Category: Ramen

I'd been trying to get the Missus to try Menya Ultra since they first opened in February 2017; but there was just something that made Her refuse to go….call it "spouse syndrome"….you know the drill; I say "black", She says "white", I go "it's too hot", no She says it's "too cold"…going up? Heck no, we're going down….. And the more I tried to convince Her, the more She dug Her heels in. Until She was feeling a bit tired recently….don't worry, it wasn't Covid-19. The weather had cooled off (before our last scorcher) and I knew She could use some nice, rich, tonkotsu broth. So, I got the "Tonkotsu to go" for the Missus. And She did love that broth; though, for some reason, She didn't care for the noodles….even though I did my usual drill…I thought it was decently firm; but of course She likes Her noodles "katame" (firm). Which gave me an idea……I know that "FOY" Jason mentioned really enjoying Menya's "Stay at Home Ramen Kit". I also noted that the noodles provided are fresh, not cooked. A few days later, the Missus wanted more ramen and I went and ordered the Tonkotsu Stay at Home Kit from Menya ($38).

Like before, the drill when you pick things up at Menya was smooth as silk.

As you can see; this comes with four ajitama, chashu, green onions, and wood ear mushroom.

It also comes with four servings of fresh thin noodles.

And some instructions; which I basically ignore.

I basically use the same approach which I noted here; with a couple of differences.

The tonkotsu broth is provided cold; I measured the first time I ordered and it comes to six cups. So, I portion out three cups and slowly simmer until scalding.

The noodles are fresh; so I boil for 90 seconds, before doing a quick rinse and drain.

I still heat the bowls and then use the heated noodle water to heat the bowls even more.

I also now heat the ajitama for 20 seconds in the microwave before serving in the hot broth.

And the noodles are perfect after a minute-and-a-half.

After trying this for the first time; we noted that there was no way we could finish 2 servings of noodles and the Missus really mainly loves that broth. So, I get two-thirds of the noodles, and the Missus gets two cups of the broth…..sometimes "spouse syndrome" works to our benefit!

And what about those leftover noodles? Well, I'll make either Sichuan Liang Mian, Sesame Cold Noodles, or some other noodles dish with them…..which works just fine since these noodles are better than anything you can get at the market.

As I'm sure everyone who enjoys eating in San Diego knows; restaurants can now open at 25% capacity. On my visit to Menya this week, I noticed they were open for dining in. I was not inspired by the set-up in the least….tell me; doesn't this look like perhaps a makeshift ER or Urgent Care……or gasp; even a Covid-19 Testing Tent?

I think I'll stick to takeout for a while longer. Especially when it can be something like this. The menma in this bowl I had in the fridge and didn't come with the kit.

Menya Ultra Ramen
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
858-571-2010
Hours:
Daily 11am – 2pm, 5pm – 8pm
From my experience they start doing takeout orders a half hour before opening

On the first Sunday of this month; I managed to escape work at around 1030. I'd heard a bit about doing take-out from Menya Ultra (you can read FOY Jason's opinion in the comments of this post). I decided to call in my to go order right before I left work….they picked up on the first ring; I placed my order – they were giving away extra noodles for free! And was told to come pick my order up in 15 minutes! I was told that they didn't open for walk-up or online ordering apps until eleven, but took phone orders from 1030. I arrived, they had things nicely set-up, hand sanitizer right by the makeshift counter in the doorway. I was in and out in less than five minutes.

I got the tonkotsu chashu with a tamago.

This was probably the most well put together take-out I've had so far during the outbreak.

A couple of key points:

1 – Put the broth into a pot and get simmering….not boiling, simmering.

2 – Get another pot of about a quart-and-a-half of water up to a rapid boil

3 – Put noodles in a noodle strainer or colander

4 – About 2-3 minutes before serving place egg into broth

5 – Pour half the boiling water into the bowl you'll serve the ramen in.

6 – Pour the other half of the water over the noodles, quickly shake and drain well, separate noodles. No wants the dreaded "clump"; especially with nice, chewy noodles.

