mmm-yoso!!!

San Diego's Ramen Renaissance Shio Edition: Gunco Ramen, Hinotez, Tajima, Izakaya Masa, and Yakyudori

Here's the fourth installment of my ramen-mania posts. With the exception of Hinotez, I've had tonkotsu ramen at all of these places before and had long ago decided that long simmered pork bone soup (or in a few instances tonkotsu base) was not the way to go. In the battle of shoyu versus shio, salt is my preference. I like the mild briney and in some cases complex, salt flavors along with a nice, clean, but rich broth. For me the margin of error is slim....temperature and richness really do count.

After being tonkotsu'd out, some shio ramen sounded just plain refreshing to me. Here's my visits in chronological order.

Gunco Ramen:

I last visited Gunco over two years ago with our resident ramen ruminator, Dennis. Things look just the same here.......

I really enjoyed my Shio Ramen here. It seems that the ramen has been getting better with every visit.

While the broth is relatively simple and very low on oil, there's one flavor that really sticks out....ginger. But either my tolerance has improved over the years, or they've learned to temper the flavor while still giving the broth here a touch of uniqueness, I dunno.

The noodles were fine, everything else is pretty sparse, no soft boiled egg, and the chashu quite tough.

Still I had a pleasant lunch.

Gunco Ramen
305 Palomar St
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Hinotez:

Funny thing, I've had many breakfasts at Hinotez, a couple of dinners, but it wasn't until I read Kirbie's post on Hinotez, that I realized I hadn't had the ramen here.

I guess that perhaps I thought the ramen here would be the same as Yakyudori.

Upon arriving I noticed that there have been some minor renovations, curtains on the booths and such.

I must go during some really off-peak hours. There never seems to be many people in te place when I eat here. Such was the case on this day.

As I mentioned before; I expected Yakyudori Shio Ramen, which this was not.

The visual difference was pretty significant, no corn, no menma(dried then rehydrated bamboo shoot).

The broth was also a bit strange. I'm wondering if the Yakyudori group has changed their salt? This had a strange almost bitter flavor, rather than the mild sweetness of the shio ramen I'd had at Yakyudori.....well you know that I just had to check into that, right? The chashu was nicely flavored but tragically ice cold and thus somewhat waxy and not pleasant to eat.

I don't think I'll be coming back to Hinotez for the ramen....breakfast, but not ramen.

Hinotez
7947 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Tajima Ramen House:

It was MrsZ who first informed me that Tajima was undergoing renovation. So about two weeks later I dropped by. The reworking was almost complete, the place looked very nice and modern. Hey look folks, Tajima looks all grown up now.....they even carry local craft beers!

But would the Shio Ramen suddenly be better than the rather mediocre stuff I've had here before?

Seriously, because of the temperature of the broth.... not hot enough, this seemed like a greasy mess. The noodles were over-cooked, the chashu here never wows me, and it was very consistent in being very dry and tough.

 I usually hedge my bets by adding kakuni pork, which wasn't very good on this day as it was lacking in flavor and tough. At least the egg was nicely done.

Just think if that broth was hot enough.

Service, as has been my experience at Tajima was very nice.

Tajima Ramen House
4681 Convoy St., #1
San Diego, CA 92111

Izakaya Masa:

Frankly, I haven't had much luck here in the past. But I still believe Masa is in what I call the top tier with regards to ramen.

There has always been a kind of metallic flavor to the broth here. In fact, I think Dennis has picked up on that as well as he calls this place the Sandra Lee of Izakayas.

Strangely, one of the biggest complaints about the ramen at Masa was rectified, at least on this visit. The noodles were nice and firm.

But this was way too salty, the broth almost lukewarm, and it had a strange feel to it. It seemed milky in color even though I didn't order the tonkotsu.

Here's a photo of the Shio Ramen I had here on my previous visit.

Add to that the strangely surly service on this evening........

At least the Chuka Kurage delivered as it always does.

Like Tajima, the food here probably tastes better after a couple of beers or at the end of a long night.

Izakaya Masa
928 Fort Stockton Dr
San Diego, CA 92103

Yakyudori:

By the itme I hit Yakyudori I was hitting the wall. Luckily, they have lunch specials with "small" ramen. This being a Thursday, it came with chicken karaage, quite a bit of chicken karaage, and some might-as-well-have-been-from-a-bag-of-frozen shumai.

Over my last couple of visits, it seemed like Yakyudori is slipping with regards to ramen. This was decently done, but the cracks are showing. The chashu was still very cold....just like Hinotez, what's up with that? The broth also tastes a bit different, which really makes me wonder if they've  changed the salt they use. The noodles were done characteristically well.

Still, this was not the same Shio Ramen I had here over the last three years.

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111 

You know, I've been wondering if I should actually go on and do posts on some of what I consider to be "second-tier" ramen. what do you think?

My previous Ramen Renaissance Posts:

Part 1 : Underbelly revisited

Part 2: Tecchan Yakitori and Izakaya

Part 3: RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen, Ramen Yamadaya, and Santouka

Thanks for reading!

