Best pork belly in town! Would come back just to have the pork belly. Our guess is the noodles are freshly made on site, but didn't have the traditional ramen noodle texture and they were short in length scoring very low in the slurpability category. The restaurant did not provide a description of the broth. Based on taste alone, the flavor profile would be most consistent with a shoyu base, but had a unique hint of smoke from the "bacon dashi." Condiments included cilantro, pickled cucumbers, kimchi, hard boiled egg, nori, and green onions. We ordered the kimchi on the side so that it would not interfere with the flavor of the broth. The pickled cucumbers actually worked well with the dish. It came with two slabs of pork belly - seasoned perfectly and extremely tender. Priced at $19 ($16 during brunch), it is a bit on the pricier end but the portion size is pretty big.
Traveling by car to San Francisco from Los Angeles can be exhausting. As we juggled between traffic and the slippery road conditions due to the rain, we eventually made a pit stop at San Mateo, CA. Luckily, Eric’s cousin lives there, so we made a visit to see her and the family (kids were adorable, I might add). Naturally, after we left the house, we decided to make another stop at a ramen joint in San Mateo. I mean, what's more appealing than a bowl of ramen on a rainy, 50 degrees night? Initially, we wanted to go to Ramen Dojo, but they were closed by the time we arrived. "On to plan B," we said, which was Ramen Parlor down the road.
One of the things that caught our attention right away was their large, vibrant glowing sign outside the joint. Another attention grabbing feature was their HUGE parking lot, a bonus especially in California! As we sat down, the interior of the place reminded us of a typical ramen establishment -- small and quaint with limited seating. Instead of ordering my usual tonkotsu ramen bowl, I was feeling a bit audacious. One of the ramens I decided to try was the Pork Tan Tan Men (red-chili oil). A little background information on the Pork Tan Tan Men. It is based on the traditional Chinese noodle dish from the Sichuan province known as Dan Dan noodles or Dan Dan Mien. The Japanese calls this noodle dish Pork Tan Tan Men. Characteristically, it comes with ground pork, large greens, and is known to be on the spicier side. Based on my first impressions looking down at the bowl, their version of the Pork Tan Tan Men highlighted all the key elements I mentioned above. As I took several sips of the broth, I noticed the spice immediately that usually is not present in a tonkotsu broth. The chasu (pork belly) was marinated and cooked well. I just wished it wasn’t so thin. I really enjoyed the vegetables included with the ramen -- shitake mushrooms, baby bok choy and bean sprouts (although I could've done without the bean sprouts). The two highlights of the bowl came down to the noodles and the half-boiled flavored egg. The noodles were cooked with the right consistency and balance as with the flavored egg which was not served cold! I was also impressed how quickly the bowl landed on our table after we ordered. For $11.95, the Pork Tan Tan Men will not break the bank but it is priced a tad higher compared to some of the other ramen joints on the West Coast. One recommendation I have is to be cautious on the level of spice you select from the menu. Their ‘mild spice' will send you fanning your mouth after your first sip of the broth! You have been warned!
Other notes: For the classic ramen, the broth was a medium pork broth, not too salty, good flavor profile. There is an option to get the broth mild, medium or extra spicy. Would suggest mild spicy if there is a preference for a kick to the broth because the medium spicy level already took the attention away from the flavor profile of the broth. Pork belly was excellently marinated and tender, but the reason for the lower rating is the slices were very, very thin. We would prefer to have the ramen without the spinach and bean sprouts. The soft egg was not cold which was a bonus. Priced at $10.75. Add extra pork belly for $2 (1 piece).
The first time we came across this dish was through a video posted on Facebook on how the ramen and the lobster were constructed. It looked damn good! Coincidentally, we had a trip to LA planned and knew we had to try it! Located near Beverly Hills, Hinoki And The Bird is tucked behind "The Century," a 42-story condo skyscraper. It is not a ramen joint by any means with its sophisticated, modern decor and dimmed lighting...
But let's talk ramen! That's what we're here for. If you're expecting a rich tonkotsu broth, then you're in for a surprise. The broth was a savory lobster bisque meets shoyu ramen combination with a squeeze of lime. The first impression of the broth was a bit on the salty side, but the broth grew on us with each sip. The noodles were handmade fresh on site which gave the noodles a "doughy" texture. The lobster meat was poached to perfection and buttery as the name implied. The ramen was garnished with celery leaves, basil, and cilantro, however, the first encounter of these herbs, especially the basil, produced conflicting impressions of the dish - is this ramen or pho? This confliction was validated by Chef Brandon Kida. We had the honor of sitting down with the executive chef for a brief moment where he described his red-miso, French inspired ramen broth. "Ramen shouldn't have any boundaries," said Chef Kida, who dislikes the idea that ramen has to taste a certain way and include the same types of ingredients. "I also love pho!" he said and so he decided to add a little bit of basil when creating the recipe. We were right about the pho flavor profile after all! But really, the addition of Southeast Asian herbs and spices was to offset the heavy buttery flavor of the lobster as Chef Kida later explained. He definitely achieved this balance!
