Ramen – Page 13

Go Go Sushi and Ramen (Mira Mesa)

August 25, 2014 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping at mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are enjoying the cooling weather today. Cathy already has done so.

The little space right next to HMart on Mira Mesa Boulevard has changed business owners at least twice since 2012. Since The Mister and I try to have a bit to eat before shopping, we stopped in for quick bites.

The full menu as well as a Specials Board is out front. The two times we were here, the Specials were the same…The interior has been redone and is not as jarring (when the space was Po and Pho, florescent lights were almost too bright for my old eyes). Complimentary edamame was served. A better soy sauce is the only condiment on the table. For the first visit, The Mister's order came with miso soup (mine didn't) but the nice waitress brought me a complimentary bowl. That was nice. It was good; pretty standard. The Mister ordered the 'Lunch Special' bento box ($6.95 and included a beverage; regular $7.95 without beverage)). Teriyaki chicken (a more citrus rather than sweet flavor sauce), California roll and tempura vegetable along with rice and salad. The nicely grilled chicken and sauce was plentiful, the California roll was fresh (warm rice; good) and the tempura was properly fried…salad dressing was tasty. Because of the hot day, I had decided I wanted a salad and ordered the "Hawaiian Poki" ($9.95)(that's how it is spelled on the menu), which was wonderful. A good amount of fresh, properly marinated tuna on top of a seaweed salad, topped with crushed macadamia nuts. This was very satisfying. We also ordered the mixed tempura side ($4.95) which included two pieces of shrimp as well as broccoli, onion, zucchini and sweet potato all breaded and fried properly.Next visit, I wanted to try the calamari salad ($7.95). It's listed as an appetizer. The size was a disappointment. You can see only five small strips of fried squid and it wasn't really enough for me, much less to be shared. There was plenty of lettuce…but still.. one thing I would not order again. Many people here during each visit were ordering sushi rolls from the five pages or so of their listings on the menu. However, the table placard caught our interest.The tonkatsu ramen with a side of tonkatsu. ($7.95 + $2). The broth was very rich and deeply flavored; the BBQ pork pieces were meaty and moist; I especially liked the egg; the noodles had a nice tooth and this was well made. The side of tonkatsu was fried by the same guy who did the calamari pieces for my salad… too thin, too crispy…

We will have to try more of the menu but, for the most part, we're happy with what we have tried. Here's a link to Mary's post, when she came here just after Go Go opened last July.

Go Go Sushi and Ramen 9430 Mira Mesa Blvd San Diego 92131 (858)530-8600 open 11-9 daily (closes 9:30 on Fri and Sat)

Noodling Around: Revisits to Ramen Yamadaya and Hinotez

May 4, 2014 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

We had a nice period of cooler weather before things turned really hot. It has been a pretty warm year, so we never had any period of real "noodle weather", so when things cooled down, I tried to make the most of it.

Ramen Yamadaya:

**** Ramen Yamadaya has closed

The first place I hit up was Ramen Yamadaya. We left less than satisfied on our last visit back in November. I ordered my usual, the Kotteri Tonkotsu, noodles extra firm, with garlic on the side. Things were better this time around, the broth nice and hot, the rich soup coating my tongue….and belly. Noodles were decently firm, and overall, this was a nice bowl. I guess our last visit was a fluke….I hope.

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

On another note, the sign for the downtown location on Broadway is finally up. Still not much sign of activity and it's been over a year….but at least it's progress.

Hinotez:

I actually had been thinking of going to Yakyudori, but my meetings had run long…..try and get into Yakyudori, or any number of ramen shops on "the Mesa" at noon. I really didn't have the time, nor the internal fortitude to wait in line….so where to go? Well, I've never encountered a wait at Yakyudori's sister restaurant, Hinotez. I will say that in my experience, the ramen at Hinotez never really stood up to the Yakuyudori name, but since my choices were limited……

Like my experience at Yamadaya, the Shio Ramen ($7) here was better than on previous visits.

I actually hedged my bets by also ordering some Chicken Karaage, which were nice and lightly battered, but was on the tough and chewy side.