7 – Pour the hot water out of the now warmed bowl.

8 – Dip the chashu into the simmering broth quickly.

9 – Arrange the well drained noodles in the bowl and pour the broth over the noodles

10 – Arrange the rest of the bowl

11 – Eat!!!!

This was very good….and like Jason said: "I've been enjoying Menya takeout, I actually prefer it more than eating at the restaurant! Don't have to deal with waiting in line or checking in early." Thanks Jason!

And Menya has something called the "Stay Home Ramen Kit"; which is basically four orders of Ajitama Ramen, which might be worthwhile for a family or major "ramen heads".

Menya Ultra Ramen
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

I've got a couple posts on places that are on my rotation that I managed to do take-out from. Santouka is a favorite of the Missus and I decided to order take-out when I had to drop by Mitsuwa to pick up some groceries. I placed my order….the young lady told me she really liked my "mask" and I told her that it's an improvement over the way I look without it, which cracked her up.

Anyway, they were out of shio ramen, so I got the shoyu….toroniku style of course. After doing my shopping I walked over and my order was waiting on the counter.

Everything was packed really neatly. That pork cheek was so tender and full of soy sauce flavor. The noodles were a bit softer than I prefer…..I'm guessing they didn't travel really well; even though it was packed on the side. Like I mentioned earlier; this was the shoyu version; which is bit too salty for my taste….though I must be missing ramen since I scarfed the darn thing up anyway.

Oh, and one last blessing…..in case you're looking at that tamago and think Santouka has changed their ways….well, no; I made the egg.

This was fine; no muss, no fuss, I was going to Mitsuwa anyway, so there was no extra effort. Though I can't wait to return for a proper bowl once we're over this outbreak.

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

Man, that humidity was pretty nasty last week, wasn't it? Well, here's something new I tried and also an old favorite for you.

"Cold Ramen" at Karami Ramen:

So, "FOY" SomTommy sent me an email in the middle of 90% humidity week asking me if I had tried the Cold Ramen at Karami Ramen. I mentioned that over multiple visits; Karami had never been a favorite of mine and that I haven't really found a "go-to" version of Hiyashi Chuka in San Diego. ST replied back that Karami was serving ramen, with cold noodles and a cold broth! Hmmm…..

So, before doing some shopping at Nijiya, I decided to see what this "cold ramen" was all about. And yes, there was a sign on the door that said Cold Ramen – $9.90.

It was pretty quiet during my visit. Considering that this was noon on a weekend and the strip mall was packed; it seemed strange. But maybe not, since it was still quite warm and muggy out.

The young man who served me was pleasant, the service prompt, no complaints there.

As for the "ramen".

So yes, this was nicely chilled. In fact, I bit into a couple of ice cubes. On the bright side; there would be no complaining about one of my pet peeves; the ice cold tamago….as it was cold, with a good shoyu flavor. Speaking of shoyu flavor; i'm certain the temperature really affects the tastebuds as this was super salty. It could have used some sour – savory – sweet tones to help things along. It became a bit much and I couldn't finish it. The chashu was also nicely flavored and tender. The menma was routine. For some reason, I really enjoyed the corn….I think the cold heightens the sweetness of the corn. It was my favorite part of the dish.

So, ST, I know Karami is a favorite of yours. The price at $9.90 is reasonable. This wasn't bad, but I'm not sure I'd have it again. Thanks for letting me know about it though.

Karami Ramen
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Gyokai Natto Don at Izakaya Sakura:

Yes, it's that time again, yet another post on Izakaya Sakura. To be perfectly honest though, I think Sakura has not aged well…the service has been spotty and on occasion, the food has been a bit off. And so; it's been nearly a year since my last visit. It was during another hot spell and I got one of my two "hot weather" go to dishes at Sakura, the Ebi Kakiage Udon. This time though, I decided to retry what used to be my other warm weather favorite, the Gyokai Natto Don. The last time I tried it in September of 2017 it was mediocre; a ton of rice, barely any fish.

