morinoya

los angeles, ca

website

i had no idea that this japanese restaurant was hidden away on the 2nd floor of the olympic collection at the corner of sawtelle and olympic until m directed me there for dinner after work. their specialty is inaniwa udon - i'm not quite sure what it's made of, but it looks like thinly sliced udon. the broth was flavorful and warm. it's a lot lighter than the ramen that you get elsewhere on sawtelle. but my favorite part of the meal was the warm plum wine drink that m ordered - extremely comforting after a long day.

tsujita la

los angeles, ca

website

more ramen! before tsujita annex, there was the original tsujita la. it's rare to see this restaurant without a crazy line outside. it serves a different type of tsukemen (dipping ramen). the noodles are similar to the annex, but the broth is completely different. the broth comes in a small bowl with small pieces of pork. there is a bit more oil in this broth, which can throw some people off. but i just mix it all together and it puts a nice coat of porky goodness on the noodles when you dip. there's also a slight sour flavor which pairs nicely with the noodles and a hefty squeeze of lime. both tsukemen are amazing yet completely different. try both and see which one is your favorite!

shin-sen-gumi

los angeles, ca

website

you would think that there would be a limit to the amount of ramen that i can eat and the number of ramen restaurants that i will try. but you would be wrong. this is shin-sen-gumi, which is one of many ramen shops on sawtelle. this place gets crowded, but not as crowded as tsujita annex. my new ramen buddy w and i decided to try shin-sen-gumi for lunch one day. broth was tasty, noodles a bit too thin. i liked that i could customize my ramen - choose whether you want your noodles al dente, choose how much pork fat you want floating in your soup, choose your toppings (corn!), etc. but since tsujita annex makes it perfect every time, why mess with perfection?

tsujita annex

los angeles, ca

website

long time no blog. but i'm back now with my favorite restaurant in los angeles - tsujita annex - which was recently featured in an eater article about its noodle supplier, sun noodle. the noodles here are indeed fantastic. i always order the tsukemen (dipping ramen). springy chewy yellow noodles, served room temp in one bowl. in another bowl, thick fatty flavorful pork broth, served hot. pull one or two noodles from one bowl and dip them in the other bowl until they're coated with broth. then slurp! red spice and garlic are available on the table to add even more flavor. i order my tsukemen without any spice and then add two spoonfuls from the table (otherwise, it's way too spicy, trust me). i also add extra vegetables because the bean sprouts soak up the broth and add a satisfying crunch to each bite. you won't be able to finish all of the broth - take it to go and add instant ramen at home for an incredibly rich and indulgent meal.

bangkok spoon

mountain view, ca

link to yelp

this is one of derek's favorite lunch spots near the office. he ordered the pad kee mow and i ordered the pad see ew. he he enjoys the thinner longer noodles that they use here, although i prefer thicker rice noodles, similar to ho fun in chinese restaurants. decor was very nice, prices were good, service was friendly and speedy. food was decent, although derek's was a little bit better because it was spicy. my tofu had a little bit of a char on it which i liked but others might not. overall, not a destination restaurant, but a good spot for some noodles if you're in the area.

a & j restaurant

cupertino, ca

link to yelp

craving a good bowl of noodles, we headed to cupertino village. a&j restaurant is a very basic chinese restaurant with a short menu. walk in, someone usually gestures at a table. it's the kind of restaurant where you don't have to order tea or water, they just throw it onto the table after you sit down.

we each order a bowl of noodles. derek gets the beef noodle soup. i usually do too, but this time i decided to try the tripe noodle soup. it was good, but not as flavorful as the beef soup.

sam wo

chinatown, sf

link to yelp

a month before our wedding, derek and i made a very quick trip up to sf's chinatown to find me a wedding qi pao. did some quick yelp searching and found a place called L & G trading. derek picked a style he liked, in red (per tradition). i tried on the XL (sigh). it fit. we bought it. and we had plenty of time to find a spot for lunch.

we wandered around a bit and found sam wo, which is really a hole in the wall joint. menu looked good and very cheap. downstairs is a small kitchen and there's a very narrow staircase to a small dining area upstairs. ordered some wonton noodles, congee, and you tiao. the noodles and congee were standard, but the you tiao was surprisingly good. probably because it was freshly fried. apparently sam wo is popular with non-asians, not sure why, but maybe they know about the you tiao.

ryowa

mountain view, ca

link to yelp

i really miss all of the fantastic ramen shops we used to eat at in nyc (and the ones we tried in tokyo, of course). the south bay is seriously lacking in the ramen department. derek managed to find a spot on castro street in mountain view. it was pretty crowded when we went on a saturday afternoon. we had to wait a while before we could grab a stool. the shop reminds me of the ramen bars we visited in tokyo - simple layout, condiments on the bar, stool, wait until a spot opens before you sit and slurp.

i ordered the tsukumen, dipping noodles - while it was good and satisfied my craving, it wasn't nearly as good as the tsukumen with fatty crispy pork at setagaya. it's also missing the dense chewy noodles. but ryowa has buttered corn, good broth, decent noodles, it will do just fine. i'm hoping the crowd of eager ramen eaters indicates a growing interest in this japanese specialty and we'll see more ramen shops open up in the area.

