Ramen – Page 7 – mmm-yoso

More Ramen Ruminations – Revisits to Karami Ramen and Ramen Ryoma (Clairemont Mesa)

January 13, 2019 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

Two ramen places I promised to return to. The Missus calls me "boring"; I call it consistency….but, on these visits, I decided to have something I hadn't ordered before.

Karami Ramen:

I'd heard that the menu had changed up a bit since I first visited in August. In fact, "Som Tommy" recommended the Curry-Shoyu Ramen……which I would probably never order on my own. I recalled the curry being okay…so on a pretty cold day (insert "by San Diego standards" disclaimer here), I thought it might be worth a try.

The same funny young lady….who warned me about the (not so) Triple Super Spicy Chashu Shio Ramen last time was working. I went ahead and ordered the Curry-Shoyu Ramen.

So, this was kind of interesting. Apparently, the ramen broth is poured in first; then the curry in the center so it's separated. The curry was barely lukewarm while the shoyu broth was just slightly hot, mixing it together made it colder than I prefer overall. The curry here is actually not bad; though again, the beef is really dry. This was ok; if you like curry flavored ramen broth, or runny curry, you'll love this. I had tasted the broth and it was less salty than I recalled, but really lacks any depth of flavor….so maybe the curry is doing you a favor. The noodles were the typical type you'll find everywhere; though it was cooked nicely, and was actually hotter than anything else in the bowl. Enjoyed the thick sliced menma, nice crunchy and earthy flavors. As before, the egg was cold and the chashu dry.

I was the only customer in the place. I believe we're hitting "critical mass" with regards to ramen in San Diego. I'm wondering how long Karami is going to last?

Karami Ramen
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Ryoma:

**** This location of Ramen Ryoma has closed

Another shop I promised to return to. With their second location now open in PB and a third coming soon, I thought it might be a nice time to return. I visited on a Sunday right when the place opened and like Karami, it was pretty quiet.

Having tried both the Shoyu and Shio ramen; I decided to go with the Miso Ramen, with tamago.

While the broth edged on being a bit too salty; it was fine in this framework and was overall less salty than what I'd had here before. It wasn't very miso forward; just a hint of umami and was fairly rich while not being greasy. While I didn't find the broth thick enough to coat my tongue it did cling really well to the perfectly cooked curly and chewy noodles. This might be the best of the three versions of ramen I've had here. The chashu was too tough and salty. The egg was nicely done and not cold.

Not bad, definitely worth another visit….one of these days.

Ramen Ryoma
9119 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123

Roaming for Ramen – Revisits to Santouka, Nishiki Ramen, and BeShock Ramen and Sake Bar

January 7, 2019 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

It's definitely been ramen weather over the last couple of weeks; so I took advantage of the nice chill (all relative of course) to revisit a couple of ramen places I haven't been to in a while.

Santouka:

Even with wall to wall ramen in San Diego these days; I still count Santouka among my favorites. And though it's no longer my #1 favorite; I'd still take it over just about every other place. Though you can tell that there's been a whole lot of ramen shops opening in San Diego since I don't think I've been to Santouka in over a year!

Still, Santouka was the Missus's favorite, so much so, that we sought out the original flagship shop in Asahikawa.

Foe me; there's just one thing to get here. The Shio Toroniku.

Which is, of course what I got. The noodles were firm, with a nice chew, the broth not overly salty, rich, and scalding in the signature thick sided bowl….a necessity in Asahikawa where the coldest temperature in the history of Japan was recorded. The pork cheek was fairly tender and well flavored, nice soy tones going on. It delivered as expected. I decided to go without the terminally over-cooked egg….which, unfortunately, like that bowl is a signature of Santouka….it was the same in Japan! The one difference I do note is that the broth in Japan has a hint of seafood. I recall it being that way when Santouka first opened here in San Diego; but it seems to have gotten more "pork forward" since then. Not that I'm complaining about that.

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

Nishiki Ramen:

In the same strip mall as Santouka and Mitsuwa. Calvin had never been and had been asking to go. I hadn't been in a while, so I thought why not.

We started with the Chicken Karaage; which was nice and crisp.