San Diego's Ramen Renaissance: Revisits to Raki Raki, Ramen Yamadaya, and Santouka

Ramen has been picking up a good head of steam in San Diego the last couple of years, now it seems that just about everyone is serving the stuff. I call it San Diego's Ramen Renaissance...so I thought I'd go and grab some ramen. In Part 1, I revisited Underbelly for some hipster-ramen. In Part 2, I checked out Tec Chan, a Yakyudori wannabe. Now part three gets kinda boring as I revisited three places....a couple of which I've probably posted on ad nauseum in the past. My apologies....but it's kinda ramen weather out there tonight, right? So why not?

 RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen:

It seems that the place is blowing up, at least according to The Eater, which has RakiRaki as one of the 19 hottest ramen shops in the US.

I did enjoy the Tsukemen and love the noodles, but have been less than happy with the really salty broth and the rather skimpy; even for ramen portion sizes. The menu seems to be ever changing and living partially on the alkaline water hype.

Every time I visit, there seems to be another page added to the menu. On this visit, there's now a line of "Super Deluxe" ramen? Which of course, I just had to try. So there went $11.75 for the Shoyu Tonkotsu, with flame blistered prime XO Underbelly Chasiu. Man, these guys are really hyping it up......which is what it ended up being, as I wasn't too impressed with "Super Deluxe".

The noodles were just wonderful as always, nice crunch and all. The chasiu slices were as thin as playing cards, slightly dry, and very low on the flavor scale. The broth was served at too low a temperature, giving it a slight greasiness, rather than being rich. For me, the most disturbing thing about the broth is how salty it was....man I just blew up like a gorged tick. Now for all the we use alkaline water, health benefits, and all that, I'm wondering, do these folks use MSG?

Still, I decided to return yet again. And guess what? Another handy, dandy, new page to the menu! It seemed like a good deal, ramen combined with a rice bowl. What really struck me was how they like to associate "names" with everything here. Now I don't know who the poster boy Chef Takeo Araki is....but I have heard of Junya Watanabe....at least, Junya Watanabe the fashion designer. Well, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that. I'll go turn in my "man card" tomorrow. Based on the size of the ramen, there's almost no doubt that this was created by someone who needed to keep his models slim and trim. For a scale perspective, compare the amount and size of the bean sprouts to everything around it.

The piece of charred lean pork, tasted like charred lean pork. The noodles were perfect and this wasn't nearly as salty as what I had before, though still pretty high on the sodium scale. The broth has some seafood tones to it as well.

The rice bowl had a good quantity of rice, making this a bit of a carb bomb.

I enjoyed the texture of the chicken karaage which was crisp and light. I really don't think it shouldbe burdened with what basically amounts to a cloying sweet chili sauce, but that's just my opinion. Just as it's my opinion that the folks working here are really nice and getting more efficient with every visit.

Personally, I'm going to give RakiRaki a rest....when the weather gets a bit warmer I'll drop by for the Tsukemen. I'm wondering how large that menu will be by then? How many different types of "premium super-duper delux-a-rooney" tsukemen will there be on the menu? Be still my heart......

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Yamadaya:

So the Missus was asking me why I've been having all this ramen and She hasn't? Well, She's kind of ummmm... shall we say selective? But after being married all these years, I have an understanding of Her tastes and preferences.

She loves Santouka, but I finally knew there would a bowl to compete with Santouka's Tonkotsu at Yamadaya. It's the Kotteri Tonkotsu with Kakuni Pork and extra firm noodles.

This clocks in at about the same price as RakiRaki's "Super Deluxe" ramen. The Missus loves a rich tonkotsu style broth, with that wonderful think broth that coats your tongue and tummy. This is also one of the least salty tonkotsus out there as well. When the temp of the broth is right, all the Missus can say is "aaaah".

The problem is that the Missus is not fond of the standard issue Hakata style straight noodles. Even though we order it extra firm, it just never holds texture for the entire bowl.

The kakuni is preferred over the chashu, though it may seem a bit over the top to some.

I've had it when it just wasn't right here, waxy and a bit tough, but most times it's decent.

Speaking of temperature....we were speaking of temperature, right? The place is nice, warm, and cozy right now, though based on my previous experiences, I'm wondering if they have the heat under control, because it got really hot in here during the summer and fall. Well, at least they've got the outside seating squared away. Service has been ok, sometimes things are forgotten, on occasion you get the idea they are trying to get you out the door.....well mainly because of the mass of humanity waiting outside in the wind and rain, so that'sunderstandable. This is another place to hit up early on in the evening if possible.

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Santouka Ramen:

Which leads to the shop which I think got the ball really rolling on this ramn-mania back in 2008. I really wasn't too impressed on my first visit due to broth temperature problems. Luckily, things got straightened out and I've never had a BTM...."broth temperature malfunction" since then. and of course, the Missus' favorite version at Sanotuka is the shio toroniku style, with fatty pork on the side. So of course after requesting and eating at Yamadaya for the second time I just had to ask Her which She preferred.....Yamadaya or Santouka. This led us to grabbing some ramen at Santouka, for research purposes of course.

