Another day, another ramen shop. Though I've been on a bit of a hiatus from reviewing all the ramen joints I've been to since my last post, fear not, dear reader, because I have been indulging myself all the same. In accordance with my long ass absence, I present to you a review of a ramen-ish shop that is not 100% ramen, but 100% delicious: Noodle World Jr.
As the saying goes, "If you can't handle me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best," and Noodle World and it's lovechild, Noodle World Jr. are no exception. I've been a fan of theirs since I was an awkward pre-teen with a shaggy bowl haircut and less than stellar academic performance, and they are there for me now even with a dope fade and almost through with college. In fact, today's journey was brought to you by the lovely people of Johnson & Johnson (a family company) where I have been recently brought on into a co-op position. But onto the kind of the conversation: the ramen. Due to today's foggy weather, I opted for the Shrimp Tom Yum Ramen and let me tell you, if you have a strong affinity for sweating, this is the soup for you. It's just the right amount of spicy to keep you on your toes but not enough to send you to the hospital, and that is a line that I love to challenge. There's a ton of shrimp, a ton of soup and spice, and a ton of noodles, and it's pretty safe to say that Noodle World Jr. is a place that puts people over profits. Every dish I've ever had from them is just a gift that keeps on giving. Yet as we all know, a restaurant is more than just it's food, which in this case was nothing short of delicious. Noodle World has staff and customer service rivaled only by Chick Fil A. Every cashier is attentive and patient and generally gives off good vibes. I can't say I think anyone hates working there, which for food service is a pretty enormous deal if you ask me. Next we consider the price point which, like I previously said, was spot on for the budget I have right now. Parking was actually miraculous considering the Westchester/El Segundo/LAX area. There's a ton of spots in the back and it seems people are mostly going to more well known restaurants like the In-N-Out just down the block. All in all, Noodle World and NWJs hold a very special place in my heart and in my stomach. They make me feel at home and they're one of the few Asian chains that haven't succumbed to gentrification or prioritizing ambiance over affordability. It's no Gorgon Ramsay restaurant, but in a world that so generously prefers Instagrammability over practicality, Noodle World is breath of fresh of air. Raven's Ramen Recommendation Rating: 5/5
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Life is good when there's ramen on campus. Shouts out to the people behind summer construction for putting the ramen/bahn mi/ sushi bar at fertitty (new name who dis) hall. Jacqueline and I decided to try it out last Tuesday since we were both free for lunch and had dining dollars to spend. But, tbh it wasn't that great. Expected, but still disappointing. Let me give you a rundown of the place.
Fertitta cafe and Fertitta itself is pretty impressive. They did a good job of making a small space seem pretty huge on the inside. You walk in the "cafe" surrounded by what seems to be a plethora of trapasians. And like most establishments that host a lot of trapasians, it was pretty chaotic. I waited in line for about ten minutes until I realized that I was in the bahn mi line. When I finally reached the ramen section, I was pretty upset with the setup. It looked like they just turned a soup and salad bar into a makeshift ramen bar. Thank god they had tonkotsu ramen though, because honestly screw the other ramens. After ordering my spicy tonkotsu ramen (which costed a dollar more than the regular tonkotsu), one of the ramen chefs told me that they broiled the pork bones for about 6 hours to make the broth. Substandard compared to the better ramen shops in LA, but still pretty impressive since it is just a college dining cafe. You're probably asking yourself,"so, how does the ramen actually taste, Yungchop?" Well for one, the noodles taste like they've been there for a while. Meanwhile, The extra dollar to make it spicy was p worth because it also gives it a more umami taste. This is especially true after trying Jackie's regular tonkotsu broth which tasted like shitty filtered brita water (aka it was a lot more bland). The broth did taste more rich though as you slurp your way to the bottom for both dishes. Furthermore, The meat tasted pretty salty, but it was still cooked well and tender; to describe it-- it was in the lines of chewy, pulled pork. And, one of the weird parts about this dish was how they added bean sprouts. Bean sprouts are pretty common in other asian noodle dishes like pho or pad thai, but definitely not ramen. Definitely risky, but I'm not complaining because i love bean sprouts. So yeah, that's pretty much it. Not great by any means, but Fertitta ramen will still be my go-to for my dining dollars because spending your dining dollars on anything but ramen is a waste. It could also serve as a good introduction to ramen for those USC students that grew up uncultured af (I'm looking at you every out-of-stater not from New York). Major props to USC though for finally putting ramen on campus. SMH though since I lived in trojan hall, ramen-less, last school year. I dragged beeb to ramen again. But this time, I made sure it wasn't tatsu. She just doesn't get ramen like I do. She's more of a coffee hipster, but it an anti-ironic way. I took her to Daikokuya, a pretty small ramen place on the dark side of Sawtelle (AKA south of olympic). And while I've been to the Daikokuya in Little Tokyo, I feel like this one is the more popular one. On a typical night, Daikokuya has tons of people waiting for over an hour just to be able to eat here. But because we went on a monday night, we only had to wait for like 30 min. Upon entry, you'll probably get yelled by some young Japanese person welcoming you in Japanese. You'll probably be amazed at how authentic this ramen shop looks. From the Japanese lanterns to the signboard decors, this place makes you feel like you're in some hole-in-the-wall ramen shop in some dark, sketchy alley in Tokyo. In other words, it's a restaurant haven for hipster/weaboo post-collegiate peeps. In fact, they have a statue of what appears to be some millenial hipster just standing in the back next to the restrooms