The ramen was pretty good, the nice mild sweetness of the salt was there, the noodles were wonderfully chewy. Not a fan of a chashu, which was dry, but at least it wasn't cold like on my last visit. The broth had a nice layer of fat floating on the top….this was a vast improvement since my last visit.

Hinotez
7947 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Two for two….nice!

I think we've got some cooler weather coming up this week, what are planning to eat?

Revisits: RakiRaki and Curry Rice Hinotez

May 1, 2014 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

Well, if the heat doesn't get you; I guess the wind will……

I feel for the folks who owned the two vehicles that were hit by the falling tree.

Even though it was hotter than the surface of the sun out, I wanted some noodles, so I decided to head to kodai-kōkoku ummm, RakiRaki.

I may joke about all the self promotion and internally generated hype that adorns almost all the surfaces of this place, at the least it makes an almost halfway decent tsukemen. I've kinda struck out with Sichuan Liang Mian, so I decided to change things up a bit. Also, I figured, quite correctly that RakiRaki would be pretty quite.

Of course, things started out with a welcomed bottle of Pure Alkalized Water, which is now labelled, just in case you didn't know….because what could that colorless liquid that tastes like water possibly be?

As for my Original Tsukemen ($8.95)….as opposed to the Spicy Tsukemen….or the Rikimaru Miso Tsukemen…or the Rikimaru Spicy Tonkotsu Miso Tsukemen, or….well, you get it.

I really like the firmness of the noodles here and this was right on the money. I did notice a couple of things…the slice of lime was dried out like it had been sliced quite a while ago and left sitting and while this was the most "chashu" I've ever had here….the place has been notoriously chintzy with protein, it was basically tiny pieces, like all the leftover stuff at the bottom of the pot. The broth seems to have changed a bit; it was less salty than I remembered, not a bad thing, and had an almost citrus like finish to it, like someone had added ponzu to it. I still think it's over priced, but it suited my needs on this hot afternoon.

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

**** Curry Rice Hinotez is now Yakitori Taisho

One thing about working in an office with no windows is that your wrapped in that "bubble" with no idea of what is going on outside. So I walk outside and it's like a zillion degrees….well at least a 100 or so. The world was still rather dark when I entered the office and I had the idea that I should go back to Curry Rice Hinotez to see what was going on. Even though it was rather hot, I decided to follow thru……to find out that it doesn't look like anything is going on here; same one item….same version of curry (pork)….which tasted the same when I ate it at my desk.

Man, I'm wondering how long they can go one like this? They were prepping a bunch of stuff behind bamboo curtain, but I guess none of it is for this location.

It would be nice if they switched things around a bit……..still, this wasn't bad at all.

Curry Rice Hinotez
5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Ramen Izakaya Ouan

February 12, 2014 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

**** Ramen Izakaya Ouan has closed

A few months ago, Yu Mei Ya's outpost in Hillcrest closed. I had been there only once and wasn't too impressed, it seemed a far cry from its namesake in Encinitas.

Izakaya Ouan soon rose in its place. Coming on the heels of the closing of Tecchan, Ouan seems to have some good timing. Seeing that my last few meals at Izakaya Masa was far from satisfying, I thought I'd give Ouan a cautious try, so I headed over for lunch.

The place was empty for the entire duration of my visit. The folks here are somewhat distant, but professional. I saw something on my menu that I enjoy, Vegetable Kakiage, basically mixed vegetable strips in tempura batter, when made well, like the version at Izakaya Sakura, is light and satisfying, a textural delight. So I got the Vegetable Kakiage Don ($7.50) plus some Ebi (shrimp $3.00).

First off, the miso soup was watered down quite a bit. The rice was on the dry side, but the vegetable was very nice, light, well fried, great crunch, though the tsuyu was a bit too salty. The shrimp was ok, the batter a little too gummy and shrimp kind of small for my taste. At over $10, this was nowhere near as good as Sakura's $8.50 Ebi Kakiage Soba/Udon……but hey, we're paying the Hillcrest premium for this, right?