Shio Toroniku Style........

I kind of know which way this tree is falling, so to put it in the Missus's words. "The noodles at Santouka are much better, firm, with a slight crunch, they also hold texture for the entire meal." The pork for the toroniku style ramen has a better flavor, more porky, though tonight's pork is on the tougher side, it is usually much more tender." "I prefer the broth from Yamadaya, because it's less salty and also almost velvety. But the broth at Santouka seems to retain heat better; perhaps it's the bowl, but that makes it very comforting." "I guess it depends on what kind of mood I'm in." "We're going to have to find my perfect bowl." Uh-oh, that sounds like a never-ending quest.

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

I'm sure you folks have a ramen place that's your favorite for whatever reason. I think it's great to have choices!

San Diego's Ramen Renaissance Part 2: Tecchan Yakitori and Izakaya

Here's one that slipped under my radar.....if it looks familiar, this is the former location of Yakyudori in Hillcrest. Man, yet another shop serving ramen......that's so surprising.....

It's a bit strange for me; I'm not sure if it's really Tec-chan, or is it Tecchan like the sign....well, whatever, I go with what the sign says. I hadn't been here since it was Yakyudori, though I passed by the place when it became Raku, but had never really been motivated.

So what brings me here now? Well my good FOY (Friend of Yoso), "YY" told me that they really enjoy the spicy miso ramen here. Personally, I've never really found a version that I've enjoyed, but if it's good enough for YY, it's well worth a try for me. But I just couldn't find the time to visit. Until Super Bowl Sunday....you see I really wasn't interested in halftime (which seems to get longer every year) and the Ravens seemed to be blowing out the 49ers. So I just jumped in the car to see what was up with this place....they say they open at 6, but were open a bit earlier on this day.

And I did get the Spicy Miso Ramen as instructed, with "thin noodles", which turned out to be your standard issue Hakata style noodles. The price wasn't bad at just over 8 bucks.

First the good; the noodles were done to the al dente, almost crunchy texture I enjoy and the egg was nicely cooked. The chashu pork was mild in flavor, but they had hit a nice balance in texture, not too firm and not falling to pieces....too bad it was ice cold, something that seems to be happening much too often nowadays.

And while this broth was indeed fairly spicy and not as salty as other versions....it really tasted like Japanese Kimchi base. You know, the stuff to make short cut kimchi? It wasn't really my cup of tea......

On the other hand....due to the immensely long halftime and the infamous "lights out", I actually made it back home in time to watch the last half of the 3rd quarter!

After thinking over things....yes, though I may not sprout the "Tao of ramen", or contemplate the meanings of the Hexagrams in I Ching, nor has anyone mistaken me for the "gangster of love" or ever called me "Maurice" (age check here!), I actually do think about what I eat..... I decided to just return and try the straight up tonkotsu ramen.

This time I went with the "flat noodles", which were just your standard issue ramen noodles, but were done up nicely.

The broth seemed a bit light to me. I prefer my tonkotsu a bit more rich. Also, there was a flavor that reminded me of burnt onions that I really didn't enjoy.

It wasn't terrible......but not something I'd go out of my way for.

The service was friendly, though one of the servers here has the kind of voice that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. But that's my problem, not hers. I also tried some of the other menu items......but that's for another day.

Tecchan Yakitori and Izakaya
3739 6th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

San Diego's Ramen Renaissance Part 1: Revisiting Underbelly

It's hard to believe that as little as 3 years ago, I was thrilled to have two basic choices for ramen in San Diego, Santouka and Yakyudori....sorry folks Tajima and Izakaya Masa just didn't cut it for me. It seems that overnight, "ramen-mania" took over.....shades of "burger saturation"! Now of course, it seems that every place is getting into the act. In fact, I've started to separate my ramen into "tiers"; the better quality, usually more expensive, richer, more complex versions are tier 1. The cheaper, get it on the run, rather generic, mostly just for nourishment versions are tier 2. I hope never to have a tier three....well maybe there is a tier 3, I can check my cupboard to see if I might have a package of the stuff in there from the last decade!

I thought I'd do a series of posts on places that have opened over the last year-and-a-half or so, part of what I call the "ramen renaissance". All these are revisits except 1.......so let's start slurping.

The last....and only time I visited Underbelly, I thought it to be over-priced and somewhat underwhelming.

I did think they were trying to serve a good product, so I thought it would be nice to see how things have progressed. I was really happy to see the folding windows/counter were securely bolted down. There's now some outdoor seating, which is a "no-beer zone" as well.