Moving on to the staff. The waiters were young and Americanized Japanese, while the Back of House staff were older and more samurai-esque. The staff were lightning fast in getting us our ramen, and pretty attentive when it came to giving us other requests like chili peppers and seaweed. Moving on to the Main stuff - the Ramen. So Jacqueline and I both got the Daikokuya Ramen since the other ones don't really seem all that great (aka we hate dipping ramen). Let's break it down though from the worst parts to the best components of the Ramen. First things first, their pork was heavenlyy. It is without a doubt the most delicious pork i've ever tasted inside a ramen. It was not only seasoned really well, but it also literally melted in your mouth. Next up are the noodles. The noodles were really solid. They weren't too thin like most of the noodles on the block and were consisted in their softness. Now here are the negatives of the dish. The first deduction point comes with the fact that the egg didn't have that ooze factor that I love. And last but definitely the least, the broth was pretty dull. Both of us got extra fat on our ramen which was the only thing that made the broth okay. Had we had just gotten the regular option, we both agreed the broth would have tasted like ass. The only down side to getting extra fat was that the fats didn't mix with the broth, and while I kinda liked it, others might think of it as grody. So there it is. Daikokuya is a solid choice for your Sawtelle Ramen night. While its ramen isn't as good as my favorite, Tatsu. It's a great option for date night. You'll for sure get to know a lot more about your date after waiting an hour or more outside. Jokes aside, Daikokuya hits the spot with its authenticity - for both its ambiance and its ramen. Ramen Yamadaya is small, kinda subtle ramen shop on the corner of Overland and Washington in Culver City. I've seen this ramen shop a lot after working right in front of it at Rita's Ice for several months, but it was only til now that I've actually tried it. From a distance, Ramen Yamadaya seems uninviting, but upon entry it's a blend of traditional and modern traditions. It's wooden furniture gives it an authentic Japanese ramen shop feel, while the black walls and plating adds twists of modern and elegant vibes. Japanese letters are inscribed in their shirts, while quirky cartoons on the wall teach you how to eat ramen right. Overall, it's a fun and casual place for Japanese OGs and millennial hipsters. It's unique, yet very typical of West LA. Oh yeah, did I add this place has a poke stop right in front of it. You can bet that it's lured up 24/7 too.
Let's get to the ramen. Yamadaya loves to brag that they boil their broth is made from boiling pork bones for 20 hours. And while the broth in the tonkotsu ramen that I ordered was definitely rich and deep, it doesn't do enough to surpass the Sawtelle giants. The best way I could describe it was that that it was smoky and fatty (in a good way). The biggest thing I liked about the spicy tonkotsu ramen that I ordered was the noodles. The noodles were thin and al dente. Meanwhile, the half-egg was prepared hard boiled, so none of that delicious yolk oozing and mixing with the broth. The pork, however, was soft and tasty, but could have had more of that umami taste. Meanwhile, my mom had ordered their premiom shio ramen, which is a chicken and fish based ramen. That one was definitely not as good as my tonkotsu ramen, but that's as expected since tonkotsu ramen is the most superior type of ramen. So yeah, that's that! My first ever ramen review. Stick around ;) Here we go. My first blog post about my most favorite food in the world - ramen. Before I talk about ramen restaurants, which is what I plan to make this blog about, let me give you a short intro on what ramen means to me and why it has edged every other edible thing out there. So, how was I introduced to Ramen in the first place? Growing up, I wasn't really exposed to what ramen was. Up until six years old, I lived in the Philippines where ramen shops weren't really a thing except for the rich. Same thing when I moved to Chicago and Gardena. In fact, I have no idea where I even had authentic ramen for the first time. What I do remember though are nights and nights of (yep, that's right!) Naruto binge watching. Naruto was my frickin shit. Ya boy spent days in front of that laptop streaming it. Simply put, Naruto was the homie, and I wanted to be just like him. So naturally, when all I saw was Naruto slurp on that ramen 24/7 after beating all the cholos up, I wanted to do exact same. It didn't help that the animation studio make Naruto ramen so appealing. And, after all Naruto was named after the ramen topping, narutomaki, this cool looking fish cake, or cured fish surimi to be exact. Not only did the anime make me fall in love with ramen, despite never having tasted it myself, but it also made me really interested in Japanese culture.
That's not to say, however, that it was just because of a cartoon that led me to ranking ramen as my #1. After years and years of being a fatass and trying all the diverse meals that LA has to offer, I believe that none can match the versatility that ramen has to offer. When asked "What food would you eat for the rest of your life if you can only have that one food" or "what would you choose to be your last meal," I have always answered a nice, thick tonkotsu ramen. I mean, it literally has everything you want and need to survive. Additionally, there are so many ways to customize your ramen. From broth, to protein, to noodle type, to toppings, the possibilities are endless. On top of that, I feel like you can enjoy ramen any time. Ramen could be served as a balanced meal during lunch break or as a early-morning, post turn-up drunchies. So to summarize, Ramen is literally the ninjafication of food. By that I mean, I was introduced to ramen because of an anime about ninjas and it became my favorite because of its versatility. Similar to how a ninja adapts to its environment, ramen can be adapted in any way or manner by the ramen eater. And if making versatility the number one criteria for favorite food sounds kinda weird, well stay tuned. #RavenLikesRamen |
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