mmm-yoso!!!

Covid-19 Takeout - Menya Ultra (Clairemont)

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

I got the tonkotsu chashu with a tamago.

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

A couple of key points:

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

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

3 - Put noodles in a noodle strainer or colander

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

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

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

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

8 - Dip the chashu into the simmering broth quickly.

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

10 - Arrange the rest of the bowl

11 - Eat!!!!

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

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

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

Covid-19 Takeout - Santouka

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

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

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

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

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

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

Soup Weather, the Old Standbys Episode - Mien Trung and Santouka. Plus, a Little Quiz at the End

Well, that spot of warm weather didn't last very long, did it? To be perfectly honest; I enjoy cooler weather since it means I can hit up my old standbys. Like these two. I'll keep the post short; cause I've done so many posts on these two places.

Mien Trung:

Ok, I think I have at least a dozen posts on Mien Trung…..going way back to 2006! They seemed to have hit a rough spot for a while; but this last bowl was the best I've had in a while.

The Bun Bo Hue really hit the spot; the broth didn't have too much msg, there was a decent spice, nice lemongrass tones; the noodles were cooked to a perfect slipperiness. And to add to the joy of a nice bowl of bun bo hue; I got little red dots all over my shirt.....oh well, it was definitely worth it.

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

Santouka:

Funny thing; my first visit to Sanoutka when they first opened in San Diego in 2008 was auspicious. But over the years they've righted the ship and is a favorite of the Missus......let me beat that dead horse again; to the point that the Missus just had to visit the flagship shop in Asahikawa...in winter!

The funniest thing to the Missus is; that "even in Japan, Santouka's boiled eggs are terrible...." So there's some consistency for ya'. For us; it the Shio Toroniku style all the way. Rich, hot tonkotsu broth; noodles with a good chewy-crunch to them, pork cheek that tastes great with a short dunk in the broth......

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

And as a little bonus:

So, I was cleaning out some old photos, deleting most of them; when I came by a couple of oldies, but goodies.....places that are gone but not forgotten, at least by me.

So, can you guess the first two?

That's an easy one, right?

Here's a place that didn't last very long; but I really enjoyed...…..

Boy do I miss this place.....

Now here's one that lasted for even a shorter time....but man, we really enjoyed the place when it was around.

Did you get all three???

Happy Monday everyone!

Ramen from HyShinu

HyShinu probably would have made it to R(ecommendations) & R(equests) week, but I was a bit late on getting my visits in. "FoY" and occaisional commenter "SomTommy" sent me an email mentioning a Ramen shop in El Cajon that his friends were raving about named "Hyshinu". I did a quick search and found that the actual name of the place was HyShinu Ramen, Sushi, & Poke....sigh.....I really wasn't too excited about checking this place out; but after a couple weeks decided to make the drive out to the Rancho San Diego area to try out the ramen.

The shop is located in the same shopping mall as Edwards Cinema, between a Rubio's and Dickey's BBQ.

I walked in and the really cheerful young man working the front handed me a menu and told me to have a seat. He said, "just come on back up here when you're ready to order". He was very nice and quite friendly. So friendly in fact. that when the couple behind me asked him where the place got their fish; he quickly said "Restaurant Depot". Well, even though I wouldn't eat the "chi-poke" bowls or the sushi rolls; I'll give him points for being honest. Apparently he is one of the owners.

I'll take away points for him accidentally calling what I ordered "Tonkatsu Ramen"; but that's a fairly common error.

What happened next was oddly funny; at least to me......

I'm trying to recall the last time I was given a fork for my ramen...… Maybe when I was working in Atlanta? Well, I guess they must know their "customer base" as well.

The bowl didn't look to bad; the broth was hot; though it was mostly salty and lacked any depth of flavor, porkiness, and the nice tongue coating collagenic mouthfeel of a rich tonkotsu broth. Whatever tare they were using was mainly just salt. The ajitama was actually quite good, decently marinated, the yolk still fairly soft, and not cold. Points for that.

The standard, bulk noodles were overcooked for my taste and on the mushy side.

The chashu seemed to have been torched or griddled on a flat top as some of the pieces had a pleasant initial crispness to them. While pretty mild in flavor, the nice textural contrast was interesting. I had however quite a few of what seemed like end pieces that were really hard and some pieces that seemed like just fat.

