http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/ en rameniac@gmail.com Copyright 2011 2011-03-09T19:17:21+00:00 http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/ibericobar_monzennakacho/ http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/ibericobar_monzennakacho/#When:19:17:21Z {exp:lbox dir=“ramen/ibericobar_monzennakacho/” file=“iberico-bar-tokyo-monzen-nakacho-01” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/ibericobar_monzennakacho/” file=“iberico-bar-tokyo-monzen-nakacho-02” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/ibericobar_monzennakacho/” file=“iberico-bar-tokyo-monzen-nakacho-03” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/ibericobar_monzennakacho/” file=“iberico-bar-tokyo-monzen-nakacho-04” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/ibericobar_monzennakacho/” file=“iberico-bar-tokyo-monzen-nakacho-05” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/ibericobar_monzennakacho/” file=“iberico-bar-tokyo-monzen-nakacho-06” suffix =”-200” title=”“} Anyone who knows me well will likely know of my affection for Spanish cuisine, a passion which rivals and in many ways, surpasses even my love for ramen. Admittedly, I don’t eat noodles nearly as much as I used to. A steady diet of Mediterranean influence - fish and tomatoes, olive oil and beans,has replaced a lot of my gonzo noodle slurping in recent months. In part this has to do with health; all those fats and carbs have to go somewhere, and as relatively young as (I’d like to think) I am, it’s never too early to cut back on the calories and perhaps spare a few arteries in the process. japan 日本, tōkyō 東京都, kōtō-ku 江東区 2011-03-09T19:17:21+00:00 http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/nakamuraya_ebina/ http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/nakamuraya_ebina/#When:23:36:30Z Nakamuraya is the flagship ramen shop of Shige “Sean” Nakamura, the bona-fide genius behind Los Angeles’ Ramen California and the mastermind of a budding ramen empire. If Ebina, Kanagawa is but a suburb of the all-encompassing Tokyo megalopolis, its claim to fame is surely as the hub of new wave ramen, where precision cooking reigns. {exp:lbox dir=“ramen/nakamuraya_ebina/” file=“nakamuraya-ebina-01” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/nakamuraya_ebina/” file=“nakamuraya-ebina-02” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/nakamuraya_ebina/” file=“nakamuraya-ebina-03” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/nakamuraya_ebina/” file=“nakamuraya-ebina-04” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/nakamuraya_ebina/” file=“nakamuraya-ebina-05” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/nakamuraya_ebina/” file=“nakamuraya-ebina-06” suffix =”-200” title=”“} Ebina, Kanagawa may sit far enough from central Tokyo that it warrants its own post code and ramenclature, but in reality, in the megalopolis of the future that is twenty-first century Japan, this hamlet of skyscrapers and tiered shopping arcades is but an extension of the Japanese capital’s urban sprawl. Tell that to Shige “Sean” Nakamura, the wunderkind behind Ramen California and his flagship restaurant, Nakamuraya, in Ebina. He might demur, and who knows what then? Would he put a little less citrus in your impeccably light, impossibly delicious yuzu shio ramen, all delicate chicken bone and fish dashi broth and pristine toppings - cured, Italianesque chashu and a half-boiled egg perfectly balanced between liquid and solid states of existence? Any sort of tinkering to such a precise, wondrous composition would no doubt bring the entire bowl down, for his food is just that, art and engineering on a magnificent, precarious level. japan 日本, kanagawa 神奈川県 2011-03-08T23:36:30+00:00 http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/yamadaya_torrance/ http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/yamadaya_torrance/#When:00:03:10Z {exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamadaya_torrance/” file=“ramen-yamadaya-torrance-01” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamadaya_torrance/” file=“ramen-yamadaya-torrance-02” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamadaya_torrance/” file=“ramen-yamadaya-torrance-03” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamadaya_torrance/” file=“ramen-yamadaya-torrance-04” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamadaya_torrance/” file=“ramen-yamadaya-torrance-05” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamadaya_torrance/” file=“ramen-yamadaya-torrance-06” suffix =”-200” title=”“} It seems as though new ramen shops have been popping up in Southern California faster than Lindsay Lohan gets sprung from jail. Both Mottainai and Ramen Jinya opened within days of each other this past summer; Yamadaya quickly followed suit, though it has maintained a much lower public profile in the last two months. Located in a blink-and-miss-it, barely there strip mall at the intersection of 182nd and Crenshaw, the joint is pretty much a fast food counter with a couple of tables and a few stools. There is a teriyaki and katsu menu which by any right, should lure away patrons of the McDonald’s across the street. united states, los angeles 2010-09-30T00:03:10+00:00 http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/jinya_studiocity/ http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/jinya_studiocity/#When:22:30:48Z Ramen Jinya is that rarest of things, a class-act noodle shop in Studio City, California! Get ready, Hollywood, real ramen in the state-of-the-art Tokyo gyoukai style is about to go mainstream. Is America ready for yet another Hollywood remake of a Japanese classic? If we’re talking about ramen, the more the better! {exp:lbox dir=“ramen/jinya_studiocity/” file=“ramen-jinya-studiocity-01” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/jinya_studiocity/” file=“ramen-jinya-studiocity-02” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/jinya_studiocity/” file=“ramen-jinya-studiocity-03” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/jinya_studiocity/” file=“ramen-jinya-studiocity-04” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/jinya_studiocity/” file=“ramen-jinya-studiocity-05” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/jinya_studiocity/” file=“ramen-jinya-studiocity-06” suffix =”-200” title=”“} Had Ramen Jinya opened a year or two earlier, I might have been one happy slurper. As a former employee of a major Hollywood studio (yes, I was in “the industry”), I spent a good number of lunch hours bemoaning the fact that there was simply no good ramen -actually, no ramen at all,  to be had in the Studio City/North Hollywood area. Sure, there were plenty of sushi shops along Ventura Blvd’s “sushi row”, but when it came to noodles, even the nearest pho joint was miles away. united states, los angeles 2010-07-14T22:30:48+00:00 http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/mottainai_gardena/ http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/mottainai_gardena/#When:22:09:11Z Whenever rameniac comes back to Los Angeles from Japan, he lays off the ramen for a while. There’s a reacclimatization period you see, as the quality of noodling in America is rarely ever up to par with what you might find in Tokyo. At the brand-new Ramen Mottainai in Gardena, California, however, taste definitely doesn’t go to waste. {exp:lbox dir=“ramen/mottainai_gardena/” file=“mottainai-gardena-01” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/mottainai_gardena/” file=“mottainai-gardena-02” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/mottainai_gardena/” file=“mottainai-gardena-03” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/mottainai_gardena/” file=“mottainai-gardena-05” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/mottainai_gardena/” file=“mottainai-gardena-04” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/mottainai_gardena/” file=“mottainai-gardena-06” suffix =”-200” title=”“} A few months ago, I got to talking with a couple of Japanese dudes at a bar about their impending ramen venture, a shop in Gardena opening in cahoots with Takaraya, a prominent Kyoto noodle maker. In truth, I had already caught wind of the place on the L.A. ramen grapevine, though my anticipation was muted. Quite a few new joints have been popping up in Southern California lately; from Irvine’s Mizuki to Little Tokyo’s Genkotsu Ramen, most have simply elicited a “meh,” and I was honestly prepared for disappointment. united states, los angeles 2010-07-11T22:09:11+00:00 http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/auroracafe_nakano/ http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/auroracafe_nakano/#When:09:43:47Z