Ramen - It's not just for college anymore

A few days ago Hitomi and I went to Asa Ramen, a new ramen shop in Gardena. Yes Gardena. It may come as a surprise to some, but Gardena, California is home to many of the best ramen shops in the whole U.S.A. - So when you open a ramen shop in Gardena you gotta have something to back it up. In that climate Asa Ramen may not last long. It's the kind of ramen shop that would do OK somewhere else - like Studio City or Rancho Cucamonga - but competing with Hakata Ramen on Redondo Beach Blvd., Gardena Ramen on 182nd Street, I don't know how they'll survive.

So started to think about ramen in general. Ramen soup is like white bread. It's one of the simplest foods imaginable, but the divide that separates a baguette at La Brea bakery (albiet overrated) and Wonderbread (also overrated) is more vast than the Grand Canyon. So if we can agree that Top Ramen is Wonderbread, here are a few shops serving Ramen on the other side of the divide. this is not intended to be a definitive list of Ramen, but merely a list of places where a good bowl of ramen is almost a guarantee. Anyway at least they're my favorites by region. Let me know if you disagree.

Gardena
Hakata Ramen - There's not much of variety here, but the ramen is al dente, and the soup is rich simmered pork broth - like the real Hakata Ramen in Japan. The sliced pork (cha shu) is tender and melts in your mouth. The people here are a bit loud so when they yell something at you in Japanese just smile and nod. No doubt it's a term of endearment that they are yelling across the restaurant... go and you'll see what I mean.

Torrance
Shisen Ramen - Here's a hole in the wall - basically a counter usually overpopulated with Japanese salarymen on their way to inebriation. And if that doesn't make you hungry, I don't know what will. But, if you can stand the ambiance, the ramen is worth it.

Little Tokyo
Kouraku - the original ramen restaurant. It's like the Little Joe's of Italian Food. (except Little Joe's is no longer with us...) Plenty of choices here. This is not really particularly great ramen but it's always good and consistent. The variety keeps us coming back... and the fact that they're open till 2am. Ramen tastes best after midnight, after all.

West LA
Ramen ya - The bowls are giant, it's tough to get a seat, there's no parking, and they close on Wednesdays. What could be better? the truth is I order tan tan men here every time I go - without fail. They have the same variety as Kouraku, but the Tan Tan Men rocks.

Orange County
Who knows? I guess Daikokuya in the Marukai Market food court in Costa Mesa. there's a Daikokuya in Little Tokyo too, but we almost always end up at Kouraku.

Ok, I know, enough about noodles. One more thing, if you eat in any of these places once it should completely cure any desire to stop by Noodle Planet - forever.

Oh by the way for Jyl, Tom, Nancy and Johan, Of course there's no ramen in Long Beach, but Chen's has "Three Flavor Noodle Soup." It's not on the dinner menu, but if you order it they'll bring it anyway and charge you like a dollar extra. Hooray for Chen's! (Bruce and Gail: Chen's is Connie's sister's restaurant)