It was too salty and lacked the savory complexity of a good karaage

After my Santouka visit; I decided to put my preference for straight up Tonkotsu style broth on hold and try some different things. So I ordered the "Smoke Bomb Black" Ramen again.

This looked very rich, almost greasy, but it was strangely not. You got a hit of garlic at the front end; but not much other than a bit of pork-poultry….the broth lacked the tongue coating richness I anticipated, it was almost weak, somewhat anticlimactic you could say. The temp was also on the colder than I prefer as well. The noodles were over-cooked for my taste and a chashu tough. I did enjoy the sweet crunch the corn brought to this bowl and the egg was perfectly boiled and not cold.

So now that I've had this twice, I can move on……though I'm not sure to what…..

Nishiki Ramen
8055 Armour St
San Diego, CA 92111

BeShock Ramen and Sake Bar:

I'd been wanting to return to BeShock since I first visited over two years ago. Having two long weekends with no plans on a couple of those days meant I could finally head back and check in at BeShock.

I got there right when they opened and was greeted by two cheerful, smiling faces. The young ladies here were very friendly and efficient.

Being a fan of using Shio Koji in my recipes; I was intrigued by the Chicken Koji Ramen. So I decided to get that.

I expected something on the salty end of the spectrum and this was that; but it also lacked any real complexity. The broth was too thin and really lacked richness; I'd expected that nice umami from Shio Koji; but that was definitely lacking. That dry, flavorless chicken breast didn't help things as well. The egg; while cold, was cooked nicely as were the standard issue noodles. I guess this is "healthy ramen"?

I was thrilled to see Nagoya Teba on the menu. I recalled that the owner was from Nagoya, so I was excited to try out these chicken wings.

Decently, though not evenly fried and the flesh was on the drier side. The wings weren't evenly glazed with the sauce and was really too sweet. It definitely needed that kick of black pepper and more soy sauce, garlic, ginger juice, you name it. You can tell by how light the wings are in color; this needed more….

I thought the service was very nice and I'll definitely drop by again. Though I'll go for a more conventional ramen next time.

BeShock Ramen & Sake Bar
1288 Market St
San Diego, CA 92101

Revisits – Menya Ultra (Mira Mesa) and Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman Oceanside

November 27, 2018 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

We're slowly getting to ramen weather here….so a couple of ramen revisits might be in order.

Menya Ultra (Mira Mesa):

Calvin wanted to take me to lunch before my trip, so he got to pick…….it was easy for him; he wanted to try the Mira Mesa location of Menya Ultra. Calvin had been singing the praises of MU on Clairemont Mesa since he first tried the place. While I had the broth had not sustained its excellence over time. Of course he didn't know any better. So, when we got to MU, I told him he was in for a treat as the owner, Takashi Endo was working in the kitchen area.

And this was indeed quite good; even better than usual.

The broth was a bit richer and full bodied, the fragrance, a nice funky tonkotsu, the flavor mild and not too salty. The noodles were perfect; the ajitama, nicely done and not cold.

A really well done bowl….things are better when the boss is around.

Menya Ultra
8141 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman Oceanside:

**** Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman has closed

The Missus had to work the weekend before we left on our trip. I decided to head on back to Oceanside and Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman. I'd enjoyed the noodles in their Aburasso Ramen and wanted to try out the Tsukemen….and of course that Chicken Karaage I enjoyed.

Sadly, they weren't serving he Tsukemen on this visit. So, I ended up ordering the "Red Hot Miso Ramen Deluxe".

While not being particularly spicy; I preferred this to the rather bland shoyu ramen. It wasn't overly salty; with some decent savory tones; the thickness of the broth was pleasant, if not overly rich. The chashu was nicely seasoned if a bit on the "waxy" side with regards to texture. The menma, which I enjoyed last time still had that nice woodiness; except that it was ice cold….ditto the egg; which was also on the overcooked side for my taste. The noodles were also past the nice chewy-al dente ("katame") texture I prefer as well. Not bad…..

I was really looking forward to the chicken karaage.