A bunch of folks asked me why I didn't mention the "no spoon" policy at Underbelly. Well, based on history with this group...the no ketchup at Neighborhood, no vodka at Craft and Commerce, the place has this "minus one" type of thing going on. They are into the Paris Hilton school of any buzz, be it negative or positive, is good. A couple of good friends of mine are big fans of this groups restaurants/bars so I always kid them about the next "minus one concept" restaurant they'll be opening.....some examples, "Madison Square Garden", where you get MSG (get it???) laden food, but no water is served, or "Origami" where beautifully folded paper representations of dishes grace the table, but no real food is served.... Okay, well, I've already spent too much time on this.

As before the drill is look over the menu, order and pay at the bar, get a number and grab a seat. At least this day wasn't too windy or cold as this corner can be pretty chilly.

I ordered the Underbelly Ramen and added Beef Brisket, so this rung in at $15.....

The standard Nishimoto Trading noodles were prepared much better this time around, actually attaining a bit of pull. The proteins, even the smoked beef brisket, which didn't taste like it was smoked last time worked well. The egg was wonderfully runny and the chashu was a perfect match of tenderness and flavor.

The broth wasn't quite as oily as my previous visit and was like the atmosphere here, served a bit too cool for my taste. It lacked that tongue-coating richness and didn't have much flavor. Dare I say...bland?

If it's all about the protein for you, I guess you might like Underbelly. Me? Well, I still think there's a hipster ramen upcharge for eating here.....

UnderBelly
750 W. Fir St
San Diego, CA 92101

It's soup weather: Mien Trung, Ramen Yamadaya, Sushi Yaro, Roseville Cozinha

Is it just me, or does it seem that the weather's a bit colder this year? Brrrrr....... It's obviously time for something like this.

Actually, it's been a hot comforting bowl of noodle soup that I've been craving. My mother nce told me that during the her pregnancy she constantly craved noodles and soup. It's no wonder I was practically screaming for saimin from the time the pediatrician slapped me on the behind!

I've been purposely passing by the local bank every morning. They have one of those clocks-slash-temperature displays. The other morning; I go to work early, it read 39 degrees! 39 degrees! I won't vouch for the accuracy of the temperature, or time (it always seems off 2-3 minutes), but it did seem mighty cold.....especially for us wimpy San Diegans. Still, it wasn't like the hail and frost in Cathy's neighborhood.....but more than enough for me to start hunting down noodle soup! Here are a few recent bowls.

Mien Trung:

When it gets cold and I need a little kick in the pants, I go to Mien Trung for a bracing bowl of Bun Bo Hue. I believe I've hit just about every place that serves BBH in the San Diego area, and Mien Trung comes out on top.

The bowls do vary on visits. Sometimes it's more spicy, there are times when I find they've gone a bit too far with the MSG. But as whole, it always hits the spot. On this day, it was the normal scalding hot that BBH should always be to take care of the shredded greens and herbs, the MSG level was rather low, the spiciness on medium low.........

And it was just right for me........

I was also lucky that I wore dark colors.....no visible little red dots after slurping up those noodles!

Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Yamadaya:

I had thoughts of going to Yakyudori for some ramen, but my last couple ramen visits haven't gone too well, and I wanted something a bit richer. It had been a while and since it wasn't a zillion degrees outside, I thought it was time for another visit. It's still fairly warm inside; great during winter, but I'm not too sure how things will be when summer rolls around.

Ordering for me was easy...well relatively, I do like the curry here, but it was a warming bowl of rick tonkotsu style ramen I was looking for. I'm not a big fan of the chashu here, but wanted to check it out again. I hedged my bets and went with the Kotteri Ramen, an extra "fatty", I like to use the word rich broth, with a side of kakuni pork. Slow cooked pork belly.

 The broth had that nice tongue coating richness I enjoy....not greasy, but nice and rich. It also wasn't as salty as on previous visits. The noodles were too soft and mushy this time around....I'm toying with idea of getting them extra firn next time. The chashu is tragically tough, dry, and low on the flavor scale for me....better to go with the kakuni, which was unfortunately ice cold....guess I'll order the kakuni ramen, kotteri.....

 I could go on a bit more....but I won't bore you with the minutae. It did the job, that's the main thing.

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Soki Soba at Sushi Yaro:

My buddy Sam has ramen and all kinds of other stuff on the menu now. For me, the best noodle soup he serves is the soki soba, an Okinawan noodle soup, served with "soki", simmered spare ribs.

The only other version I've had of this; at an Okinawan Restaurant on Oahu was a bit different and yet the same. The noodles there were wide noodles; here it's udon, but was cooked perfectly. The broth like this was dashi/kombu based. I enjoyed the spicy vinegar provided, it help to balance out the broth, which teetered on the high sodium end. There were two riblets here, though they had pretty much melted to pieces. Still, I was surprised that Sam did a pretty good job with this....I'll have it again.

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Cioppino at Roseville Cozinha:

The Missus said I should give stew some equal time. I think She meant I needed to mention the cioppino She enjoyed recently at Roseville Cozinha.

She loved it........it had a nice zing to it, but wasn't too rich. Well flavored seafood based broth too. Nice fresh seafood.

She enjoyed the simple, pure flavors of the shrimp in this as well.