Dudes like Moby and Thom Yorke would be happy to know that vegan ramen, though rare, does in fact exist at one Aurora Cafe, a bi-weekly occurence held in a decidedly bohemian coffee shop/art gallery space in Tokyo’s Nakano neighborhood. Meat-free noodling? Some broths work better than others, but it’s a solid start, and it’s about time. {exp:lbox dir=“ramen/auroracafe_nakano/” file=“aurora-cafe-vegan-ramen-nakano-01” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/auroracafe_nakano/” file=“aurora-cafe-vegan-ramen-nakano-02” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/auroracafe_nakano/” file=“aurora-cafe-vegan-ramen-nakano-03” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/auroracafe_nakano/” file=“aurora-cafe-vegan-ramen-nakano-04” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/auroracafe_nakano/” file=“aurora-cafe-vegan-ramen-nakano-05” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/auroracafe_nakano/” file=“aurora-cafe-vegan-ramen-nakano-06” suffix =”-200” title=”“} Time and again, I receive emails from readers asking where to find vegetarian ramen. Such a thing does in fact exist, at least in instant form.  Those looking for a vegetarian ramen shop, however, might as well be hunting the incredibly rare, thought-to-have-been-extinct Sumatran rhinoceros that finally popped up on jungle-cam a few days ago. Indeed, after a bit of arduous searching, I managed to turn up the noodling equivalent of an albino three-headed version of the beast, not vegetarian, but vegan ramen, deep in the wilds of Nakano in Western Tokyo. japan 日本, tōkyō 東京都 2010-05-12T09:43:47+00:00 http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/chukasobatomita_matsudo/ http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/chukasobatomita_matsudo/#When:07:00:44Z Tucked away in Matsudo, Chiba, Chukasoba Tomita quietly goes about its business as the top-ranked ramen shop of all time on Japan’s notorious Ramen Database. This lunchtime-only neighborhood joint, complete with a skeletal, shredded lantern, does indeed serve up an exceptional tsukemen dipping noodle, but is it the best ramen shop ever? The egg’s the thing, wherein your mind might be blown. {exp:lbox dir=“ramen/chukasobatomita_matsudo/” file=“chukasoba-tomita-matsudo-01” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/chukasobatomita_matsudo/” file=“chukasoba-tomita-matsudo-02” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/chukasobatomita_matsudo/” file=“chukasoba-tomita-matsudo-03” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/chukasobatomita_matsudo/” file=“chukasoba-tomita-matsudo-06” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/chukasobatomita_matsudo/” file=“chukasoba-tomita-matsudo-04” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/chukasobatomita_matsudo/” file=“chukasoba-tomita-matsudo-05” suffix =”-200” title=”“} Blame Taishoken, for Tokyo ramen has, in recent years, become synonymous with precisely two things: tsukemen dipping noodles and multi-broth blended soups. Old school shoyu ramen masters may well lament the overwhelming popularity of the trend; late one night at the legendary Ganso Ebisu Ramen, the influential Shibata-san, creator of the namesake Ebisu ramen substyle, sighed with mock exasperation when I mentioned a few of his new generation rivals, shops which routinely sit atop the city’s ramen rankings. Shibata’s modest little operation in Asakusa is one of Tokyo’s premier traditional shoyu ramen-ya, yet you could hear a green onion drop with nary another customer in sight while I was there one evening. japan 日本, chiba 千葉県 2010-05-05T07:00:44+00:00 http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/tanakashoten_rokucho/ http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/tanakashoten_rokucho/#When:12:30:53Z Deep in the suburbs of Tokyo’s northeast sits Tanaka Shoten, considered by many to be the Japanese capital’s top Hakata-style ramen shop. Is it worth the journey, from the action and the city lights to this quiet, sleepy corner of Tokyo, halfway to Saitama, for an authentic bowl of pork bone goodness? How does a sheet of seaweed say thank you in elevent different languages? {exp:lbox