karendipity cooks: asian spaghetti

it's been quite a while since i've posted about something that i've cooked. i do cook, especially now that i don't live in the land of seamlessweb -- but it's rarely something post-worthy. (lots of quesadillas ...) this dish, however, is definitely post-worthy. asian spaghetti! my brother chris bought me ming tsai's latest cook book simply ming one pot meals for christmas. this book is perfect for people who like to eat asian food, but need very simple recipes that don't take a lot of ingredients, precision, or time.

i'm not going to post the recipe because presumably there's copyright and whatnot involved, but i will hint that there's canned tomatoes, soy sauce, beef, and pork. a lot of beef and pork. the recipe calls for spaghetti, but i prefer to use capellini pasta which gives the dish more of a mai fun feel. the flavors are a strange hybrid of italian and asian, but it works perfectly. yum.

luu noodle

mountain view, ca

link to yelp

life's been busy, involving a lot of travel lately, but i'm going to try to catch up with some entries this morning. derek and i discovered this awesome noodle spot close to target in mountain view. it's perfect -- start with a big bowl of cheap noodles to carbo-load before a major target shopping trip.

i get the combo noodles with wontons and meatballs. vietnamese/chinese style noodles. good, clear broth. perfectly dense and chewy noodles. when derek and first went here, they included fried pork skin as a garnish - yum. last time we went, no more fried pork. not sure if it's a permanent change or if we were just unlucky. service is non-existent, you pay at the counter by telling them your table number, booths are kind of uncomfortable, and i would avoid the shrimp. but for $5 a bowl, i'm not going to complain.

ramen mottainai

gardena, ca

website

in LA for work, i dropped off the rental car at LAX a couple of hours before my flight back to JFK. cindy c picked me up for a quick dinner in "nearby" gardena. as i am not accustomed to the land of freeways that is the los angeles metro area, i was a bit concerned about the number of roads that cindy took to get us to our destination. turns out, it was only 15 minutes away from the airport and returning was not a problem.

like all good restaurants in california, this ramen shop is hidden away in the corner of a strip mall. walking in, we were greeted with the traditional shouting in japanese. the atmosphere reminded me of the ramen shops i enjoy in new york. except much more spacious. and no wait! cindy c ordered a plate of spicy veggies to start off with, which were yummy. i ordered the porky ramen (tonkotsu broth) with the addition of buttered corn. love love love the buttered corn. i think everything in life should be topped with buttered corn.

lan zhou handmade noodles

e bway (rutgers/ pike)

website

if you couldn't tell already, derek and i love hand-pulled noodles. but lan zhou is the first place that they hand-pull the noodles to order right in front of you. so you get to see the noodles get slapped against a table and stretched into perfectly formed noodles right before they're thrown into a bowl of boiling broth. the setting is standard hole-in-the-wall, but with the flourescent lighting and dingy surroundings you really feel transported to asia.

i found the dumplings were good, but had a bit too much ginger for my tastes. i ordered my bowl of noodles with tripe and the cook graciously added all sorts of other intestinal delights. quite a lot of offal, but delicious. derek ordered his standard (boring) bowl with beef slices. the broth was rich and sufficiently beefy. pickled cabbage is available in a sketchy-looking plastic bowl on each table (although sketchy didn't stop me from adding a few spoonfuls). it's worth it for the spectacle, but i'm going to stick with my many-meats-special soup and delicious gingerless dumplings at kuai la mian.

boom noodle

seattle, wa

website

university village ("u-village") keeps getting bigger and better. and more asian. located within walking distance of the university of washington campus, i used to go to u-village all the time for food and shopping. but now it's all fancy and hip. there's a tiffany's, a sushi restaurant, and now boom noodle (a ramen bar) and tokyo sweets (with a menu that looks exactly like what derek and i saw in the harajuku district of tokyo).

i love ramen bars, so i was thrilled to see that one has opened up in seattle. it doesn't have the authenticity of the places in nyc like ippudo and setagaya, but it has some unique dishes. i really enjoyed ryan's recommendation (the cold noodles) and cindy's recommendation (edamame mush with purple potato chips - pictured). the cold noodles were delicious - normal ramen noodles served with a light sauce for dipping.

hide chan ramen

52nd (2/3)

link to yelp

i love that little ramen shops are opening up all over the place. i am especially excited when little ramen shops open up near my office or near my apartment -- because let's face it, i don't like to travel too far for my food. hide chan just opened a couple of weeks ago, replacing the japanese skewer spot that was there before.

jenny and i snuck out of our respective offices last week to grab a bowl of ramen. it's not as good as ippudo, momofuku, or even ramen setagaya, but its so close to the office, it will have to do. i ordered the traditional tonkotsu ramen (pork broth). you can choose the doneness of your noodles and the fat content of your broth, but our waitress ran away before we could make those selections. next time i'll go with a little less fattiness because then i don't feel so bad about getting extra noodles...