Still, this was good enough for me to want to check them out for dinner…..and my good buddy Candice was nice enough to join me.

We started with the Tako Wasabi with Lemon Zest ($4.50).

Even though this seemed like Nishimoto Trading type Tako Wasabi, the lemon zest really helped to add a nice dimension to the dish, it really raised the flavor. This unfortunately was the best item of the night.

Things didn't go that badly downhill with the Fried Skate Wing…..a simple basic deep fried engawa seasoned with salt and togarashi.

This was fine, though a couple of the pieces were on the gummy side with regards to the batter….seems like temperatures weren't quite under control.

Since I love chicken wings, I ordered the Spicy Miso Marinated Wings ($6.50).

This wasn't very spicy, the flavor of the aka miso wasn't tempered making this salty. Also the wings were tough. After the first one, I stopped paying attention and was having a great time chatting with Candice….until I looked down and noticed that the last wing I ate was bloody red…….ick. I know, I have eaten chicken sashimi, but that was by my own choosing…….

The Shio Koji Lamb Chop ($14) was tragic, rubbery and tough, lacking in the umami I expected.

Koji, Aspergillus Oryzae, a mold formed by fermentation and used in making soy sauce and sake is supposed to be an umami enhancer. In this case all it left was a mild sour taste on the tough lamb.

The final item we ordered was called Spacey Ramen ($12.95) on the menu. Apparently, it had pork, chicken, wood ear, truffle, etc, etc……

This is a good example of fusion gone bad…….the "sauce" had the texture of a very greasy bolognese sauce, drenched with a rather unpleasant amount of truffle oil. The noodles were fine, but the whole greasiness of the dish and the over-powering faux truffle fragrance just killed the dish for us. We could barely get past a couple of bites……

In the end, I felt really bad for inviting Candice to dinner, only to experience this. It would be one thing if the place was super busy, but they were only half full. Sadly, it seemed like they were jusy going through the motions. Just take a look at the menu….it says they serve their ramen with "tonkatsu" not tonkotsu, chicken based broth. Oh the power of the single letter………

Still, being the glutton for punishment that I am; I had a hard time believing that a place that had more than few people recommending it to me would be so bad. So I made one final "safe" lunchtime visit and got the Ouan Black Ramen ($9.25) with a poached egg ($1.50).

The standard issue noodles were perfect, the broth fine (no it's not black garlic oil like Yamadaya, just some oil with black sesame), if a bit too "thin" for my tastes….though it could be because it's, ahem, "tonkatsu" style!?!?!?! The chasu was ice cold and the "poached egg" apparently an attempt as something sort of like onsen tamago, was overcooked as the yolk was fully cooked and solid. Again, that bugaboo about not attending to details, which seems to be sort of the theme here. Overall, not too bad, but at almost $11, I'll take Toroniku at Santouka or Yamadaya anytime at that price point.

Ouan actually makes Izakaya Masa seem great, even though my fellow food blogger Dennis (hope you're back posting soon, we miss ya') calls them the "Sandra Lee" of Izakayas.

Ramen Izakaya Ouan
3882 4th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Noodling Around: Mien Trung, Pho Lucky, Santouka, and Ramen Yamadaya

November 7, 2013 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

I believe I've mentioned that over the last couple of years, rice has been replaced as my starch of choice by noodles. Never has it been more apparent than over the last two hectic, busy weeks at work. Sheeesh….and like I've also said before, I don't think this blog would still be in existence were it not for Cathy and Ed from Yuma. Who always come to the rescue.

Anyway, long days, meant more than my fair share of long strips of dough. Here's a round-up.

Mien Trung:

There's nothing like a spicy, sweat inducing, end to the day….and soup is good too! Mien Trung just does Bun Bo Hue right for me; spicy, salty, sour, is the formula. The soup is always hot which welcomes the shredded veggies and herbs. When the broth does edge toward salty, a touch of lime tames the sodium.

