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!

It’s unofficial Santouka week here at rameniac! After a quick slurp in West Los Angeles, our hero cracks open a bowl of Nissin Santouka Toroniku Tonkotsu Shio just for the sake of comparison.

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!

What’s red and lime green and steamy all over? Acecook’s Super Cup Noukoku Tonkotsu instant ramen, that oversized perennial in the distinctive paper carton. Styrophobes rejoice, your time is nigh!

Santa Ramen inspires a cult-like following in and around the environs of San Mateo, California. There’s a perpetual wait to get in the door, but is this temple of Bay Area noodling worth it’s weight in m. glutamate? Check in with rameniac as he checks it out!

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?

Something wicked is afoot in Mountain View, California, where mysterious sightings of a black-souped ramen have been reported! Special investigator rameniac is on the scene for a decidely close encounter with paranormal phenomenon...

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!

The Little Tokyo branch of San Sui Tei is so new, it doesn’t even have a proper sign up yet! Perhaps rameniac should have waited for them to get settled in before writing a review, yet that bowl of spicy tonkotsu ramen looks oddly familiar…

Rameniac celebrates the Lunar New Year by pigging out on some Tung-I Chinese Beef Ramen Noodle! Does this Taiwanese offering  have what it takes to hang with the big boys of instant slurping?

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!

Nissin Cup Noodle Seafood is the Rolls Royce of the seminal Cup Noodle line, loaded with choice ingredients and available in regular and “BIG” sizes. Does it hold its own on the instant noodle shelf? Let’s find out!

The Momofuku Ando retrospective love-in continues with a look at the venerable instant noodle founder’s 35 year-old seismic-shifting, styrofoam-clad second son, the original Nissin Cup Noodle!

Why is this man smiling? Simple really. It’s because he makes the best shoyu ramen in L.A. Case closed. As good as it gets, without a 10-hour plane flight across the Pacific. Where is this miracle? Wouldn’t you like to know?

Which came first? The chikin ramen or the egg? Who cares? Rameniac launches the instant ramen section with an excessively picture-heavy sonnet to the original instant noodle, Momofuku Ando’s Nissin Chikin Ramen!

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!

Kick things up a notch with rameniac as he samples the Chinese-influenced paiko pork cutlets and tantanmen-style noodles of Shisen Ramen in Torrance, Calfornia! Bam!

A gigantic green dragon stands watch over Kinryu Ramen in Osaka’s world-famous Doutombori shopping and dining district. Is rameniac brave enough to enter his lair for a quick bowl of the you-know-what?

Tucked away in a desolate corner of Little Tokyo, Hanaichimonme has been quietly churning out some of the best ramen in Los Angeles for the past two decades! Do signs of life remain, in the former Yaohan Plaza?