Category: Ramen

So, a couple of weeks after I first saw the storefront for Monsta, they opened. A couple of folks I know actually visited and told me they weren't impressed and it was ramen and curry for the "masses". Still, I was curious so I decided to see what the grand opening business was like. I made sure to visit right at opening time and on both visits the place was empty.

 The interior is bright, rather spartan, and almost "fast-foodish". And to keep up with the times, you can order via menu or order and pay via QR code. The young lady, who was quite friendly also told me that there were special promotions for "online ordering" which was also reflected on the bottom of the menu.

And there it was, Tonkotsu Ramen, regular price $12, was $10 if ordering online.

I was going to order that anyway. I also asked the wonderful Server if there was any appetizers that folks really liked and was told that customers seemed to like the Potato Shrimp ($6), so I ordered that as well.

I gotta say, the Potato Shrimp, while being on the small side was kinds cute looking. The crustacean was wrapped in a potato string and deep fried.

 The shrimp was served with a "Thousand Isle-ish" dressing. The shrimp was overcooked and dry; the potato strings while mildly crisp lacked seasoning. A fairly bland dish overall.

As for my ten dollar ramen…..

 Well, let's just say, this reminded me of the last time I had a bowl of ten buck ramen. That broth was thin, lacking in any nuance, super salty, as in I was chugging water for the rest of the afternoon. Another broth that is Tonkotsu in name only.

The tamago was nicely cooked and decently marinated….but sigh…..guess what? It was ice cold!

The noodles were unevenly cooked, some were overcooked and mushy side and others were hard and brittle.

   The chashu had been marinated and charred. The flavor was not bad, but it was on the tough side.

Insipid as this was, it was still better than what I'd had at O-To-San, which is not saying much. Perhaps this ramen might have had a place in the day when Tajima was the only show in town; but these days, I consider it "C" level ramen.

Ok, well, the shop has "curry" in its name so I thought what the heck and returned for a follow up. The same nice young lady was working, I did the QR ordering and got the Pork Cutlet Curry Rice ($13).

 This was an interesting dish. The tonkatsu was nicely breaded, quite crisp, the pork itself was moist, but mushy, and lacking in flavor. The texture was kind of strange and the taste was definitely in the "other white meat" category.

The rice was drier than I prefer and the curry which had ground meat in it was quite thin, my packaged S&B curry is richer and thicker. The seasoning wasn't too bad, and it had a hint of heat.

 I liked the service, and the prices are cheap for this day and age; but to me it seemed like the food was at a "fast-casual" level and not even in the realm of "Japanese diner" or "Japanese food court" (think Mitsuwa Market Food Court) cuisine. In other words; it's more of a "Yawn-sta" instead of a "Monsta".

Monsta Ramen Curry
4344 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 1130am – 0950pm

In my post on Ramen Nagi, "FOY" Mar mentioned liking the Shoyu Ramen from HiroNori. Man, it had been three years since my last visit which was, because of Covid a takeout visit. So, the last time I'd dined in at HiroNori was in late 2019 and the last post I did was in July of 2019 when I stated that HiroNori's shoyu ramen was "my second favorite ramen in San Diego". Of course, the obvious question is, if HiroNori is my second favorite, why don't I visit more often? Well, there's this thing called "parking" that I hate in the Hillcrest area. I mean, there are lots in the strip malls in City Heights and on Convoy that I detest, but for some reason, just having to search for and pay for street parking or some of the exorbitant lot prices kinda drives me off. 

But recently an opportunity arose. I had an appointment in Hillcrest and it ran into the opening time for HiroNori, so I decided to finally return.

I lucked out as there were two tables still open when I arrived. The two young ladies working were just fabulous, so kind, efficient, and hard working.

As before, I got the Shoyu Ramen ($15.10), I'm not a fan of the Tonkotsu ramen here. I got it with the thicker noodles and the wonderful young lady talked me into getting the garlic paste as a side. There were some huge takeout orders; one guy came and to pick up 10 orders of ramen to go. The young ladies had him drive up front and they walked the orders to his SUV for him. Like I said, great service. So, I was surprised that my ramen came out so quickly.

  Man, I still really like the noodles here. It has that perfect ratio of chewiness to slippery pull and girth that I enjoy. The garlic paste went well with the tamago, which was nicely seasoned and still warm. It was a bit much for the broth; which had that nice tongue feel and savory tones I enjoyed previously. In the past it teetered on too salty, but today it was nicely balanced. The garlic paste was too bitter and messed up the balance of the broth. Man, the barrel aged shoyu does wonders for the broth adding a slightly sweet-umami "edge" to things.