The Missus still enjoys the Bun Rieu, though She take umbrage to Mien Trung's switching of the noodles for the Bun Rieu to the wrong style.

Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Lucky:

I wanted a real bowl of Pho Bo Kho after the lack luster version at Spotted Cow, even though I had to wait a couple of weeks.

This bowl had twice the meat, twice the flavor, and was cheaper than the food court equivalent.

Oh, and there was a fire sale on tendon on this day….must have been a "Lucky" one for me.

Pho Lucky
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Santouka Ramen:

A cold snap means that the Missus is looking forward to ramen. Her favorite is still Santouka's Shio Toroniku Ramen with Egg, not cheap, but totally comfort food. This one with Chasu Gohan added.

Ramen's popularity has spawned one good thing….folks understand ramen now. I hardy hear all that whining about how ramen is so expensive compared to pho. Well, I still hear it sometimes, perhaps I've just gotten better at ignoring it.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Yamadaya:

**** Ramen Yamadaya has closed

I gotta ask….what happened here?

We ordered the Kotteri (extra rich) Tonkotsu and got this, watery and bland. A far cry from what I had just a couple of weeks ago. This was rather insipid and barely past lukewarm in temperature.

The chasu has improved and the kakuni pork was pretty good too. But the main reason we choose Yamadaya is for the broth.

This was disappointing……

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Raki Raki Revisited – Waylaid by a ramen burger

September 24, 2013 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Burgers, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

I had promised myself a return visit to Raki Raki to have the Tsukemen back in November when the weather got a bit warmer…..well, if the record heat we had recently wasn't a sign from some divine being….in short, it was tsukemen time.

But a funny thing happened on the way to my noodles. I believe I'm usually hype free and don't really follow fads. Yep, I'm just your usually fuddy duddy, boring kinda guy. But in a moment of temporary insanity I ordered this:

A ramen burger…….or should I say a "Dream Come True California Ramen Burger" ($9.75)

Even I have those moments it seems….after eating this I mumbled "what was I thinking" to myself as I walked into the psycho parking lot on Convoy. Hopefully not too loud….

The burger is 100% angus beef, over-worked and cooked to death as it's tough as leather. The flavor is nice and beefy. All of the juices from the burger seemed to have collected in the greasy, bland, flaccid, mushy bunch of noodles used as a bun. The fry job on these was lousy as it fell to greasy pieces after two bites. I had imagined something like crispy "cake noodle" like I get back home, this was not very good. The "crisp" rolled pork slice they call "underbelly" was more like hard and the edges burnt and bitter.

The sweet potato fries were light and mildly crisp, with good flavor.

But man, who you gonna sue for this oil spill?

This was like something dreamt up in a college dorm room after a couple hits of the cash crop. For a more mature point of view, perhaps you should read Kirbie's post on the ramen burger.

I sent out texts and photos to my friends, then had a moment of paranoid reflection…….first Yes! Pingo and now a ramen burger…what's going on? What next…a Harley, porn 'stache, and a couple of tats? Maybe this was that male menopause I'd seen my friends go through? Yikes!

I needed to fix this……which I did by returning for the Standard Tsukemen ($8.75).

It was as before, noodles with a nice texture, perhaps a bit over-priced for what you get, and the broth edged on the too salty side.

But most importantly, this seemed like a return to normalcy. At least for now….

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Noodling Around: Revisits to Pho Tay Do, Santouka, Minh Ky, and having something that’s “just wrong” at Pho Cow Cali

June 23, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Pho, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

Somewhere at about the half-way point during our trips, the Missus always asks me, "are you missing anything?" And usually, it's noodles. Strangely, on our last vacation we ate so well that I only started missing noodles, at the end of our trip……yes, I realize we were in Rome and all, but it was Asian noodles, in any form….

Anyway, here's a short collection of revisits…..

Pho Tay Do:

**** Pho Tay Do has closed

I first posted on Pho Tay Do back in 2010, Cathy followed up a year later. For some reason my mind just blanks out places in this strip mall; I'm not sure why.