Which sadly did not live up to the level of my previous two visits. First off, notice that one piece had been sliced to check for doneness….just seeing this made me rather sad as it meant whomever was making this wasn't familiar with frying the karaage up. And yes; the sliced piece was very dry and as you can see by the photos, so were the other pieces, of which the batter was also hard instead of crunchy. While on previous visits; the flavor of the marinade had danced on the edge of salty; this went over that line as well and was really salty.

Man, what a bummer….I really enjoyed the karaage on my previous two visits.

Service was efficient, the ramen decent, but to me, this really wasn't worth the drive up to Oceanside; so I'm not sure if, or when I'll make an effort to return.

Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman Oceanside
509 Mission Ave
Oceanside, CA 92054

Menya Ultra (Mira Mesa)

November 1, 2018 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

I know of quite a few people who had been waiting for Menya Ultra to open in Mira Mesa. So when Eater annouced the soft opening, then grand opening schedule; I just figured it was going to be nothing like being able to sneak into Menya on their first day of business on Clairemont Mesa; since Menya had made a name for itself. Still, with several meetings cancelled; I found myself with some time and a bit of freedom on my hands. So, I decided to head up to Mira Mesa, I take a quick peek to see what the line was like. I arrived at 10 till 11 and things weren't bad at all.

Instead of a sign in sheet; this location uses an iPad and you get a text right before your table is ready.

The capacity of this location seats about 50; so even with the staggered seating, I was in by 1110. Funny thing; they sat all the parties for two at the counter and single customers at the two-top….which probably made sense since it was a pretty tiny two top.

I knew what I wanted by the time I hit my seat and it took me thirty seconds to fill out my order. The young lady who was working the seating and seemed to be managing the front of house; I believe her name is Maia is amazing. As soon as she saw I had my order filled out, she walked over, smiled and said, "that's fast". I told her that I'd been "trained well" eating the Clairemont location. She cracked up.

I think they had a bunch of stuff already going as my Chicken Karaage got to me in less than five minutes.

This wasn't bad; moist, but on the chewy side. There's some nice savory tones going on; but it's not nearly as good as Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman; which while on the salty side, was much more crisp and even more juicy than this. Like I said, not as crisp as I enjoy, but a passable version.

Of course I got the Ajitama Ramen with extra ajitama.

This was a darn good bowl; better than what I'd had at the Clairemont location during my last couple of visits. Rich, but not greasy, not too salty, nice belly and tongue coating, collagen filled goodness. The noodles were good, chewy and al dente, but nice and slippery, as expected.

The ajitama looked really good; the orange yolks glistening, but much like Kirbie's visit (Please check it out here), this was much saltier than I'd had in the past. The eggs were also too cold.

Still, I don't think you can get a better version of tonkotsu ramen in San Diego. And maybe it'll be easier for you to get a seat at the Clairemont location.

Menya Ultra
8141 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126
Hours:
Tues – Sat 11am 2pm, 530pm – 9pm
Sunday 11am – 2pm, 5pm – 9pm

Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman Oceanside

October 9, 2018 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

**** Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman Oceanside has closed

Now here's a ramen spot with origins in Japan that I had read about several years back. Ikebukuro's Basso Drill-Man ramen is fairly well known by ramen junkies, mainly for the Tsukemen and Abura Soba; basically "oil noodles" in which thick and hefty noodles are coated in "oil" in many cases rendered pork fat with various seasonings. I was quite happy that another ramen shop with a true ramen background was opening up. The catch; Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman was opening in Oceanside. Oceanside!

So, when Eater announced the opening of the shop in June; I just knew I had to check it out. It was just a matter of having the time and making the 30-plus mile drive up to Oceanside.

I find the location interesting, it's not quite Convoy or even Mira Mesa as the restaurant, which has a rather spartan interior is basically across the street from Swami's.

I arrived just as the open sign was turned on and lead over to the bar area. I recall being told that this used to be an Americanized sushi bar. The two women working were quite nice and friendly.

Ordering for me was a no-brainer; being a lover of Sichuan Liang Mian and still make my version of "Oil Noodles"; I just had to try the Abura Soba, which they call Aburasso here. I ordered the "deluxe" version, not cheap at $15.75.