While not the worst ramen I've had; this was not particularly my cup of tea. If this was just me; it would have been a "one and done". But, since this was "ST" asking and honestly, at around ten bucks....well, I decided to return.....the next day!

Different gentleman working; he was just as nice as the other fella'. I just walked up to the counter and ordered the Shoyu Ramen and had a seat.

In some ways; this was better than my previous bowl.

The noodles were nice and chewy and while being typical was much better than before. The pork, while still very mild in flavor were nicely "browned" outside and no random fatty or hard pieces. The egg had even more soy sauce flavor and was still warm.

But that broth was terrible. First off, it was just past lukewarm and had started to separate by the time it arrived. You can see it in the photo above. It made the broth really greasy....not rich, mind you, greasy. And like the tonkotsu it was really lacking in flavor and complexity. Sorry to say; like salt flavor, greasy, lukewarm water.

Oh well. Can't win 'em all. I've had bad bowls of ramen in Japan; so you never know, I wouldn't want to write a place off due to the location. This is ramen for the masses, which is fine, since they've got to eat as well, right? And the folks working here were really nice; I hope they do well.

I can truly say; after trying Buta Ramen, Kimae, and now HyShinu, that we have truly hit critical mass with regards to ramen in the San Diego area.

Sorry "ST"....I do appreciate you letting me know about this place though! Thanks again!

Hyshinu Ramen, Sushi & Poke
2959 Jamacha Rd.
El Cajon, CA 92019
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11am - 9pm
Fri - Sat   11am - 10pm
Sunday      12pm - 8pm

Eating to Beat the Heat - Revisits to Buga, La Miche Kabobgee, and Santouka

Well, it cooled down for a bit, got warm again, cooled off, and then it's Monday and quite warm again......and it's not really the temps, but rather the humidity that's kind of bothering me. Man, to think I was born and raised in Hawaii. Crazy.

Anyway, here are a few revisits.

Buga:

I just looked at my last post on Buga and it's been exactly one year! Strange; I thought it had been longer than that. I wanted some bi bim naengmyun and Buga is right off the 805; so I thought it would be a rather quick and easy meal.

I got there right at opening time so the place was empty. Strangely, it stayed that way for my entire visit. Even though I got out in 25 minutes, it was pretty strange to see the place completely empty.

And no; I didn't order the "Internal Organs Special"; which would have been too much for me anyway.

I got the Bi Bim Naengyun as planned.

The last time I had Bi Bim Naengmyun at Buga it was a bit strange. It was water and quite soupy, a far cry from the drier, more spicy version that used to be served here. What I got this time was a bit different as well; it seemed like a bowl of regular Naengmyun in a typical dongchimi - based soup topped with the usual spicy gochujang based sauce for bi bim naengmyun. It seemed like a hybrid of sorts; which actually wasn't too bad. It still had the spiciness along with the bracing - refreshing - sour - Asian pearish soup. The noodles were perfect; stretchy, but not hard. Enoguh to bring some sweat to the brow, but also cool me off at the same time.

Sadly the panchan was mediocre; really lacking in punch, with no fermented tones at all....it was all quick-kimchi and a too sweet potato salad.

Buga Korean Restaurant
5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

La Miche Kabobgee:

We usually head to La Miche Kabobgee when the temperature rises; to get some of the mezes we enjoy. So, one evening I headed over to grab some take-out and the place was closed.

I noticed the sign posted on the door with limited hours posted.

It seems that the really nice gentleman who owns the place had some heart surgery.....which had me a bit concerned.

So I dropped by during a lunch service.

I was happy to see him working. Moving a bit slower perhaps, but he was still the very mellow, and gentle guy I recalled. I chatted with him for a minute before this large party came in. He's doing better and is almost back to full speed. I'm glad.

The menu has fewer mezes than before; I think it's a bit of an abbreviated one; but there were still a couple of items I had previously enjoyed, starting with the Muhamarah.

I really enjoy the combination of flavors in this red pepper - walnut - pomengranite "dip" which is thickened with bread. Though it's much less spicy and tangy than I recalled; it's still a winnah' with the fresh pita that arrives scorching hot. I've learned that it's better to just eat all of the bread as it just isn't as good a few hours later.

I also got the Makanek; these little sausages had a wonderful snap, the ground veal is nicely seasoned, and that lemon based sauce is quite bracing!