I actually hadn't been back here in over a year and was wondering what the state of the Bun Mang Vit – The Duck and Bamboo Shoot Noodle Soup was.

There were a couple of tables occupied when I arrived, but the interior was pretty dark. I guess they're trying to keep the energy bill down.

I ordered the Bun Mang Vit which arrived in the blink of an eye.

I don't know how business is, nor how the current state of the economy or anything else is affecting this place, but in terms of what I had it seems to have fallen.

The broth wasn't hot and had very little flavor. There was hardly eny of the earthy reconstituted dried bamboo and maybe 2/3 of the noodles of the bowl I last had here. The portion of dipping sauce was smaller and though it still has a nice hint of ginger, it too tastes watered down.

The slices of duck are smaller and very dry. Even though the place never provided an abundance of herbs in their greens, this was just about all cabbage……

This was pretty sorry overall and a mere shadow of what I'd had in previous visits. Sad…..

Pho Tay Do
5296 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Santouka (for the zillionth time):

Yeah, I know…I won't even post the links. A couple of weeks back, I took my coworker, "YZ" to Yamadaya, I was interested in what She thought.

On this visit, the pork cheek was spot on, tender and full of flavor. The noodles were done perfectly as well. Hard combination to beat.

So when I quizzed Her, the opinion was pretty much the same as ours. Pork and noodles Santouka, broth Yamadaya. So I guess it depends on what you're in the mood for, right?

The Missus asked me if the perfect ramen existed? I could only shrug my shoulders……

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Minh Ky:

Yes, Beef Sate Noodle – Dry, again:

Needless to say….it delivered as expected.

Minh Ky Restaurant
4644 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Pho Cow Cali:

Before we left on our trip, the Missus was strangely craving Pho….something that rarely happens as I'm the Pho eater in the family. The craving lasted for a couple of weeks and there's just so many times you can go to Pho Lucky. The Missus can be a rather hard nut though…..once She finds something She likes it's hard to convince Her to try something else. I did explain to Her that Pho Cow Cali's protein was better and that they had Filet Mignon Pho!

Which was just fine for Her….however, once She saw this on the menu:

She determined that I just had to have the Com Tam Dac Biet….without com tam (broken rice). And so it came to pass that I had mine with brown rice.

First, let me explain that I'm not a fan of brown rice. Then to add insult to injury, they charge you $1 more. Of course they probably don't sell too much brown rice, so this took forever……it was also very low quality. The Bi was good, the pork chop and cha ok, the brown rice, just wrong. Nuff said….I tried it once.

Pho Cow Cali
9170 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

San Diego’s Ramen Renaissance Shio Edition: Gunco Ramen, Hinotez, Tajima, Izakaya Masa, and Yakyudori

April 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

Here's the fourth installment of my ramen-mania posts. With the exception of Hinotez, I've had tonkotsu ramen at all of these places before and had long ago decided that long simmered pork bone soup (or in a few instances tonkotsu base) was not the way to go. In the battle of shoyu versus shio, salt is my preference. I like the mild briney and in some cases complex, salt flavors along with a nice, clean, but rich broth. For me the margin of error is slim….temperature and richness really do count.

After being tonkotsu'd out, some shio ramen sounded just plain refreshing to me. Here's my visits in chronological order.

Gunco Ramen:

I last visited Gunco over two years ago with our resident ramen ruminator, Dennis. Things look just the same here…….

I really enjoyed my Shio Ramen here. It seems that the ramen has been getting better with every visit.

While the broth is relatively simple and very low on oil, there's one flavor that really sticks out….ginger. But either my tolerance has improved over the years, or they've learned to temper the flavor while still giving the broth here a touch of uniqueness, I dunno.

The noodles were fine, everything else is pretty sparse, no soft boiled egg, and the chashu quite tough.

Still I had a pleasant lunch.

Gunco Ramen
305 Palomar St
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Hinotez:

Funny thing, I've had many breakfasts at Hinotez, a couple of dinners, but it wasn't until I read Kirbie's post on Hinotez, that I realized I hadn't had the ramen here.