So if you're ramen junkies like us and want to expand your ramen palate beyond the traditional broths, we highly recommend trying the Butter Lobster Ramen from Hinoki And The Bird. Just be prepared to open up those wallets!
Attended WhiskyFest in D.C. and had to make a stop at a ramen joint. Daikaya doesn’t take reservations so expect to wait up to 3 hours even during late hours, especially during the weekends.
This is a creamy “mugi-miso” broth with a slight peanut flavor but a bit on the salty side. The pork belly was amazingly tender but was not a fan of the ground pork and yellow onions. We thought the noodles were on point in terms of slurpiness, chewiness, and texture.
Stopped here right before our flight to the Whitsunday Islands. There are several locations in Sydney. We went to the one located on the 5th level of Westfield Shopping Centre.
Great ramen! We heard about Ippudo, not specifically this one in Sydney, but back home in the U.S. The broth was well balanced and flavorful — full on pork flavor! Pork belly slices were very tender and the noodles were perfectly cooked with great slurpability. The bowl of ramen cost $15 AUD or about $11.53 USD.
We attended this festival for the second year in a row, but this year was a drastic improvement from the year before. The location shifted from a small section of the street outside Zen Box Izakaya to the Mills City Museum. It also didn't take four hours of wait time to get a bowl of ramen. We were glad we decided to give it another go. The festival was advertised as "free" but in order to sample the food and beverages required the purchase of a "Ramen Attack Passport" for $40. This included two tickets for ramen, two beverage tickets, one ticket for street food, and one dessert ticket plus a bonus admission to the museum exhibits. So unless you don't plan to eat or drink at next year's event, we would recommend purchasing the Passport!
The menu offered four different ramens: 1) Shio Hiyasoba by Chef Keizo Shimamoto, owner of Ramen Shack in NY, NY, 2) Red Light Tonkotsu Ramen by Chef Justin Carlisle, owner of Red Light Ramen by Ardent in Milwaukee, WI, 3) Surly Beef Brisket Mazemen by Chef Jorge Guzman of Surly Brewer's Table in Minneapolis, MN, and 4) Bam Bam Ramen by Chef Jack Reibel, co-owner of Il Foro & Paddy Shack in Minneapolis, MN. The street snacks were all creations of John Ng , co-owner and chef of Zen Box Izakaya, which included Okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancakes), Takoyaki (fried octopus balls), and Ume Brussels Sprouts (fried brussels sprouts).
Aside from eating and drinking, there were also demonstrations that you could attend to learn about different culinary topics. We attended "The Art of Ramen Noodles" demonstration hosted by Kenshiro Uki, co-founder/general manager of Ramen Lab & Sun Noodle. In this demonstration, we learned about the ingredients and techniques of making ramen noodle, from the specificity of the flour to the pH of the water. We also learned that Kenshiro's company supplies the noodles to many ramen joints across the U.S. He met with the chefs to create the noodles based on their preferences such as the thickness, the texture, and the color of the noodles.
All in all, this was a very well organized ramen festival especially compared to the past events. We hope they continue to host this annually and invite new and established ramen chefs from around the world. One thing to expect is that the portion sizes are small, but the variety of food and beverage options will keep you sufficiently satisfied!
Definitely one of our favorite ramen places to hit up in Las Vegas. It’s off The Strip, but it’s a short 10 minute drive only and you will not regret doing it. It is also very decently priced. Monta’s specialty is the Kurume- style tonkotsu ramen which is known for the thick and rich pork based broth served with thin, straight noodles. The broth is made from pork bones and a unique soy sauce imported from Japan. Monta Ramen is open Monday through Sunday 11:30 AM to 11:00 PM. Get there early because usually a long line forms outside the shop well before the doors even open!
If the scale was from 0-5, the broth would be rated at 0. There was no flavor whatsoever; instant ramen broth has more flavor! Noodles were done fine. Probably the best part of the ramen was the pork belly which was roasted, flavorful, and tender. If it wasn't for the broth, the rating for the pork belly would be higher. Unless Moto-I has changed the recipe since 2014, do not come here for ramen!
(Updated 2/10/2018): Masu does not state the type of broth in their pork belly ramen, but the flavor resembles that of a shoyu based broth. For $1 more you can make the broth spicy which does have some kick to it but does not alter much of the shoyu flavor (although the spice level is not always consistent). Masu has always done their pork belly right which is slow roasted with generous slices, but more recently has seen a dip in quality. In our opinion, the poached egg sets their ramen apart from others! Get it during happy hour (or late night) for only $12.50 ($2 off the regular menu)!