few slabs of chashu. Ok, so I lie. But this veritable New York landmark has indeed been around for years, and has even been featured on the big screen! How’s that for coming to America in style? 

Fire up the smokestacks, Minca Ramen Factory is operating at full capacity. This off-the-beaten path East Village ramen shop is still unknown to quite a few of rameniac’s New York friends. But what’s in a name? If Minca is a truly a ramen factory, then assembly-line noodles never tasted so good. Or so authentic!

Rameniac is kickin’ it old school with Umemura, the ramen shop he grew up with. Well, that might be stretching the truth a bit, as he’s one of those guys that hasn’t really grown up all that much. But has one of Southern California’s oldest and most venerated ramen shops matured any over the years? That’s a good question…

There’s something looming in the water, and it’s come to take a bite out of your wallet! Chef Kenji Chiba of Chibaki-ya returns to Los Angeles with a taste of his exclusive shark’s fin ramen! Terrorizing customers at $18 a bowl, is it worth its weight in political incorrectness? Rameniac sure hopes so!

Canal City Hakata’s Raumen Stadium 2 is a bountiful bevy of prominent, predominantly Kyushu-area ramen shops! A star stand out on the food court, Isshin Furan swears by its Miyazaki stylings with a multi-hued menu of top-notch tonkotsu. Alliteratively speaking, of course.

You know things are foo-bar’d when a cheap knock off can sully the reputation of a perfectly fine ramen shop. Tucked into the middle of nowhere, the original Foo Foo Tei serves up a menu of David Lynchian weirdness that sounds worse than it really is. Like Twin Peaks, nanchatte paitan ramen isn’t for everyone!

Intrigue plagues the existence of dual Foo Foo Tei in the San Gabriel Valley. Spite and litigation apparently abound, and rumor has it that the Monterey Park branch is merely a cheap knock-off of the Hacienda Heights original. All theatrics aside, are its noodles even worth fussing over?

In the shadow of the Giant Robot empire stands Asahi Ramen, a neighborhood institution on West L.A.’s Sawtelle Blvd. But the times they are a-changin’. How does a once popular ramen shop stack up in the new era of specialized soups and regional styles?

Rameniac takes his first, tentative steps behind the Orange Curtain to uncover the treasure trove of ramen shops in Los Angeles’ neighbor to the south. Does Chinese Restaurant Kohryu yield a pot of gold at the end of the 405 freeway?

Finding Eastern Hiroshima-style onomichi ramen on a menu in Los Angeles is like finding a gatefold pressing of Scott Walker’s Scott 4 in the dollar bin at your local record store. It just doesn’t happen. Or does it? All things are possible with love and Shin Mama…

The gentrification of the ramen shop is upon us, and San Mateo’s Himawari is a prime example of what can happen when you let loose an interior decorator in your soupy pork bone kitchen. But can the food measure up to such an extreme restaurant makeover? Let’s find out!

Finally! Rameniac takes a seventh-inning stretch from his San Francisco chronicles to revel in the glory of quite possibly the best, most authentic example of regional ramen outside of Japan, certainly in Southern California at least. Presenting the food court phenomenon that is Santouka!

Why is this kid smiling? Could it be because he makes the best shoyu ramen in the Bay Area? Kahoo Ramen is the sudden heir to the Do Henkotsu throne in San Jose’s Mitsuwa Marketplace, and Sou Nakano is filling some mighty big shoes. I’m jealous, wunderkinds like him get all the girls!

Ryowa ramen is an old-time favorite in Mountain View, the relatively new heart of Silicon Valley, CA. What horrible accident might befall the stray Google engineer who wanders too far off campus for lunch? 

After a twelve round bout with the flu, rameniac has finally returned for some serious slurpage at the surf-themed Ramen HALU! Dude, tune in to the good vibrations and catch a wave at one of the Bay Area’s most popular noodle shops! 

Koraku is Los Angeles’ original late night ramen joint, perfect for that post-party slurpdown. But although ramen is considered proper hangover food in Japan, can a few beers impair one’s judgement of taste? Let’s find out!

Tucked away on the third floor of a Little Tokyo strip mall, Orochon Ramen could hardly seem less innocuous. But what on earth made rameniac’s sister hold her head in such agony? Grab a quart of milk and find out!

A visit to Ramenya is like dropping in on your platonic best friend. Sure, she’s just your default when you don’t have a date to the concert, but anything can happen with a shoulder to cry on and a few bottles of biiru at the ready! Right? Right?!!

Vaunted chef Yasuji Morizumi was the force behind Chabuya and Chabuton. Now he also has Kurofune - an assari-kei chain - to his name. Does the so-called “TV champion” of ramen have what it takes, or is Kurofune just another dead pixel on your widescreen?

With so many assari-kei ramen shops in Southern California, how does Eboshi Noodle Bar stack up? A favorite of many Japanese ex-pats, is it better than the rest, or are you better off elsewhere?