sea king

23rd (2/3)

website

i was craving noodle soup but too lazy to head downtown to kuai la mian in chinatown. i normally avoid restaurants that have too many things on their menu and the sea king has two menus - one for chinese food and another for sushi and japanese food.

the decor (dragons carved out of ivory) gave me a hint that this might really be a chinese restaurant, so i felt safe ordering the szechuan pork and pickled cabbage noodle soup. not anywhere close to as good as what my mom makes, but the noodles actually tasted similar to hand-pulled noodles and the pork was crispy and tasty. it was a decent bowl of noodles and managed to satisfy my craving, but i still prefer chinatown (and mom's, of course).

seo

49th (2/3)

link to yelp

this is a fantastic find from CR. i love japanese food and japanese restaurants: everything is meticulously prepared, service is always awesome, and the atmosphere is usually extremely tranquil. i joined CR for dinner last friday at seo, which was the perfect place to unwind after a long week at work. we sat in the back room which overlooks the peaceful backyard garden. yelpers raved about the crab dumplings which are basically like japanese crab cakes. lots of good crab meat covered in fluffy rice noodle curls. i thought they were just okay, possibly because i was hoping for something closer to shanghai-style soup dumplings with crabmeat.

the stewed pork appetizer is an absolute must, though. tender juicy meat served with chewy rice cakes. pictured is my entree, udon with sliced duck (CR's recommendation). the duck is slightly seared, sliced paper thin, and served cold. chilled udon (linguine-like) noodles are served separately, as is a bowl of hot soup. dip the duck into the soup to warm the meat and cook it a little bit further - the meat melts in your mouth. similarly, dip the udon into the soup as a light contrast to the rich duck meat. the japanese know how to serve food - different textures, temperatures, flavors - all at once.

kuai an la mian

forsyth (south of canal)

website

i realize that the picture attached to this post is only going to look appetizing to a select few, but if the image makes you drool you need to check this place out. derek (the noodle king) found another hand-pulled noodle spot under the manhattan bridge in chinatown. the menu lists about a dozen or so bowls of noodles with various ingredients. i couldn't figure out which one would have what i wanted so i went with the house special.

that was definitely the right choice. derek, who ordered the beef tendon, graciously hid his envy when my bowl arrived with two pieces of duck, a fried egg, beef tripe, pig intestine, beef tendon, other pieces of unidentifiable meaty things, and some leafy green stuff over hand-pulled noodles. the duck was perfectly juicy, the tripe was tender and flavorful, and the hand-pulled noodles were dense, chewy, and delicious. an excellent bowl of noodles - derek has found another winner. the house special was actually the most expensive item on the menu (less than $7 - query whether you would rather have two people's pops or a giant bowl of noodles?).

rai rai ken

new york, ny

link to yelp

derek and i were wandering the east village on a friday night trying to find a place to eat that didn't have a long wait. redhead had an hour+ wait and there was no room to wait at the bar. momofuku noodle bar was so packed we didn't even bother asking. derek was craving ramen and i remembered a friend had told me about rai rai ken, so we decided to try it out.

derek loved that it reminded him of the ramen bars we visited in japan. corn might be one of my favorite foods and i love that it was an optional add-in at rai rai ken. although that's about all that this place has going for it. it's a good spot if you're in the neighborhood and you absolutely can't wait for momofuku or ippudo or are too lazy to walk to ramen setagaya.

ariyoshi

new york, ny

link to yelp

jenny and i come here all the time to get their udon noodle soup. it tastes just like the udon i had in japan - perfectly cooked noodles and a rich, slightly fishy, broth (that has probably been cooking all day in order to intensify its flavor). i like to get the pork udon with miso. jenny usually gets the tempura udon with chicken. it's just across the street from our offices - convenient comfort food.

last week, we decided the cold weather necessitated some hot noodle soup. to our surprise, however, ariyoshi had completely changed its menu! it is apparently now an izakaya serving japanese pub food. so we took the opportunity to order some appetizers - the fried tofu and the cold radish with mentaiko mayonnaise - before sharing a bowl of udon. for dessert (pictured), we ordered the tempura green tea ice cream, which came topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. yum. so far, so good - we'll have to come back to try the rest of the new menu.

super taste

new york, ny

link to yelp

it's only a few days into the new year, but derek and i have already tried two of the five restaurants listed in our 2010 wish list. the first is super taste, a small hole-in-the-wall in chinatown. michelle, derek and i braved the icy cold winds and trekked down to east chinatown (away from touristy chinatown) to slurp down some hot beef noodle soup.

it was 4:30 pm when we arrived, but it was still packed. because the door kept opening with new guests, the restaurant itself was freezing inside. we kept our winter coats on while we ate. michelle and derek ordered the beef in hot & spicy soup, i had the regular beef noodle soup. the hand-pulled noodles were the perfect texture - dense and chewy. i liked the sliced beef and the soup itself was delicious. all for less than $5 a bowl. derek and i are considering moving closer to chinatown so we can have more meals like this.