I'm glad I also got the Chicken Karaage, which at $4.25 for four pieces was not cheap. But let me tell you; this is the best karaage I've had in a while. And I got five pieces instead of four.

The coating was so crisp and lightly crunchy, and the dark meat chicken was so moist that it basically exploded when I bit into it…..it was more juicy than the recent XLB I had at Din Tai Fung. It had been marinating for a while as there was a deep soy flavor; perhaps edging on being too salty, with a definite lightly acidic tone, I'm fairly certain they use shio koji or something similar. There was a slight hint of ginger as well. This was quite good.

The Aburasso was soon passed to the Server who brought it over to me. I had seen the medium-thick noodles being mixed with the oil base. I had also seen one of the egg yolks fall out of the white and the poor fellow wrestle with getting it back into place.

The noodles were topped with the afore mentioned egg; nicely flavored, and for once, not served cold as it was nice and warm. The chashu had a very nice soy-slightly sweet flavor and while nice and fatty was on the more chewy side. Not sure about the blanched cabbage, as it brought nothing to the dish.

The flavored oil was on the bland side, with a hint of spice and smokiness. I was looking for a more intense, maybe porky essence. But this wasn't bad at all and several levels above the Abura Soba at hipsterish Nozaru Ramen.

It did a great job of coating the noodles though. And those noodles….you'll either love them or hate them. I enjoyed the wonderful toothsome chewiness….these were noodles with heft and would obviously be great if they were also used in the Tsukemen. Very nice noodles, it looks like you won't have to worry about the noodles being mushy here!

As much as I was looking forward to he ramen here, it was the karaage that fueled my return the following weekend.

The karaage this time around was even better than on my previous visit. A bit lighter, less salty, but still with a deep soy flavor.

So crunchy and moist, it was a joy to eat.

I had thought of going with the Tsukemen, but in the end, I chose the Deluxe Shoyu Ramen ($14.75). And while my main motivation was to see how the broth was at Menma, I regretted not getting the Tsukemen as this was less than satisfying.

While the egg and chashu was better this time around, both in terms of texture and flavor, I'm not a fan of the thinner noodles here as it lacks the springiness and toothsomeness of the thicker noodles.

The broth was very one-dimensional, it just seemed dashi heavy and salty, lacking any real savory tones. And while it appeared rich enough it strangely lacked that wonderful tongue coating "aaah" appeal.

My favorite component was strangely the menma, the bamboo shoots were initially crunchy, with an almost meaty finish, making it very satisfying to eat.

The two women working on both visits were very pleasant. And man, that karaage. But all of this comes with an investment for someone living within San Diego. Think of it as being about thirty-five bucks if you include gas and tip. And I was eating solo.

And yet, that karaage beckons me…….and perhaps that tsukemen…….just to see how it compares to Rokurinsha.

Ramen Menma – Basso Drillman Oceanside
509 Mission Ave
Oceanside, CA 92054
Hours:
Tues – Sun 1130am – 230pm, 5pm – 9pm

Tokyo – Kizo Ramen

September 17, 2018 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

It seems that during the course of our visits to Tokyo that we've developed some "traditions" of sorts. Dinner at Suzunari is one of them. And as we had breakfast, we decided to keep anther going.

The breakfast, we were given vouchers from the hotel, was basic and fine. We decided to head on down to Tokyo Station a few hours early; stash our bags in the always convenient lockers, and spend some time shopping, eating, and just enjoy our last few hours in Tokyo. We did manage to do some shopping; buying some gifts for folks back in San Diego.

When it came time to eat, well, that was easy. It was Ramen Street for us……a little habit that I think will become a tradition. On our first visit, it was the ultra-hyper Rokurinsha, on our last visit Oreshiki Jun. What was it be this time around?

Hmmmm…..we picked two and decided to check them out. After peeking into the two places; Kizo won out.

Mainly because the clientele, at least on this day all seemed Japanese; while the places (i.e. Rokurinsha with the huge line) had so many tourists. A big plus was that the specialty at Kizo is Sendai Gyutan Negishio Ramen…….beef tongue – scallion – shio ramen.