This was a nice meal and it was good to know Nabih is doing well. So well, that La Miche will be back to normal hours in September.

La Miche Kabobgee
9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123

Santouka:

In my last "eating to beat the heat" post; Junichi mentioned the Hiyashi Chuka from Santouka. I had actually had the Hiyashi Chuka from Santouka once before and had not been too impressed. But man, that was eight years ago! So, I figured it was time to try it again.

I wasn't certain that Santouka had the Hiyashi Chuka, but sure enough it was the summer special. I could tell it had been a very long time since I'd had this; it was $8.50 then; it's now $12.50. So, I guess its been going up by 50 cents a year?

Anyway, I ordered my noodles and had a seat. A few minutes later my number was called.

Well, if anything, Santouka gets points for consistency in presentation, as this looked basically the same as what I'd had eight whole years ago. At that time Dennis of A Radiused Corner (we miss you man!), called it a "tease" when it came to the proteins.

Those two thin slices of toroniku look rather lonely on that pile of noodles, huh? The provided toppings were rather "sparse"; though if you're carb loading, you've got your dish!

The "sauce" was weaker than I recalled, not as dashi forward and the sour tones were muted. I ended up mixing in all that mustard to help give things some "umph".

The noodles were nicely prepped and well chilled; so no issues there.

And as much as I like carbs and Santouka (remember us hunting down the original store in Asahikawa as few years back?), I'm not the biggest fan of the Hiyashi Chuka here.

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

Things seem to be cooling down nicely as I'm finishing up this post......so maybe cooler weather is in store.

Trying to Beat the Heat - "Cold Ramen" at Karami Ramen and Gyokai Natto Don at Izakaya Sakura

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

"Cold Ramen" at Karami Ramen:

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

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

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

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

As for the "ramen".

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

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

Karami Ramen
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Gyokai Natto Don at Izakaya Sakura:

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

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

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

Just what the doctor ordered.

Maybe I need to return more often?

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

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

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

Revisits - HiroNori Craft Ramen and Sushi Yaro

A couple of revisits for a busy Monday

HiroNori Craft Ramen:

I had meetings in the Hillcrest area; which conveniently finished at 1130. Sometimes things just work our right. I had wanted to revisit HiroNori since my first couple of visits in March. I was seated at the counter by one of the cheerful staff and of course I ordered the Shoyu Ramen, which I really enjoyed during a previous visit. I guess I really liked the flavor of barrel aged shoyu used for the tare.

So, how would it fare four months later?

The noodles were every bit as good a on my previous visits, with a meaty chew, the chashu tender and "porky", the ajitama was warm and seasoned well. The menma; bamboo shoots were too cold though. The broth was interesting; still good, the tongue feel was excellent for shoyu ramen; still it didn't have that level of complexity; the lightly sweet-umami I enjoyed previously. It was also a bit too salty this time around.

Don't get me wrong; this is still my second favorite ramen in San Diego. But, having had this before, I expect some consistency and this wasn't quite as good as what I'd had previously.

HiroNori Craft Ramen
3803 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103 
Open Daily 1130am - 9pm

Sushi Yaro:

Well, I hadn't been to Sushi Yaro since our office moved to the UTC area. First off, Sammy stopped doing lunch service, second, well life had just been too busy.

So, a few weeks back, wondering how the place was doing, I decided to head on over.

And ordered my typical sashimi; which delivered. I especially loved the engawa.

I know, you go into Yaro and see all the really "interesting" rolls.....which is not my thing. But they always have some good fish on hand for old fogies like me.

This hit the spot!

And, as a super bonus, my good friends Candice and Quanito dropped by for some beer as well! Just like old times. I've missed you my friends!

Sushi Yaro
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Buta Ramen

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

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

The place has that modern-slightly hipsterish look.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Midweek Meanderings - Buta Ramen Coming Soon, Spice & Soul Closes, and This Weeks Cheese Plate

Just a quick post this evening.

Ready for more ramen?

Buta Ramen Coming to Linda Vista:

You know we're hitting saturation point when a ramen shop is opening on Linda Vista near Morena. I was exiting the strip mall where Ballast Point is located and I saw this.

A quick search brought up two different Buta Ramen; one in Halifax and the other in Singapore. The Singapore sign looks similar, but the place recently closed. Couldn't find much else.