dir=“ramen/tanakashoten_rokucho/” file=“tanaka-shoten-hakata-nagahama-ramen-rokucho-01” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/tanakashoten_rokucho/” file=“tanaka-shoten-hakata-nagahama-ramen-rokucho-02” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/tanakashoten_rokucho/” file=“tanaka-shoten-hakata-nagahama-ramen-rokucho-03” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/tanakashoten_rokucho/” file=“tanaka-shoten-hakata-nagahama-ramen-rokucho-04” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/tanakashoten_rokucho/” file=“tanaka-shoten-hakata-nagahama-ramen-rokucho-05” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/tanakashoten_rokucho/” file=“tanaka-shoten-hakata-nagahama-ramen-rokucho-06” suffix =”-200” title=”“} There was a time, not long ago, when Tanaka Shoten was considered the go-to spot for Hakata ramen in Tokyo. That notion may still prevail, although a bevy of similarly-styled operations have taken up residence in Japan’s capital in recent years. Nevertheless, a trek to Rokucho remains well worth it if simply for the singular pleasure of slurping down what many still regard as Tokyo’s best Nagahama-style pork bone soup. japan 日本, tōkyō 東京都, adachi-ku 足立区 2010-04-28T12:30:53+00:00 http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/yamagoya_kiyosumishirakawa/ http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/yamagoya_kiyosumishirakawa/#When:04:16:04Z Yamagoya was where it all began, for hungry high schoolers and one gastronomically adventurous English teacher in particular, oh so many years ago. Fast forward to this Fukuoka-based chainlet’s satellite operation on the eastside of Tokyo; with seasonal twists on mukashii tonkotsu ramen, yuzu can’t go wrong. {exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamagoya_kiyosumishirakawa/” file=“yamagoya-ramen-tokyo-kiyosumishirakawa-01” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamagoya_kiyosumishirakawa/” file=“yamagoya-ramen-tokyo-kiyosumishirakawa-02” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamagoya_kiyosumishirakawa/” file=“yamagoya-ramen-tokyo-kiyosumishirakawa-03” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamagoya_kiyosumishirakawa/” file=“yamagoya-ramen-tokyo-kiyosumishirakawa-04” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamagoya_kiyosumishirakawa/” file=“yamagoya-ramen-tokyo-kiyosumishirakawa-05” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/yamagoya_kiyosumishirakawa/” file=“yamagoya-ramen-tokyo-kiyosumishirakawa-06” suffix =”-200” title=”“} By now, even the most casual slurper should have their go-to ramen joint, whether it’s the best shop in town or the modest but serviceable neighborhod hangout. In Tokyo, by any measure the ramen capital of the planet, options are bountiful. Yet time and again, I find myself defaulting to Yamagoya, an outpost of a Fukuoka chainlet that dishes up authentically mukashii-style tonkotsu ramen - thick, full-flavored and as close to Northern Kyushu as you’ll likely find in Kanto. japan 日本, tōkyō 東京都, kōtō-ku 江東区 2010-04-22T04:16:04+00:00 http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/wok_rome/ http://www.rameniac.com/reviews/comments/wok_rome/#When:10:04:56Z W.O.K. is to ramen what Taco Bell is to tacos. Nope, I take that back. At least Taco Bell gets the basic concept right - there’s meat and it sits in a tortilla. Rome’s only ramen shop isn’t a ramen shop at all, but a fast food joint with a panoply of asian noodle dishes, one of which, “yasai ramen,” is about the only ramen to be had in town. Or is it even that? Uh oh. {exp:lbox dir=“ramen/wok_rome/” file=“wok-rome-01” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/wok_rome/” file=“wok-rome-02” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/wok_rome/” file=“wok-rome-03” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/wok_rome/” file=“wok-rome-04” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/wok_rome/” file=“wok-rome-05” suffix =”-200” title=”“}{exp:lbox dir=“ramen/wok_rome/” file=“wok-rome-06” suffix =”-200” title=”“} W.O.K. doesn’t belong here. Let’s get that out of the way. Secondly, let me state emphatically, that there is no ramen in Rome. Well there is the odd Giapponese restaurant or two which may or may not toss out a bowl of noodles every now and again, but, as confirmed by the hip young Japanese sushi chef at Hamasei (who else would know better?) there’s not a single ramen shop to be found in the Eternal City. italy, rome 2010-04-18T10:04:56+00:00