I guess that perhaps I thought the ramen here would be the same as Yakyudori.

Upon arriving I noticed that there have been some minor renovations, curtains on the booths and such.

I must go during some really off-peak hours. There never seems to be many people in te place when I eat here. Such was the case on this day.

As I mentioned before; I expected Yakyudori Shio Ramen, which this was not.

The visual difference was pretty significant, no corn, no menma(dried then rehydrated bamboo shoot).

The broth was also a bit strange. I'm wondering if the Yakyudori group has changed their salt? This had a strange almost bitter flavor, rather than the mild sweetness of the shio ramen I'd had at Yakyudori…..well you know that I just had to check into that, right? The chashu was nicely flavored but tragically ice cold and thus somewhat waxy and not pleasant to eat.

I don't think I'll be coming back to Hinotez for the ramen….breakfast, but not ramen.

Hinotez
7947 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Tajima Ramen House:

It was MrsZ who first informed me that Tajima was undergoing renovation. So about two weeks later I dropped by. The reworking was almost complete, the place looked very nice and modern. Hey look folks, Tajima looks all grown up now…..they even carry local craft beers!

But would the Shio Ramen suddenly be better than the rather mediocre stuff I've had here before?

Seriously, because of the temperature of the broth…. not hot enough, this seemed like a greasy mess. The noodles were over-cooked, the chashu here never wows me, and it was very consistent in being very dry and tough.

I usually hedge my bets by adding kakuni pork, which wasn't very good on this day as it was lacking in flavor and tough. At least the egg was nicely done.

Just think if that broth was hot enough.

Service, as has been my experience at Tajima was very nice.

Tajima Ramen House
4681 Convoy St., #1
San Diego, CA 92111

Izakaya Masa:

Frankly, I haven't had much luck here in the past. But I still believe Masa is in what I call the top tier with regards to ramen.

There has always been a kind of metallic flavor to the broth here. In fact, I think Dennis has picked up on that as well as he calls this place the Sandra Lee of Izakayas.

Strangely, one of the biggest complaints about the ramen at Masa was rectified, at least on this visit. The noodles were nice and firm.

But this was way too salty, the broth almost lukewarm, and it had a strange feel to it. It seemed milky in color even though I didn't order the tonkotsu.

Here's a photo of the Shio Ramen I had here on my previous visit.

Add to that the strangely surly service on this evening……..

At least the Chuka Kurage delivered as it always does.

Like Tajima, the food here probably tastes better after a couple of beers or at the end of a long night.

Izakaya Masa
928 Fort Stockton Dr
San Diego, CA 92103

Yakyudori:

By the itme I hit Yakyudori I was hitting the wall. Luckily, they have lunch specials with "small" ramen. This being a Thursday, it came with chicken karaage, quite a bit of chicken karaage, and some might-as-well-have-been-from-a-bag-of-frozen shumai.

Over my last couple of visits, it seemed like Yakyudori is slipping with regards to ramen. This was decently done, but the cracks are showing. The chashu was still very cold….just like Hinotez, what's up with that? The broth also tastes a bit different, which really makes me wonder if they've changed the salt they use. The noodles were done characteristically well.

Still, this was not the same Shio Ramen I had here over the last three years.

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

You know, I've been wondering if I should actually go on and do posts on some of what I consider to be "second-tier" ramen. what do you think?

My previous Ramen Renaissance Posts:

Part 1 : Underbelly revisited

Part 2: Tecchan Yakitori and Izakaya

Part 3: RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen, Ramen Yamadaya, and Santouka

Thanks for reading!

San Diego’s Ramen Renaissance: Revisits to Raki Raki, Ramen Yamadaya, and Santouka

February 19, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

Ramen has been picking up a good head of steam in San Diego the last couple of years, now it seems that just about everyone is serving the stuff. I call it San Diego's Ramen Renaissance…so I thought I'd go and grab some ramen. In Part 1, I revisited Underbelly for some hipster-ramen. In Part 2, I checked out Tec Chan, a Yakyudori wannabe. Now part three gets kinda boring as I revisited three places….a couple of which I've probably posted on ad nauseum in the past. My apologies….but it's kinda ramen weather out there tonight, right? So why not?