So, how's the 2019 version of the dish?

While still not quite hitting the same highs as when Sakura didn't have a sign (ChrisR – I still remember when you said it was "an end of an era"); this did hit the spot. Meaty magura and toothsome ika; with a few pieces of shiromi (white fish) thrown in; fermented goodness from the slimy-stringy natto; pungent wasabi, umami from the seaweed, textural pungency from the scallions……still a bit to much rice for me these days; but what the heck, I was hungry. The miso soup was good, the agedashi tofu held form and didn't breakdown and get mushy……

Just what the doctor ordered.

Maybe I need to return more often?

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St Ste 121
San Diego, CA 92111

Well, at least it's cooled off a bit today. And looking at the weather elsewhere, you know how much we love Paris, but the mercury hit an all time high there this week at 108.7! Sheesh!

Hope everyone kept cool over the last week. What have you been eating to "beat the heat"?

Back in April I noted that ramen was coming to Linda Vista, as "Buta Ramen" was taking the place of Coney's.

Which had me wondering if we'd finally hit the saturation point for ramen in San Diego. Anyway, I drove by our first weekend back from vacation and noticed that Buta had opened. So, I decided to see how the ramen here was.

The place has that modern-slightly hipsterish look.

The Ramen on the menu has what I guess is thought of as clever names for the versions of ramen; the Shoyu Ramen is called "Soul You", the Tonkotsu with sesame is "Tahini Old School" and so on.

The young lady who I think is one of the owners and the young man at the counter were very nice; I believe they're Thai? It didn't sound like they were speaking in Vietnamese.

Anyway, as is my M.O. I ordered the Chicken Karaage ($5), there's a garlic version, but I thought I'd just go with the standard, just to see how things measured up.

This was not bad, slightly crunchy, moist dark meat, with just a touch of ginger, though it could have used more flavor as it was pretty mild compared to versions I enjoy. It needed more soy – mirin – sake.

And of course the Tonkotsu ($9); sorry I just couldn't bring myself to say "Tahini Old School".

The chashu was tender and had been nicely simmered as the porky-soy tones came thru quite well. From there; it was downhill. The egg was nicely cooked, but had no flavor. The noodles, straight, almost Hakata style noodles were over-cooked. The broth; sigh, what's with these bitter-salty-metallic tasting soups? Are they getting their obviously processed tare at the same place? Much like Kimae, the broth was oily rather than rich, and lacked that nice collagen, tongue coating texture. And it was so salty that I could not make out any traces of sesame paste.

That karaage wasn't bad though….so I returned this past weekend.

And started with the Agedashi Tofu ($5); which came with the Tsuyu on the side.

Which might not be a bad move as it preserves the fried crispness of the tofu. I did not enjoy however, the fact that it was ice cold and basically tasted like the typical bottled stuff you can get at Nijiya…in other words quite salty. The tofu was garnishes with some katsuobushi and was decently fried. I prefer my agedashi tofu to have a light crispness; this was more hard and crunchy.

I also ordered the Shoyu (sorry – like the tonkotsu; there's no way I could order a "Soul You" ramen).

The chashu again was good; perhaps even better than what I'd had on my previous visit. The broth; while not rich enough for my taste wasn't overly salty, with a decent soy sauce fragrance and flavor; fairly one dimensional, but much better than the tonkotsu broth. Sadly, the noodles were even more over-cooked than on my previous visit….literally mushy.

I'm thinking that Buta might do well here serving USD students and the such, as the prices aren't too bad. As for me; well, I place Buta among my lower second tier ramen places like Isshido and Kimae. Can't say I didn't expect this, but I always hope for the very best meal. Hopefully this isn't the best that Buta can do….I'll check back in a few months.

And if you get the chance, check out the menu on their website; it has "Agidashi", bean spourt, and memma sprinkled among the dishes and descriptions – hopefully they'll get that fixed.

Buta Japanese Ramen
5201 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Open Daily 11am – 10pm