And as is the drill; we ordered a couple of other items on the menu and basically shared the ramen….like the gyoza.

Not the best "skins" which were brittle and plastic-ky. The filling was much too salty and a bit on the dry side.

Not the most auspicious start to a meal.

We also ordered the Beef Tongue Crouquette.

Man, the panko breading on this was fantastic; light and so crisp. This was the only light thing about the croquette as the filling was so rich; great beefiness, but perhaps too much of a good thing. A bit over-the-top for us. Wonderful textures though.

Which had us wondering how the ramen was going to be. We shouldn't have worried…..

As you can tell; we ordered extra ajitama, which was serviceable, the yolk decent and definitely not over-cooked. And those slices of beef tongue were heavenly….so tender, so beefy……as only beef tongue can be. The broth was good; not overly salty, it had almost a light garlic-beef-pork flavor to it. The tongue feel was really good, much thicker than it looked as it coated the nice, springy-chewy noodles well. The negi added a bit of pungency and crunch to things, but really wasn't needed in my mind.

And while we didn't have a whole lot of ramen on this trip, this was easily our favorite.

Kizo (Tokyo Station – Ramen Street)
1-9-1 Marunouchi Chiyoda Tokyo

As we left Tokyo Station I thought "well, it's three down; five to go….I wonder what we'll do when we reach eight?" Hmmmm…..let's not dwell on that.

Let's just enjoy the "interesting" and somewhat humorous signs that are posted…..

As with all of our trips to Japan; this one was chock full of memories….and Sakura!

Thanks for stopping by!

Karami Ramen

August 27, 2018 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

It's a bit strange; I've heard so much about Ramen Ryoma's opening, but not so much about Karami which opened around the same time. Last week the weather had started cooling off and due to the fact that a lot of folks were on vacation, well……many of my meetings were cancelled, so I decided to head on down to the plaza that houses Nijiya, Spicy House, and Pho Mignon.

I arrived at 1130 and there were only two parties in the place during my entire visit. The lay-out of this tiny restaurant is somewhat neat; in a slightly cheesy kind of way….but it does remind me of some of the ramen places I've eaten at in Japan.

My Server was super friendly, with a great sense of humor.

As you can tell by the name; Karami specializes in spicy ramen. I wasn't too sure about having that on my first visit, so I just went with the Miso Tonkotsu and Chicken Karaage.

The Chicken Karaage wasn't too bad; in fact, I think it was better than what I'd had at Ryoma.

It lightly crisp; the dark meat chicken was slightly marinated….too little for my taste; but it was moist and had flavor. Of course, I had to listen to the know-it-all young lady on the next table tell her dining companion that it was all wrong….it should be white meat instead of dark meat. Methinks she got her katsu and karaage all mixed up. It didn't help that she ordered the "tonkatsu ramen"……

Meanwhile; my Miso-Tonkotsu was disappointing.

The noodles were standard issue JFC stuff and overcooked for my taste. The egg was cooked nicely, but ice cold. The chashu had a nice band of fat, but was on the dry side.

The broth was way too salty and very thin for a tonkotsu style broth; totally lacking in the balanced tongue coating richness I enjoy. There was a hint of garlic; but not much else beyond the sodium. It was truly lacking in complexity. You know I'm reaching when I thought to myself; "hey, this menma is pretty good".

You can tell what I thought about the broth……

On the bright side; the server was really nice and that karaage wasn't the worst that I've had recently.

Anyway, Calvin just returned from vacation, and guess where he wanted to eat?

And you know what? I was ready to actually try one of these……

We both ordered some extras. Calvin went with the curry-rice, non-spicy.

It actually had a mild kick, was slightly beefy; but the meat was tough and dry. Not too bad.

I ordered the spicy chicken wings; which was "all show and no go".

It's got to be the blandest; spicy looking chicken wings I've ever had…..hardly spicy at all; it lacked in any nuance of flavor, no sweetness, it seemed to be using something like kimchi base, or something similar mixed into a paste like texture. The batter got gummy quite quickly. At least the wings were moist.

I order the Triple Super Spicy Chashu Shio Ramen…….