But that's not a soup or stew so I can't count it.

Roseville Cozinha
2750 Dewey Rd Suite 104 (Liberty Station)
San Diego, CA 92106

So tell me....what have you been eating to keep warm?

 

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen

Forget about burgers, it seems that San Diego is going thru a bit of a "ramen renaissance", first Yamadaya opens and then a couple of weeks back I get an email from FOY (friend of yoso) "Faye" with a photo of RakiRaki, followed a few minutes later with a text from "YY" with almost the same photo. Add this to the Santouka's, Tajima's, Yakyudori, and even places like Red Noodle and Izakaya Sakura, with a couple of other Japanese/Sushi joints now serving ramen and you've got a major noodle-ish explosion going on.

I did visit soon after I received the email (thanks Faye!) and text messages.

At that time, RakiRaki was open for dinner only, as a soft opening. Although based on the crowds, I'd say that this was probably the worst kept secret in the area....plus, how can you miss the place.

At first glance I liked the look of the place, nice woods, the somewhat rustic cafe look. But after sitting at the counter my opinion changed. The seats seemed too low, making the counter quite high, which felt strange. Sort of the "little kid at the soda fountain" feeling.

Actually, a soft opening was probably a good idea as the crew obviously needed a bit of training. After I was seated, a menu was handed to me, and then they scattered like the wind. Busy putting together menus or wiping glasses while I sat waiting to order. When I finally ordered, everything snapped together and went efficiently, perhaps a little on the too eager efficient side as my check arrived a few seconds after my Tsukemen ($8.25 then, now $8.75), which I ordered since it was zillion degrees outside.

In short, this Tsukemen was quite good, rich and thick, but not overly salty like the version at Yamadaya. Nice rich flavors that hit the mark just below salty for me. The broth, though chicken based really didn't strike me as being too "fowl oriented" and I sensed a bit of a dashi-like background. The noodles really hit the mark for me, medium thick, with an excellent chew that almost closed in on a crunch.

The service, in spite of the delays and such, was very friendly, making it worth the fight to get in and out of this cursed parking lot.

I was told that the grand opening would occur on October 25th, after which they'd be open for lunch at 11, which is a great time for that parking lot. I drove by on the 26th at a bit past 11 and the place was closed. Curious, I returned; on a quiet Sunday evening. The time between visits seemed to make some difference; I was greeted at the door and immediately seated at one of the tables. Gotta watch the step in though, I saw one guy almost fall on his face tripping on it. The stools I saw at these tables had been replaced by hard wooden chairs that reminded me of the stuff we sit on in school, but at least it felt okay height-wise. I went with the "Premium" Ramen ($7.75 then, now $8.25) with pork chashu.

 

This broth had a much more assertive chicken flavor and was pretty salty. To me, it's sort of a "tweener", between a rich tonkotsu, this was more oily than rich, and a shio. The noodles, as on my previous visit was excellent, though the portion seemed a bit small. Loved the pork chashu, it had some texture to it with a nice soy-mild sweet pork flavor.

The service was very nice and wonderfully friendly. When I mentioned the grand opening, I was told that it was now November first. By this time Dennis (of course), had already done a post, and Kirbie had done not just one, but two posts on the place!

So just by coincidence I found (wink-wink, nod-nod) myself in the area on the first at just a few minutes after eleven and scored maybe the last parking spot in the lot. Hey, it must have been fate, right? I was again seated at the counter and watch the place fill up fast. The place was well staffed for a grand opening, which would be over-staffed. Service was a breeze....I went with the Original ($7.25) and curiosity made me add oxtail to my ramen ($4).

 The broth was just mildly salty, you could make out the chicken flavor with what really does seem like "bonito-ish" tones. It was fairly straight-forward as broth goes, though a nice change of pace from the really rich tonkotsu style or the by-the-numbers shoyu/shio ramen. The noodles were a bit overcooked on this visit, but still better than what I'll usually get at "second-tier" ramen places in San Diego.

As for the oxtail. If this is the standard issue version; I'd say save your money. First, it was undercooked. I don't want it falling apart, but this was on the tough side. It was impossible to separate what meat there was from the bone, so I just had to grab it and gnaw away at the darn thing. The oxtail was good sized, but there was only one, which was also pretty bland, and not worth the extra $4. 

The two young ladies who served me worked quite well together, they were both very friendly. The prices seem to have gone up about half-a-buck from the soft opening, though the menu has a few more items on it.

 So what about that "front page" blurb regarding Chef Takeo Araki, etc? This reminded me of the stuff Chabuton and the like place on their menu. I just kinda get that glazed over look and move elsewhere. Alkaline water is a big trend now; just ask the Missus who "blows in the wind like a stalk of wheat" to whatever the "latest thing" is. Jyosui, the parent company of RakiRaki is a water purification company.....connect the dots? Never really heard of Chef Takeo Araki either. Still, if you enjoy the ramen/tsukemen, it doesn't really matter, does it?

