r a m e n i a c . resource . review :: 新撰組 hakata shin-sen-gumi

新撰組 hakata shin-sen-gumi: roar of the waitstaff, smell of the lard

by rameniac | 07 Jan 2008

Several years ago, upon returning to Los Angeles after having lived in Japan, I set out to find something, anything, approximating the tonkotsu ramen of northern Kyushu. After all, noodles are to Fukuoka what the taco is to Los Angeles - an ostensibly immigrant food form taken to new heights of ubiquity (and deliciousness) by legions of dudes with trucks or, in Fukuoka, yatai food carts.

Slurping down a bowl of true Hakata ramen is an exercise in intense indulgence. With thin, leaden, noodles and an impenetrable tonkotsu soup of sweet pork funk, it is a primal experience best had at a yatai alongside several strangers turned your new best friends. One can smell the presence of Hakata ramen from a block a way; the acrid scent of pork bones is simultaneously tantalizing and gag-inducing, and there’s nothing else in the world quite like it.

And so one day, while picking the brain of an apprentice sushi chef at Noma in Santa Monica, I was directed to “the only” Hakata-style ramen shop in Los Angeles, Hakata Shin-Sen-Gumi in Gardena. In those early days, Hakata SSG was as good as it got, a reasonably adequate if watery facsimile of pure pork bone soup and thin, straight noodles closer in form to al dente angel hair pasta than to the far more common squiggly yellow ramen noodle. With toppings like pickled takana greens and tableside red ginger (yes, the Beef Bowl stuff), I could at least pretend to be back in Kyushu from time to time, if I kept my eyes closed and my ears focused on the exaggerated ”Irasshaimase!” of an overly enthusiastic waitstaff. (In case you were wondering, ramen shops don’t typically greet patrons like that in Japan. Well, perhaps some do, but it’s like Spinal Tap turning their amps up to 11 - more parody than anything else).

Despite the outsized yelling (which, I’ll bet, has scared more than a few potential patrons away), Hakata Shin-Sen-Gumi is fairly noob compliant. The menu is straightforward, with but one type of ramen, and customizable everything, provided you know what you want. You can tweak your soup’s richness by modifying the amount of soup base and oil; as for your noodles, you can request them firm and thin, or overboiled by traditional Fukuoka standards. Drink your soup sparingly, for even noodle refills are available. Ordering kaedama, or extra noodles, is a much-loved Hakata past time, and the tradition is alive and well at Shin-Sen-Gumi. As with decibel-blasting waiters, the restaurant itself some how fosters excess: a recent champion at their annual “extra noodle” contest wolfed down a gut-busting 12 refills of the stringy stuff.

A slew of toppings are at one’s disposal: for my money, that usually means adding takana and most satisfyingly, spicy cod roe. A Fukuoka delicacy, a dollop of mentaiko packs a salted, caviar-like punch; it can be eaten straight up or mixed thoroughly into the soup. And although I can’t quite take credit for it, I’d like to think that Hakata SSG made crushed garlic paste available (a la Ippudo) after I once drew a diagram of the “perfect bowl” on the back of an order sheet, complete with labeled ninniku. You have to ask for the stuff, but at least they keep a few jars behind the counter.

Is Hakata SSG as good as Ippudo, Ichiran, or any number of Fukuoka’s signature food carts? Of course not, not even close. The soup is thin, the pork flavor far less saturated. Custom-cranking the soup base and oil more or less simply turns up the salinity. For a brief period in time, Daikokuya and SSG were the only credible tonkotsu games in town, but the opening of Santouka changed everything and upped the ante for all involved. Still, Shin-Sen-Gumi remains the one shop in town that specializes in an authentically Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen, and one can’t reasonably compare it to its closest cousins, a few thousand miles away.


creamy, porky, and good but not at all great, hakata ssg's pure pork bone soup is reminiscent of every mind-blowing bowl of tonkotsu ramen i've ever had in northern kyushu, only, it just makes me wish i was there for real.	6
thin, straight noodles are the hallmark of the hakata style. shin-sen-gumi is wise to use proprietary noodles to authentically replicate this aspect of life among the yatai.	7
the chashu is soft and sparing, in authentic hakata fashion, it is not the main feature of the style. but decent pickled mustard greens and spicy cod roe put their toppings in a range of credibility few other shops in town even attempt.	6
hakata ssg features tasty, hobbit-sized gyoza; but you get two rows of them instead of one. their takana fried rice is excellent, and a variety of sides and specials keep their score in this section respectable.	7.5
bring earplugs! other than that, they re-create the festive atmosphere of a hakata street stall quite admirably. points for trying.	7
the best hakata-style tonkotsu ramen in town. quality and service may vary among branches, depending on which chefs have been shifted around.	6.5
8450 E Valley Blvd. Ste 103 Rosemead, CA 91770 (626) 572-8646	19

tagged: hakata ramen 博多ラーメン • tonkotsu とんこつ • UNITED STATES • los angeles •

Comments

any differences between their various locations?