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen:

It seems that the place is blowing up, at least according to The Eater, which has RakiRaki as one of the 19 hottest ramen shops in the US.

I did enjoy the Tsukemen and love the noodles, but have been less than happy with the really salty broth and the rather skimpy; even for ramen portion sizes. The menu seems to be ever changing and living partially on the alkaline water hype.

Every time I visit, there seems to be another page added to the menu. On this visit, there's now a line of "Super Deluxe" ramen? Which of course, I just had to try. So there went $11.75 for the Shoyu Tonkotsu, with flame blistered prime XO Underbelly Chasiu. Man, these guys are really hyping it up……which is what it ended up being, as I wasn't too impressed with "Super Deluxe".

The noodles were just wonderful as always, nice crunch and all. The chasiu slices were as thin as playing cards, slightly dry, and very low on the flavor scale. The broth was served at too low a temperature, giving it a slight greasiness, rather than being rich. For me, the most disturbing thing about the broth is how salty it was….man I just blew up like a gorged tick. Now for all the we use alkaline water, health benefits, and all that, I'm wondering, do these folks use MSG?

Still, I decided to return yet again. And guess what? Another handy, dandy, new page to the menu! It seemed like a good deal, ramen combined with a rice bowl. What really struck me was how they like to associate "names" with everything here. Now I don't know who the poster boy Chef Takeo Araki is….but I have heard of Junya Watanabe….at least, Junya Watanabe the fashion designer. Well, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that. I'll go turn in my "man card" tomorrow. Based on the size of the ramen, there's almost no doubt that this was created by someone who needed to keep his models slim and trim. For a scale perspective, compare the amount and size of the bean sprouts to everything around it.

The piece of charred lean pork, tasted like charred lean pork. The noodles were perfect and this wasn't nearly as salty as what I had before, though still pretty high on the sodium scale. The broth has some seafood tones to it as well.

The rice bowl had a good quantity of rice, making this a bit of a carb bomb.

I enjoyed the texture of the chicken karaage which was crisp and light. I really don't think it shouldbe burdened with what basically amounts to a cloying sweet chili sauce, but that's just my opinion. Just as it's my opinion that the folks working here are really nice and getting more efficient with every visit.

Personally, I'm going to give RakiRaki a rest….when the weather gets a bit warmer I'll drop by for the Tsukemen. I'm wondering how large that menu will be by then? How many different types of "premium super-duper delux-a-rooney" tsukemen will there be on the menu? Be still my heart……

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Yamadaya:

**** Ramen Yamadaya has closed

So the Missus was asking me why I've been having all this ramen and She hasn't? Well, She's kind of ummmm… shall we say selective? But after being married all these years, I have an understanding of Her tastes and preferences.

She loves Santouka, but I finally knew there would a bowl to compete with Santouka's Tonkotsu at Yamadaya. It's the Kotteri Tonkotsu with Kakuni Pork and extra firm noodles.

This clocks in at about the same price as RakiRaki's "Super Deluxe" ramen. The Missus loves a rich tonkotsu style broth, with that wonderful think broth that coats your tongue and tummy. This is also one of the least salty tonkotsus out there as well. When the temp of the broth is right, all the Missus can say is "aaaah".

The problem is that the Missus is not fond of the standard issue Hakata style straight noodles. Even though we order it extra firm, it just never holds texture for the entire bowl.

The kakuni is preferred over the chashu, though it may seem a bit over the top to some.

I've had it when it just wasn't right here, waxy and a bit tough, but most times it's decent.

Speaking of temperature….we were speaking of temperature, right? The place is nice, warm, and cozy right now, though based on my previous experiences, I'm wondering if they have the heat under control, because it got really hot in here during the summer and fall. Well, at least they've got the outside seating squared away. Service has been ok, sometimes things are forgotten, on occasion you get the idea they are trying to get you out the door…..well mainly because of the mass of humanity waiting outside in the wind and rain, so that'sunderstandable. This is another place to hit up early on in the evening if possible.