The menma was nicely seasoned but cold. The chashu was as good as always; yes, its not the most buttery, but it is tender enough, providing what a call and pleasant "meaty chew". It has been simmered and flavored nicely and the porkiness has not been lost.

 I enjoyed this bowl and also the service. As things are now Ramen Nagi is my favorite ramen in San Diego. However, the former #1, Menya Ultra has fallen to number 3 as HiroNori holds strong in second place.

I really need to figure out how to get here more often.

HiroNori Craft Ramen
3803 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
Current Hours:
Mon – Wed 1130am – 8pm
Thurs – Sun 1130am – 9pm

Thanks for the reminder Mar!

Back to Ramen Nagi so soon? Well, it wasn't really intentional. I was headed elsewhere at UTC, but I found that the posted opening time of the business was not 11 as I had found on Westfield Site, but 1130. So, I decided to head on back to Nagi to check how busy things were and there was basically one party in line when I got there at 1110! This was a Monday mind you….

Well, perhaps this was fate? Now as I was handed the order sheet, I made an interesting decision. You see, I received not one, but two emails regarding my post on Ramen Nagi. One from Vinh and another from Franklin. Both of them endorsed the Veggie King Ramen. To quote Vinh's email:

"It's the best vegetarian ramen I've ever had and I think it's even better than the Original King (which was pretty great) and the Black King (I thought this was kind of mediocre)."

Plus, FOY Peter mentioned wanting to try the Veggie King as well in the comments of that post.

So, why not, right?

I filled out the order form…..now, I didn't go "full vegan" on this, as I added a tamago (of course)! And other than requesting my noodles "firm" I made no other customizations.

There were two tables filled and one person on the counter when I was seated, a far cry from my previous visits.

My rather large bowl arrived soon after, with two "hashbrowns" looking like wings for the bowl of noodle soup.

    Before my ramen "took to flight" I dug in. As with my previous visits, the tamago was perfect, still warm, with a runny yolk. The firm noodles were indeed that, good stretch, slipperiness, and chew.

As for the rest? Well, those potato cakes were really like hashbrowns. Kinda strange. They started getting soggy and falling apart quickly. Not my favorite thing; but if you do get this bowl, perhaps you could request this on the side? The spinach was fine, quite typical. The mushrooms were really hard and chewy.

As for the broth? Well, this was sort of like a shoyu ramen. There was a savory component that was hard to pin down. I know the broth is mushroom based, but the fungi-flavor wasn't pervasive. It had a good amount of oil, but wasn't overly rich in texture. And, like my first bowl at Nagi, it was very salty, way too salty.

While I don't think I'll order this again; if I did, I'd order it with less salt. I'm not overly familiar with vegetarian/vegan ramen so I have no real baseline in that comparison. That said, while I won't be changing my "ramen-ways", this was not bad.

And thanks to Vinh and Franklin for suggesting I try this. You both are "FOYs" for sure now! I do enjoy recommendations as it helps to broaden my horizons…..

Ramen Nagi UTC
4301 La Jolla Village Dr. Suite 2033
San Diego, CA 92122
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 230pm, 5pm – 9pm

FOYs Mar and Sandy were curious about the visit to Menya in Mira Mesa that led Calvin and I to finally brave the crowds and visit Ramen Nagi in UTC. So here it is.

Calvin wanted to meet up for lunch and suggested Menya in Mira Mesa. Even though I last posted on Menya MM way back in 2019 in those days "BC", we had met up at this location a couple of times in the last year.

Both Calvin and I had noted that the tonkotsu ramen had been rather uneven at times and wanted to give a place another chance. Because of all the publicity, the Michelin mention, etc; Menya is quite popular. In fact, they've just opened in UTC, which makes I believe ramen shop #3 there! 

To get to the visit, we arrived 10 minutes before opening and put ourselves on the iPad "list". It really wasn't too bad on this day as we were the second party seated.

Of course I got the Ajitama Ramen ($15.95).

So, what was up with this bowl that led us to go "straight to Nagi" on our next ramen visit? Well, first the good. The noodles were cooked to a perfect al dente, with a nice stretch, slippery, and just right for slurping. The chashu was for some reason cold, but flavorful and "porky".

From there; like on previous visits, the tamago was ice cold and very salty. The broth was lukewarm in terms of temperature making it seem more greasy than rich. It was also strangely too salty.