Posted by on 01/08 at 02:11 AM

Ippudo was the only place in Japan that I ever had as much control over what I was getting as at SSG, but I only ate ramen in Tokyo, and usually chose to hit my favorite spot (Kokuran) to the exclusion of everything else. I love the fact that they have kaedama and that you can just yell for it.

Posted by on 01/08 at 09:39 AM

vvconst - it varies… because the staff get cycled around a bit. nori, who used to be at gardena if i remember correctly, took over as chef at rosemead for a while, but he now runs the new ssg yakitori on atlantic. these days i typically go to both. gardena has a better vibe i’d say, but the last two times i went there, their service was poor, mixing up our groups’ orders, forgetting toppings. to be fair, one of those times was new year’s eve, so maybe they were drunk. or at least they should have been!

Posted by rameniac on 01/08 at 02:56 PM

Shin-sen-gumi ramen is one of the best ramen in Los Angeles. The soup is richly flavored but yet not too greasy or salty. The noodle is quit nicely done, not too hard or soft. I have visited both the Gardena, Fountain Valley, and Rosemead stores and I liked the original Gardena one the most.

Posted by on 01/10 at 12:06 AM

I’m originally from Gardena but now life up north. I like this place because you can customize the experience to your particular mood of the day. I have yet to find a place like this in NorCal, though Santa and Himawari are the closest thing. I enjoy visiting this place with my foodie bro and sis-in-law and all the new places they find!

Posted by on 01/11 at 10:01 PM

I always get my soup with max oil and base, although sometimes it ends up being a little too salty. Any less than that, and there’s no flavor. But my question is: what are they exactly? Especially the oil, since I really notice only two things going into the bowl, the base and the broth. I guess I could try tasting the base by itself next time I order kaedama.

I really wish they would take a tip from Nakamura-san and cook their broth longer. Maybe that would give it more flavor.

The main difference for me regarding location is that the Fountain Valley location is kinda dirty inside. Avoid sitting near the windows - the mini-blinds are disgusting.

Posted by on 01/12 at 03:28 PM

Went to the SSG in Fountain Valley the other week. I have say, after having tried Daikokuya, Ramen-ya, Chabuya, Cafe Asa, Gardena Ramen, and some others that slip my mind, this place topped them out.

Cafe Asa comes closest, but just being able to customize your order put SSG over the edge. The broth was strong (I ordered max-flavor) and the noodles were halfway decent (get them hard). The strange cadence when the staff yelled “irrashaimase!” bugged me, but the ramen was damn good. The broth could have been hotter, though; I like it scalding.

To answer the poster above, the broth contains lard. Lots of it. I saw the cook unwrap a huge slab that must’ve been the size of about two and a half bricks and dump it right in.

Posted by on 01/18 at 10:50 PM

Be aware this place uses MSG. It would be helpful if all the reviews give info on this. I had physical symptoms from eating MSG broth most of the afternoon.

Posted by on 01/19 at 08:12 PM

I think almost every ramen place uses MSG.

I was asking about the “soup oil” they refer to on the order form, not the broth itself. Considering all the broth comes from the same pot, no matter how you order the soup, shouldn’t the “oil” be something else? Or does it float on top of the cauldron?

Posted by on 01/22 at 01:29 PM

I have been going to SSG for over almost 4 years, and i find that the quality(both service and food) has been inconsistent. I remember the broth being pretty fatty and tasty, and i had thought of SSG as the best ramen in LA for quite a while. now i only feel that way once in a while. i usually ordered my noodle very hard, and for the last few times i have not been quite satisfied with the hardness of the first noodle. it is really important for SSG to keep up with the broth and the noodle as the two elements are the reasons for me to go there. i am never a fan of their meat though.. I personally think that the expansion of the restaurants is the reason for the decrease in quality.

i agree that the vibe is better in the gardena one but i stopped going there after i notice that their serive is getting worse. i still remember when every staff in that restaurant were so enthusiastic and polite..

Posted by on 02/18 at 10:58 PM

I used to think Hakata was the best Ramen this side of LA, but then I started going to Gardena Ramen. Hakata has a nice menu as far as add-ons and sides, and the energetic staff is fun; but the simplicity of Gardena Ramen is refreshing… And this coming from a “wild-type” 25year old gal!! LOL The ramen at Hakata is good, but I still prefer G.R.