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Santouka Ramen:

Which leads to the shop which I think got the ball really rolling on this ramn-mania back in 2008. I really wasn't too impressed on my first visit due to broth temperature problems. Luckily, things got straightened out and I've never had a BTM…."broth temperature malfunction" since then. and of course, the Missus' favorite version at Sanotuka is the shio toroniku style, with fatty pork on the side. So of course after requesting and eating at Yamadaya for the second time I just had to ask Her which She preferred…..Yamadaya or Santouka. This led us to grabbing some ramen at Santouka, for research purposes of course.

Shio Toroniku Style……..

I kind of know which way this tree is falling, so to put it in the Missus's words. "The noodles at Santouka are much better, firm, with a slight crunch, they also hold texture for the entire meal." The pork for the toroniku style ramen has a better flavor, more porky, though tonight's pork is on the tougher side, it is usually much more tender." "I prefer the broth from Yamadaya, because it's less salty and also almost velvety. But the broth at Santouka seems to retain heat better; perhaps it's the bowl, but that makes it very comforting." "I guess it depends on what kind of mood I'm in." "We're going to have to find my perfect bowl." Uh-oh, that sounds like a never-ending quest.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

I'm sure you folks have a ramen place that's your favorite for whatever reason. I think it's great to have choices!

San Diego’s Ramen Renaissance Part 2: Tecchan Yakitori and Izakaya

February 13, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

*** Tecchan has closed

Here's one that slipped under my radar…..if it looks familiar, this is the former location of Yakyudori in Hillcrest. Man, yet another shop serving ramen……that's so surprising…..

It's a bit strange for me; I'm not sure if it's really Tec-chan, or is it Tecchan like the sign….well, whatever, I go with what the sign says. I hadn't been here since it was Yakyudori, though I passed by the place when it became Raku, but had never really been motivated.

So what brings me here now? Well my good FOY (Friend of Yoso), "YY" told me that they really enjoy the spicy miso ramen here. Personally, I've never really found a version that I've enjoyed, but if it's good enough for YY, it's well worth a try for me. But I just couldn't find the time to visit. Until Super Bowl Sunday….you see I really wasn't interested in halftime (which seems to get longer every year) and the Ravens seemed to be blowing out the 49ers. So I just jumped in the car to see what was up with this place….they say they open at 6, but were open a bit earlier on this day.

And I did get the Spicy Miso Ramen as instructed, with "thin noodles", which turned out to be your standard issue Hakata style noodles. The price wasn't bad at just over 8 bucks.

First the good; the noodles were done to the al dente, almost crunchy texture I enjoy and the egg was nicely cooked. The chashu pork was mild in flavor, but they had hit a nice balance in texture, not too firm and not falling to pieces….too bad it was ice cold, something that seems to be happening much too often nowadays.

And while this broth was indeed fairly spicy and not as salty as other versions….it really tasted like Japanese Kimchi base. You know, the stuff to make short cut kimchi? It wasn't really my cup of tea……

On the other hand….due to the immensely long halftime and the infamous "lights out", I actually made it back home in time to watch the last half of the 3rd quarter!

After thinking over things….yes, though I may not sprout the "Tao of ramen", or contemplate the meanings of the Hexagrams in I Ching, nor has anyone mistaken me for the "gangster of love" or ever called me "Maurice" (age check here!), I actually do think about what I eat….. I decided to just return and try the straight up tonkotsu ramen.

This time I went with the "flat noodles", which were just your standard issue ramen noodles, but were done up nicely.

The broth seemed a bit light to me. I prefer my tonkotsu a bit more rich. Also, there was a flavor that reminded me of burnt onions that I really didn't enjoy.

It wasn't terrible……but not something I'd go out of my way for.

The service was friendly, though one of the servers here has the kind of voice that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. But that's my problem, not hers. I also tried some of the other menu items……but that's for another day.

Tecchan Yakitori and Izakaya
3739 6th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103