This was quite sad because I had been quite a proponent of Menya, from being among the first 10 people in line on the first day they opened on February 25th, 2017, something I would usually never do. I did enjoy their ramen. But perhaps their success has gotten the better of them; after being called possibly the "best ramen in America" by a well known television food personality (though I still laugh because he called "tonkatsu ramen"), then being named as the city's 2017 Restaurant of the Year by Eater San Diego, and then of course being listed in the Michelin Guide. Perhaps sprouting two, now three other locations has diluted the quality? I'm not sure. But I am somewhat disappointed as the Ajitama Ramen at Menya just does not seem the same since reopening post-Covid.

So, while I am now enjoying Nagi, I will return to Menya in perhaps a few months, hoping to prove myself wrong. I hope I do……

Menya Ultra
8141 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Ramen Nagi created quite a buzz when they opened at UTC a few months back. Having eaten at the location in the Golden Gai, I was curious even though this location of Nagi didn't make the hardcore niboshi broth that the Tokyo location is famous for. I initially thought about going right away, but it was just too hot at that time. And then I started getting texts from FOYs like JeffP showing me the crazy lines and also hearing about folks waiting 90 minutes in line for their ramen. I'm sorry, I got work to do and just don't have the time nor fortitude to wait in lines during lunch hour. It's one thing to be in a line that just moves constantly like at you know where, it's a whole 'nother thing here in SoCal, I mean it seems even lines for baked goods move slowly.

Still, "FOY" Calvin really wanted to try Nagi after I mentioned the place to him while having ramen during a rather mediocre visit to Menya (post upcoming). So, we decided on a plan. It would be on a Monday; we'd arrive 15 minutes before opening and see how things are at that point in time

As things turned out, we got to the shop at 10 before opening (11am) and were the second party in line. We were handed sheets to select how we wanted are ramen….the US's version of the Japanese ramen ticket machine I guess.

This being my first visit; I decided to go with the "Chef's recommendation" along with a tamago (of course). We were also told that karaage was available.

Once the place opened things moved fast. There already was water on the table along with all the condiments; we handed off our order sheets, mentioned that we wanted karaage, and it was off to the races.

Our ramen arrived within ten minutes.

  At first blush I found the broth to have mildly porky – savory tones but was on the salty side; though it was fairly fatty – rich and nicely coated my tongue. I really couldn't make out any garlic flavor, probably because the broth was too salty.

The yolk of the well seasoned tamago was a lovely, tender orb and was warm! One of my pet peeves is having the yolk of my boiled egg served ice cold in my ramen.

The noodles were on the thinner side, slippery, with a decent "pull" to them.

   As much as I enjoy spiciness, I didn't care for the "Nagi sauce" in this bowl of ramen as it really heightened the saltiness and distracted from the flavor of the tonkotsu style broth.

The chashu at Nagi is made from pork shoulder which can be on the tough side; but the slices here are thin and the meat has a decent tenderness along with a mild porky-soy sauce flavor.

Calvin really liked the marinated moyashi.

The Karaage took a bit of time to arrived, but was lip-melting hot!

  These pieces were quite large; in fact Calvin and I could only finish one piece each and ended up taking the rest back to JeffP as a "consolation prize" since he couldn't make it. The batter was quite crunchy, almost edging on hard. The meat as on the chewy-dry side. It was covered in an overly sweet sauce. I don't think I'll order these again.

Both Calvin and I had enjoyed the ramen at Nagi. In my mind, I had already envisioned the "version" of the ramen I wanted on my next visit. And so, going with the same game plan I set off for "Nagi part II" on the following Monday, arriving at 10 minutes before opening. This time there were four parties in front of me. 

I was handed my ordering slip which took me but a few seconds to complete.

This being a solo visit, I was seated at the counter.

Which gave me a front row seat to view the "line".

Which was in constant motion….

I could actually see my bowl being put together….it arrived in minutes.

    The chashu this time around looked to have an almost "red" tinge to it; but was perfectly fine. I had ordered the broth to be "heavy" in terms of richness which it definitely was. So very rich, but not greasy, in fact the texture reminded me of the Seabura (backfat) ramen we had in Narita! Loved the thickness. Going for a lighter tare meant it was less salty and wouldn't you know, I could even make out the garlic!

 The boiled egg was every bit as good as on the previous visit….good consistency displayed here.

I got the thicker noodles and being that I like them "katame" I ordered it "firm". I would even enjoy thicker noodles here. These had such a nice stretch and chew. I was really pleased with the noodles this way. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I found it enjoyable.

To me, the adjustments I made on this visit worked out well. And even though I took time to savor things; I was out of Nagi in 20 minutes! Shades of Japan!

Well, it looks like I have a new favorite ramen shop in town. Now I gotta talk the Missus into trying them out.

Ramen Nagi UTC
4301 La Jolla Village Dr. Suite 2033
San Diego, CA 92122
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 230pm, 5pm – 9pm