RakiRaki Ramen and Tsukemen
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Yamadaya

It's finally cool enough for me to actually do a post on Yamadaya without breaking into a sweat! I first recall reading about Yamadaya in a post on Dennis's blog. Unfortunately, I was on Oahu when they first opened. I kind of dilly-dallied for a short while, but finally made my way there....even though it was a boiling hot day.

Man was the place hotter than heck......I figured that they had just opened their doors and perhaps the A/C wasn't dialed in yet.

I was seated at the counter, which I would have really enjoyed hadn't it felt like I was being simmered instead of the chashu. The folks working here are very amiable and really took time to explain what was up to the folks who really didn't know what was up.

What was up is that Yamadaya serves up Hakata style ramen...which means that the "in" style of tonkotsu, basically a pork bone broth is featured, along with the thin and straight Hakata style noodle. Living and working close by means that I can take my time and get a "feel" for a place. So I decided to start up with the basic straight up Tonkotsu Ramen. Somehow, I talked myself into bumping it up to a combo, which goes for $14.80. That's pretty hefty for a lunch....but what the heck.

First off, I loved the noodles......I had doubts when I didn't order them extra firm, but I should not have worried. These were perfect. They do soften rather quickly, but I really didn't give it time to soften. Much better then any other place that "claims" to do Hakata ramen in San Diego. The broth was surprisingly mild, with almost no nose, just lightly salty. The egg was done well, but the chashu was terrible, lacking in flavor, dry, and my goodness, still cold! Not good eats, but I put that off to the place still finding their footing.

I also got some chicken karaage, which was pretty good, crisp, a hint of ginger, and not bad.

What I really enjoyed was the curry rice bowl. The curry had a very nice distinct flavor, with hints that seemed like Wocestershire.

The texture was nice and smooth....this is something I'll have again.

A few days later I was in the area and decided to stop in again....man, it was still pretty hot in there. This time, I went with what I had my eyes on the first time, the Kotteri Ramen($8.45). If there was any bowl of tonkotsu that would benefit from a touch of extra fat and more flavor it would be this one.

Along with confirming that the A/C in the shop was not up to the task, there were a couple of other reaffirmations; the noodles were indeed prepared well and the chashu was still dry and lacking in flavor.

The broth really benefited from the black garlic oil, which gave it a sweet-pungent lift in flavor. In fact the whole deal was getting to the upper limit of my sodium tolerance but was still good. The extra richness really gave the broth that smooth, tongue-coating richness I enjoy as well.

Nice bowl, minus the chashu......

So of course I wanted to move along a bit more....which was great since "MrZ" was thinking about grabbing some lunch. The day was a bit cooler, but it still is pretty warm in the shop. This time, to see if the kakuni was the cure to the chashu, I ordered the Kakuni Ramen ($10.95). I had thoughts of asking for it kotteri, but decided to see how the buta kakuni fared in the ramen.

Let me just say this; the kakuni is the way to go. While not as great, it was tender and well flavored...oh, and moist. I also believe that some of the braising liquid for the pork was put into the bowl as I sensed a nice background sweetness to the broth this time around.

As usual it was great seeing MrZ...and here's a shout out to the newest addition to the 'Z' family...well, I'll just call him "little Z" for now!

So, there you go, three bowls, and I've got my ramen here dialed in. As simple as Kotteri with Kakuni. We're done, right? Well, not quite....there's one more item I wanted to try. Not feeling like dealing with the heat and man it was scorcher for a couple of weeks there, wasn't it? I went during a weeknight evening. Having been here enough, I started noticing a couple of things. One of them was, it seems like only the dudes who handle the noodles have "Ramen" written on the back of their t-shirts.....I know, I'm probably just a little bit slow, duh......

Since it had been pretty hot and the shop gets pretty hot, why not try the Tsukemen, basically "dipping noodles". I got the 7 ounce noodle portion ($7.95 - carb lovers can get 14 oz for $9.95).

This was way to salty, to the point of being unpleasant. Loved the noodles, meh to the chashu, but even dipping the noodles into the shiro was not a happy time. It also got cold real quickly and the amount of fat in this started concealing and feeling kind of greasy. Again, way too salty. There were bits and pieces of pork in the bottom of the  bowl, so I'm not quite sure how they make this....black garlic oil as well.

I recall talking to Dennis about this a couple of days later.....I'm sure he'll chip in his opinion in one of his posts. YY and her husband send me a text message last week telling me they were having ramen here. Before I could warn them off the tsukemen, MrQ had gone ahead and ordered it. I heard he wasn't very happy.....oh, and they told me the place was super hot! So well, we know they're really consistent, right?

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

You can read Dennis's post here.

Kirbie's post can be found here.

Gastrobits post can be found here.

More Noodling Around - 777 Noodle House, Pho King, Santouka, Yakuyudori Ramen and Yakitori, and Yum Cha Cafe

Ooodles of noodles in mostly photos for Monday.

