Tomb of the Unknown Japanese Restaurant in Tienmu

Like an idiot, I didn’t write down the English name of this wonderful Japanese restaurant we went to in the Tienmu neighborhood of Taipei. If you can read the business card below, let me know and I’ll update this post. It would be a service to mankind because this was an incredible kaiseki meal that cost about $25 each all in.

Men Oh Ramen – Update: Now with Tonkatsu!

Tried to get in on Shin Sen Gumi’s first anniversary $3 ramen sale, but not surprisingly was cheapskate-blocked by the hordes. Oh well, gave me an excuse to go back to Men Oh to give them a second look. They now have tonkatsu broth ramen.

Men Oh Tokushima Ramen – Challenging Little Tokyo’s Ramen Royalty

Another day, another Japanese import bringing authentic regional ramen to LA. Shin Sen Gumi’s arrival in Little Tokyo shook up Daikokuya’s death grip on noodle supremacy downtown. Could another upstart upset the balance of power?

Tsujita Dinner – Yes, There’s a Lot of Pork

“You know we don’t serve ramen for dinner?”

We knew that going in, having been for ramen during lunch several times. But the servers would greet everyone walking in for dinner with this line. Several parties walked out before sitting down.

I was prepared for disappointment, considering the expectations that tsukemen creates and after reading tons of Yelp reviews complaining about the dinner. But dinner turned out to be pretty good.

Hannosuke – Is Tempura Ready for a Close-Up?

Tempura is usually thought of as a side-dish, one of the boxes in a $10 bento box lunch special. So how does a joint that only serves tempura hope to survive in the brutal winner-take-all food court ruled by Santouka?

Ramen Iroha Pop-Up at Gardena Marukai

Iroha is a pop-up stand at the food court at the flagship Marukai supermarket in Gardena. The eye catching claim is that they won a Tokyo ramen competition the last three years. That’s an easy claim to make when your customer (me) has no idea: 1) if this competition is legit, 2) if this ramen is the same as what is served in the Tokyo restaurants, and 3) if this claim isn’t an outright lie. With this basis in a complete lack of fact, I had to engage in this post-modern exercise in testing truth.

Tsujita – Ramen Perfected

Let’s just say it – this might be the single most delicious thing in LA right now.