I’ve always wanted to try chef David Chang’s Momofuku dinner menu when I was in NY (waaay too much good food but too little time) but never got to try anything beyond the pork buns. Now that Momofuku has expanded to Las Vegas, I decided to try it out for dinner.
I ordered the legendary pork belly buns and they were just as good as I remembered. The slow cooked tender pork belly is wrapped in the slightly sweet mantou bun with a dash of hoisin, sprinkling of scallion, and shreds of crunchy cucumber. I could eat these all night and be happy…..although I did get a whole order to myself. 🙂 Continue reading
Tag Archives: ramen
Kirimachi Ramen
Decent ramen is hard to find in the financial district of San Francisco but the search is over. Kirimachi Ramen serves up a decent bowl of ramen. The noodles are made fresh daily and have a nice tender bite. They offer a variety of pork and fish tonkotsu ramen.
I generally get the number one but this day the the duck truffle ramen special caught my eye. The ramen was topped with roasted pork, duck, soft boiled egg, fish cake, bamboo shoots and green onions. The duck was cooked perfectly and balanced well with the light broth. You could definitely taste the black truffle oil in the broth. It was flavorful yet not overpowering. The noodles had the perfect chewiness and bite. The egg was perfectly slightly runny. Overall, it was a decent bowl of ramen but the portion was small for what you pay ($18.50 for the special). But keep in mind, nothing good comes cheap in FiDi.
Location: 3 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111
Tsujita LA Artisan Noodles
Tsujita LA Artisan Noodles has been on my LA bucket list, but without a car in LA, it has forever stayed on the list until my recent visit. I was meeting up with a few friends for drinks at Coco Fresh Tea and Juice down the street when the hunger pains started to settle in. We decided to head over Tsujita LA for some noms.
Normally, there is a long wait at this place (so long that they opened a second location, called the Annex, right across the street), but since it was late at night, we only had to wait 10 minutes.
I got their infamous tsukemen ramen with seasoned soft boiled egg. The noodles are served separately from the broth. The tsukemen style of eating is unique in that you dip the noodles in the fatty and rich broth instead of immersing the noodles in the broth. Halfway through, dump the broth on the noodles and notice the difference in flavors. Add the lime when you want more flavor.
The noodles were fat and perfectly chewy, just the way I like them. The rich broth was porky and fatty. At various times, I would add a squeeze of lime to my noodles, and it transformed the flavor, in a good way.
Location: 2057 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025 (Original) and 2050 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025 (Annex)
Ichiran
Like everything else in Japan, Ichiran is a chain restaurant. They specialize in ramen with tonkotsu broth. To order, buy your meal ticket at the vending machine. You have the option to add more pork, green onions or an egg for additional costs. Once you’ve purchased your meal ticket, the hosts will guide you to an open table. You have the option to sit at individual booth like eating area or at open tables. At the table, you fill out a form customizing your broth and noodle preferences. The broth was porky but not deep in flavor. The noodles were the perfect chewiness. One dislike was that they forgot our egg until I remembered at the end of meal. Overall, it was a satisfying bowl of ramen.
I went to this location Japan〒542-0084 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, Chūō-ku, Souemonchō, 7中央区宗右衛門町７−１８, however they have lots of locations through out Japan.
Kyoto Ramen Koji
Kyoto’s JR station is an architectural beauty one stop shop for transit, shopping and food all in one. An Isetan department store is located within the station.
Amazing view of Kyoto Tower.
Go up these stairs to the 10th floor to find Kyoto Ramen Koji, also known as Ramen Alley. There are eight restaurants that cook up ramen from different regions of Japan.
Read the boards to select the type of regional ramen you would like to try and head over to its corresponding location. To order ramen, buy a ticket from the menu vending machines in front of the restaurant. Most of it is written in Japanese but there are pictures. Once you’ve selected the ramen you want, wait in the queue forming along the side of the restaurant.
I tried Menya Iroha’s (麺家いろは) glass shrimp, salt seasoned egg ramen. The broth was clear and the medium curly noodles were perfectly chewy. However, they are famous for their “Toyama Black” broth made from boiling fish sauce for many hours until the flavor mellows out. I didn’t try this but definitely will next time.
(Kyoto Station, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan)
Ippudo
Served at Ippudo is the Akamaru Modern (pictured above). It has a tonkotsu pork broth with handmade thin noodles with a splash black garlic oil. It’s topped with three slices of pork, scallions, fungi, and bean sprouts.
The broth was intensely rich in flavor. The noodles were firm and the chasu was delicious!!!
They serve a strong barley tea to compliment the ramen. On the table are pickled bean sprouts, veggies, and ginger to snack on while waiting. They also have garlic and a garlic mincer at the table if you want your soup to be more garlicky.
Ippudo is a chain restaurant and can be found all over Japan. However, the stores are discreetly hidden and hard to recognize. Be on the lookout! You don’t want to miss out on their decadent broth.
Below is a map of Ippudos in Japan and New York.
YUMTRAVELS 