777 Noodle House:

This place seems to be doing some pretty good business, I love the diverse crowd. Had my usual simple bowl of Hu Tieu Nam Vang - dry. Did have a fairly lousy bowl of Egg Noodle Soup with Roast Duck Leg recently, but the Pork Intestine Noodle Soup was interesting. Intestine was prepared fine, though on the chewy side....this really smelled funky, but the flavor was good.....the broth did take on some of the intestine flavor.

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Pho King:

Hadn't been back here in a while. So had my usual Hu Tieu Mi Kho....man am I getting boring and predictable.

Pho King Restaurant
4658 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Santouka:

Talk about predictable....yep, Shio Toroniku style.

Though I don't feel so bad, since a couple of weeks later I ran into Dennis here and he got his ramen...yep...toroniku style! Dennis also said he just knew he'd run into someone that day.....I guess he was getting readings on his "blog-dar"???? Funny....

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

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori:

I gotta say....this bowl of shoyu ramen was probably the best I had here. Balanced in flavor, not too salty, the noodles were perfectly prepared....just good stuff.

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111 

Yum Cha Cafe:

I feel the place has kinda gone downhill since they opened and have not visited very much recently. However, I was in the area and hungry after shopping next door. I'd always wondered about the $3.99 rice noodle soup with BBQ pork, so I decided to get that.

I was pleasantly surprised. At least in terms of portion size. There were at least 6-7 slices of BBQ Pork, the noodles were nicely done. The soup was a step above MSG water....but in terms of value, I'd say this is pretty good.

Great stuff for the starving student set.....

Yum Cha Cafe
6933 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Bellying up to the Belly of the Beast at Underbelly

Say that fast five times! I recently had the pleasure of grabbing lunch with one of my favorite people, Candice. And as always, I had a great time as she told me about her recent travels. Of course, eventually the conversation got around to food. During that conversation Candice asked me if I'd been to Underbelly yet. Underbelly? When she explained that it was basically a ramen bar that opened in Little Italy a few bells went off. I'd heard that the owners of Craft and Commerce were opening up a ramen bar in Little Italy, but had not heard that it had opened. A part of me wasn't really excited or thrilled as I had visions of what "hipster ramen" would look like dancing through my head....which is patently wrong. I think we sometimes suffer from reverse discrimination when it comes to food, thinking that non-Asians are not capable of pulling off Chinese, Japanese, or Vietnamese dishes. And then we go home and make our lasagne, risotto, or BBQ claiming it to be darned good, the match of anything a good cook anywhere would create. I do have problems when something is dumbed down for the sake of revenue, the product is bad, or when something lacks soul and is not true to the dish it is named after. Sliced processed turkey in a baguette is not a banh mi, even if it is in fresh baked bread. There is a place that does that....it's called Subway, ok? Enough....time to put away the soapbox. what really caught my attention was when Candice told me of something called the "Belly of the Beast".......and I really couldn't get that out of my mind.

So, of course I just had to check the place out. The shop seats maybe 30-35 people and is located on the corner of West Fir and Kettner.

The restaurant has a very slick design. The glass windows open and fold over to become counter tops for the restaurant.

There was a line when I arrived at opening, I don't think I've stood in line for lunch since my visit to Hot Dougs.

Often times, great form has functional pitfalls. If you happen to sit on the street side of the counter be careful as the counter will tilt if you lean on it....like what happened to the poor guy sitting a couple of feet from me who almost fell off his seat as the counter tilted....he did save the glass of flowers and his dignity though. I'm hoping that the folks here will find a way to secure those dual purpose panes of glass before someone has a few too many local craft brews and upends an entire counter of hot ramen on customers.

The drill here, at least for lunch is much like Santouka, you stand in line, look over the menu, order at the bar, and end up with a metal numeric placard to identify you. The menu is focused, not a mishmash of mixed parts which I like. The topiary of Chairman Mao is not focused and I'm wondering what part it really plays in the theme of the restaurant. I thought it kind of bizarre....

This uber al fresco theme is a mixed plate as well. It's going to be great eating here during the fall and early spring when the weather is still cool and crisp enough. It was kind of breezy where I was sitting, and though I enjoyed it, the folks sitting facing Kettner quickly retreated. I hope the place has some plans for when it rains....

OK, enough about all that stuff, how was the ramen. I got the Belly of the Beast ($13) with the additional of Pork Belly Chashu ($3).....$16, or about three usual lunches for ramen. It's served in a large white bowl, but only comes up about 3/5 way up the bowl. In other words, this place ain't for the Santouka price and portion haters.

First things first, for me the broth was super oily, even beyond that bowl of Kotteri broth I had a Daikokuya years ago that seemed to wrap around my tongue and not let go. This one is for those who think they can drink straight nuoc beo (beef tallow), as it is indeed rich. If you think regular tonkotsu broth is over the top, this is on another planet. In spite of how rich it was, the broth was pretty mellow and really seemed low on the sodium scale. The noodles would be fine for many, but was a bit overcooked for my taste. I'm glad I ordered the pork belly chashu, in my opinion it was much better flavored than the two beef cuts....I couldn't taste any smoke on the smoked beef brisket(though it was super tender), nor could I make out any savory beany sweetness from the hoisin glazed short rib. The pork belly was cooked well, not falling to pieces, but still velvety enough to melt in my mouth. Oxtail dumplings sound like a great idea, but just like when I tried kalua pork won tons (these were pretty much won tons), lack of a contrasting texture made these kinda mushy.