5201 Linda Vista Rd. Suite 103
San Diego, CA 92110

Spice & Soul is closed:

I was driving up Morena a few weeks back when I noticed that Spice & Soul looked closed. So I took a hard right and drove up Avati.

And yep, there's the eviction notice on the front door. Sad, but not unexpected. I know the place changed hands, I believe twice?

4033 Avati Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

And this week's cheese plate:

From the left to right; Montanera, a goat cheese from Spain, washed rind, fairly funky - barnyard - hay, went real well with the Muscat we had shipped back from Bott Frères in Ribeauvillé, when we visited Alsace earlier in the year. Sadly; it's our last bottle, the Missus is going to be sad to see this go. My favorite was the Amber Kunik from Nettle Meadow Farm in New York. Wonderful complex flavors, semi-soft. The rind is washed with whiskey, so we naturally had it a pour of Kavalon. Aaaahh. The Saltbush Chevre is quite unique; it's a soft goat cheese from Australia rubbed with Saltbush. Saltbush is an appropriate name; it's quite "salty", acidic, and vegetal in taste; but like Cheese.com says; it tastes amazing on bread drizzled with olive oil. The last one is a rather common goat cheese Le Pico by Germain, the Missus loved this on bread; it has a definite "goatiness" something the Missus has learned to love over the years; but also a nice buttery, richness that makes this easy to eat.

Thanks for indulging our cheese fetish!

Paris - A Revisit to the Louvre and Ramen at Hakata Choten (Opera Location)

On our first visit to Paris, the Missus overwhelmed by the Louvre. You could spend years there and still not see it all. So, much like revisiting Pere Lachaise, we decided we needed to return to the Louvre. This time, we'd have a bit more focus. There was no need to see the Mona Lisa again. I got advanced times tickets for 9am and this time we needed to use the pyramid entrance.

Right in the pyramid, before the stairs was a work called "The Throne" by Kyoto based artist Kohei Nawa. It was on display from July 2018 thru February 2019 to mark the 160th anniversary of French - Japanese relations.

This time we spent most of our time checking out the Department of Egyptian Antiquities. Here are some of what we saw.

The golden funerary mask of Khaemwaset, son of Ramesses II.

This impressive statue of the god Amun protecting Tutankhamun.

Amenophis IV - the shadows made it look kinda spooky.

Time just flew by.....by the time I saw Luini's "Salome with the Head of St John the Baptist", I was getting kinda hungry......

It was just past noon....it was chilly and drizzling. We were a few blocks away from the area of Paris dubbed "Little Tokyo" for all the Japanese restaurants and shops. Ramen seemed like the perfect thing on a day like this one.

I had a listing of three places; the first being Kotteri Ramen Naritake, but when we passed there were two pans in the window with all the skimmed soup scum, which kinda turned the Missus off. So we walked a bit further up rue des Petit Champs to one of the locations of Hakata Choten (the other shop is near Les Halles). The Missus really wanted some tonkotsu style ramen that we even braved the 25 minute wait outside for a seat.

We were seated at the small counter....so, the first thing was the staff were all Japanese. Secondly, man....ramen here is not cheap. I went with the Ajitama Tonkotsu which was 13 Euros ($14.50/US). The Missus got the Tonkotsu Ramen Noir avec Ajitama - this one had black garlic oil and was 14 Euros ($15.75/US).

She loved Her ramen; with the nice rather sweet and pungent black garlic oil.

I was more than happy with my straight up tonkotsu ramen. The broth had a good amount of rich and creamy "collagenic" goodness, though a bit light in porkiness.

The egg was decently cooked and nicely served....that would be the yolk while a tad past perfect, was warm. I didn't expect much in terms of flavor, but it had been marinated nicely.

The noodles were cooked nicely, good pull and chewiness.

The Missus thought the ramen here is better than anything in San Diego. I thought that Menya was better. But even after spending thirty bucks for two bowls of basic tonkotsu, we were satisfied. Decent ramen in Paris....who knew. Though I'm thinking we need to hit up Ippudo next time.

Hakata Choten
53 rue des Petits Champs
75001 Paris, France
Open Daily 12pm - 3pm
           6pm - 10pm

We took our time on the 2 mile walk back to the apartment. It was definitely time for a nap!

Thanks for stopping by!