Well, this was also underwhelming. Our server, the same friendly young lady as on my previous visit, looked surprised that we ordered this. She warned us several times about how spicy this was……it wasn't. It just wasn't very spicy; and what heat there was lacked nuance. I did think it was better than the thin, salty broth I'd had last time; but I was just surprised that this wasn't very spicy.

The noodles were still cooked more than I prefer; but was better than on my last visit. As you can see; the chashu was on the dry side; and cold to boot, as was the tamago.

The young lady seemed genuinely shocked that we were unfazed by the triple spicy ramen. She said she was worried we'd get sick from the spice. But she really won me over when I told her, "would you like me to call tomorrow to let you know I haven't died?" Her reply was awesome, "ok, but no screaming on the phone…."

Now that witty answer might be worth another visit….maybe…..

Karami Ramen
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Mon – Thurs 1130am – 230pm, 530pm – 10pm
Friday      1130am – 230pm, 530pm – 1030pm
Saturday    12pm – 3pm, 530pm – 1030pm
Sunday      12pm – 3pm, 5pm – 9pm

Midweek Meanderings – Guest Kabob Replacing Hunan Kitchen, Isshido Coming to Mira Mesa, and Menya Ultra’s Second Location

August 15, 2018 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

So, I decided to take a the REALLY long route to this office this past weekend……well, let's call it what is was….procrastination. I ended driving up Convoy to check on Hunan Kitchen a.k.a. Noodle Hut a.k.a. Tǔjiā Xiāng Cài and here's what I found:

Hunan Kitchen being replaced by "Guest Kabob":

At least that's what the sign says.

I saw the construction on the place a few weeks earlier…..I had hoped that Hunan kitchen would stay….but looks like we're going to have the sixth restaurant in this spot in the last 7 years.

4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Isshido replacing Submarina in Mira Mesa:

I drove up to Mira Mesa….just, well, because. A bit hungry, I turned into the parking lot near Habit Grill and saw this in the now defunct Submarina spot.

I stopped and took a look. I'm not sure what type of restaurant Isshido is going to be. Doing a Google search yielded nothing. So I'm not quite sure what's going on here.

8250 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

I ended up grabbing a late breakfast/lunch across the street….that'll be in a future post. On the way out of the parking lot, I decided to check out…..

Menya Ultra's Mira Mesa location:

Which is right next to Grocery Outlet. With all that brown paper up; it's hard to tell what's going on here.

8141 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

So there you go….one morning of procrastination was pretty productive, even before I got into the office, don't you think?

Ramen Ryoma (Clairemont Mesa)

August 13, 2018 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

**** This location of Ramen Ryoma has closed

For some reason, the folks at work got really excited when I told them about Ramen Ryoma opening on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard in the old Bangkok West location. It has been so hot the last couple of weeks that the last thing I really wanted was ramen….especially a place that touts serving Sapporo (= rich/thick) style broth. Still, I got talked into having lunch here on a day when the temps in the area was closing in on triple digits. You know; I'm kinda wishing we were back in Sapporo right now.

We were among the first seated in the spacious and (thankfully) well air conditioned restaurant. The young lady and the really friendly guy who look like the floor leads are really nice, professional, amiable…..though the rest of the crew looked a bit lost at times.

The menu consists of several iterations of ramen, including the now de rigueur spicy ramen, and of course, since this is a Sapporo style shop; a corn and butter version as well.

I just went with the Chicken Karaage and the Deluxe Ryoma Ramen ($12.25), since folks were getting shio broth; I decided to try out the shoyu broth.

Since this is a new shop; bumps in the road were to be expected. Not all ramen places can have their act together like Menya Ultra from opening day. We watched as our ramen sat in the window for a good 15 minutes before it seems like all the floor staff noticed it there and rushed to the bowls. They then took a few minutes to double check the orders.

So when the bowls arrived at our table the broth, which I'm figuring wasn't very hot to start, was barely over lukewarm. A note about the broth; it is a fairly rich, tonkotsu-ish broth, with definite pork tones. At this temp; there was a kind of greasy tongue feel to it; not rich in say the way of the thick Iekei style or Seabura ramen we had in Japan; but just kind of oily and greasy. It was also quite salty.