 

The boiled egg was excellent, the yolk a golden orb that called to me. It could have been more aggressively soaked in a stronger flavored sauce, but perhaps not, as I could make out the wonderful flavor of the yolk as a ate it.

In the end that broth did me in as I couldn't bring myself to finish it. I'm thinking that perhaps having the kimchi version might do better as perhaps a bit of acidity or pungency might help cut the oil in the soup.

In the end, I appreciated the effort. Even though they are kind of off target for me (remember, I'm more hip-replacement than hip), I don't think they're doing anything that resembles something from the "springroll of the month club". Perhaps time will tell, heck, I didn't enjoy Santouka when they first opened, they needed to iron out a couple of things to bring it up to snuff. So maybe in a couple months.....if I can find a seat.....

UnderBelly
750 W. Fir St
San Diego, CA 92101

More Noodling Around: Tajima Noodle House, Izakaya Masa, and Pho Cow Cali

Since it's still pretty darn cold (by our spoiled San Diego standards) and rainy here, I thought I'd get in another round of noodles.......

Tajima Noodle House:

Sadly, my last couple of visits to the original Tajima on Convoy have been the same. I've been underwhelmed by the broth, which wavers between too salty and bland. Still, I decided to drop by recently in the middle of one of our rainstorms...... I mean really, if it didn't hit the spot this time.....

 

Hedging my bets, I went with the Shoyu Kakuni Ramen.... the basic shoyu ramen with Buta Kakuni (braised pork belly) and Chashu in it. If I didn't care for this.......

 

And it didn't. On this day, the broth was seriously flat. The sweetness from the buta kakuni (which could have braised a bit longer) just emphasized the lack of richness. The Chashu was pretty dry, but not as bad as what I had at Gunco recently. The egg wasn't aesthetically perfect, but was nicely cooked.

I actually came back a few days later.... I didn't bother taking photos, and had the Shio Ramen, which was better, but not by much.

It's kind of sad actually. You'd think that with Yakyudori up the street, that Tajima would step up. I will say this; on my two visits, I really enjoyed the pleasant service. First by a young lady whose name I believe was Yoshimi. On the second visit, it was a friendly young man named Tony. Both were excellent......

One thing I am sure of...... I'm sure that the ramen tastes better at 2am in the morning.... having it during lunch with unimpaired tastebuds, maybe not so much.

Tajima Japanese Restaurant
4681 Convoy St., #1
San Diego, CA 92111

Izakaya Masa:

Spurred on by Dennis of A Radiused Corner, I returned to Izakaya Masa for another shot at the ramen. Dennis had told me that Masa now serves a Shio ramen. I was also told to order my noodles "barikata", or extra firm.

The ramen prices here are good, $6.95 a bowl, though the portion size isn't huge. Here's my Shio Ramen:

 

As always, the Chashu here is tender, but not falling to pieces, if a bit mild in flavor. The noodles were much better when ordered extra-firm, though I still wish that being from Fukuoka, the folks here could serve some real Hakata style noodles. There used to be a shop in Honolulu, run by an older woman called Hakata Ramen......though her broth wasn't very good, I got my first taste of Hakata style noodles which she had brough in from Fukuoka. The broth was slightly rich, much better than what I had before, but the shio (the salt) used for the ramen left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I think the ramen here is slowly getting better...... but like Tajima, this ramen is probably better after a couple of beers......

Still, I love how this tiny restaurant is put together........

Izakaya Masa
928 Fort Stockton Dr
San Diego, CA 92103

Pho Cow Cali:

I've always thought that Pho Cow Cali (even when it was Pho HoaCali) was one of the most consistent Pho shops in San Diego.

 

So I don't know what happened on this day........

 

The meat, as always was good, the beefy flavored brisket tender, but not crumbling, the flank had some chew, but wasn't tough, the tripe decent, and the tendon slightly chewy, but good. The broth and the garnishes on this day weren't very good. The soup was lukewarm and almost flavorless, and it seemed that I got the last handful of bean sprouts which were broken into pieces, the basil was turning black. As I mentioned elsewhere, the two things that PCC had over Lucky was consistency and the meat. I'm pretty much a soup guy, and if the soup ain't good.....

Hopefully, this was an off day........

Pho Cow Cali
9170 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92126

So I came home today to find our living room a mess...... towels strewn about, stuffing from disembowled doggy toys everywhere....... and in the midst of it all was Sammy.... giving me his best pathetic "you know I'm innocent until proven guilty" look. (Do you notice that piece of stuffing material on his nose? Hmmm......)