The tamago was a plain boiled egg, a tad over-cooked.

The noodles had not held up well, had lost its "spring", and were a bit too mushy for my taste. Not good when using this type of thicker and wavy noodles. Also, as you can see the broth had started to really thicken and globs of it stuck to the noodles. The chashu was full of soy sauce – lightly sweet tones, but was dry and tough.

The Chicken Karaage ($6.50) looked a bit light in color, but was slightly crisp, if not perfectly fried.

It was also a bit on the bland side in terms of being karaage; as I think it needed more of that soy-mirin flavor with perhaps ginger or garlic tones; but you know how I am about my chicken karaage….and all the possibilities. I'm glad they used dark meat chicken and I think once they get everything dialed in; this will be pretty good.

I have bad habit of not following up with second visits soon enough; hence no Hachi Ramen or Trust Restaurant posts. I have to go back to square one (or square three in the case of Hachi) on those. So, in spite of the heat, I decided to return for a second visit this past weekend.

Same really nice crew working. I really like the young lady who I think is in charge of the front of house here. She is quite patient and very friendly.

I decided to go with the Shio Ramen; noodles extra firm, with a tamago…..and I got a nice laugh as one of the young ladies took my order without batting an eye; then walked over to the other woman and asked what's a "too-maa-go".

A couple of things I quickly noticed when the bowl arrived. Look at that huge piece of chashu! This time around it was nice and tender, but also very salty. Do you notice the tamago; doesn't it look like it's "seasoned" this time around?

The broth was quite rich and much like Santouka, it seems that the shio (salt) version is actually less salty than the shoyu ramen. It is a hearty broth, with some smokey tones, not bad overall.

The noodles were nice and firm; good slightly chewy-doughy texture, and you can see having the broth at the right temperature allows it to attach itself nicely to the noodles.

The egg was perfectly cooked; though it still tasted like a regular boiled egg. It was nice and lukewarm.

I enjoyed the service at Ryoma; though the ramen might be a bit too oily (and that says a lot) for my tastes. It's definitely not bad. It's really too hot for visit number three right now, so I'll wait awhile for cooler weather and give the place time to get their systems in order before I return.

On my first visit as we drove back to the office; Calvin said; "I'm glad Ryoma is here….maybe there'll be no wait at Menya Ultra anymore." We soon drove past Menya Ultra….there were at least a dozen people waiting outside with temps in the high 90's.

I don't know…..that might be wishful thinking.

Ramen Ryoma
9119 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123
Hours:
Open Daily 1130am – 10pm

Please check out Kirbie's post on Ramen Ryoma here.

Monday Meanderings – Benchmark Brewing Company Opens in Bay Park, Ramen Ryoma, Bonchon, and is Hunan Kitchen Closed?

July 23, 2018 mmm-yoso Beer, Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Ramen

It's been a crazy busy day. I haven't done one of these in a while…so here goes.

Benchmark Brewing Company Opens in Bay Park:

I was driving past last week and noticed folks in the place. This past weekend; the sign was up.

I'm happy for my 'hood.

4112 Napier St
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Tues – Thurs 4pm – 8pm
Fri – Sat Noon – 9pm
Sunday Noon – 7pm

Ramen Ryoma opening in Kearny Mesa:

I had some free time to drive around this past weekend. I was staying away from the crowds. I noticed that Ramen Ryoma is replacing Bangkok West.

I know about the much hyped soon to be Hillcrest location of this Oregon based ramen chain. But hadn't heard they were opening in KM.

9119 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123

Bonchon Chicken opening on Convoy:

I'd read about Bonchon opening on Convoy in the Eater. It replaces the R&B Crawfish Lounge.

This chain based which originated out of Busan now has a ton of stores in the US.

4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

The reason I drove into Plaza del Sol; was that I noticed Hunan Kitchen (i.e. Noodle Hut/Tǔjiā Xiāng Cài (土家湘菜) was closed.

The signs are still up. So I'm hoping it's just for some renovation or temporary repairs.

4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

If not; this would be the fifth restaurant in this location since 2011!