A box of ramen...

Day 914:

As we were getting ready to open shop, the mailman appeared with a box...a box of ramen!...from Hiroshima!!

I went straight for the Onomichi-style ramen.

Though it was nothing like eating at Shukaen...

 ...or Tsutafuji...

...it still brought back the memories.

But I needed a cheeseburger to wash it down. haha.

The cali connection was back!

Btw, I wonder who sent us that box...

Gourmandise...

Day 511:

I've been eating way too much, but with all this good food being placed in front of me how am I supposed to resist? This was breakfast.

On our way back from the market, we came across this pizza food truck and I just had to stop.

This is Tony. At first he looked like he didn't want anything to do with me. I couldn't understand what he was saying and he couldn't understand what I was saying. But after he figured out that I was Japanese things got a little better. I still couldn't understand what he was saying and he still couldn't understand what I was saying, but at least now he had a smile on his face.

This is Kebab pizza!!!

Back at the house, we made some more instant tsukemen.

Isn't this beautiful?

Yes this is.

This is Foie gras!!!

Because my new French friends were giving me so much, it was time to give them a taste of what rules my life. So I made them a bowl of ramen and they seemed to love it.

JMarc especially couldn't get enough.

Way to go JMarc!

This makes me very happy...

Le Comte...

Day 506:

"Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes." -Edmond Dantès

When I woke up this morning, I opened google maps to see exactly where I was and soon realized that we were only a few hours from the city of Marseille, the setting for one of my favorite novels. I've always dreamed about visiting Château d'If and you can just imagine my joy when I learned this. So that's what we planned for today.

But first, time to fuel up on some instant tsukemen that I brought with me. Yes, I came prepared.

Did you really think I could go this whole trip without some kind of ramen/tsukemen?

Ahhh...Shimadaya is my favorite brand of instant nama ramen. They've never done me wrong.

I'm so glad I brought this with me.

Anyway, off to Marseille!

When we arrived almost every restaurant was closed except for this one. She got the salmon.

I got the veal.

And then some macarons.

Unfortunately, the Château d'If was closed to the public today so I could only see it from afar. That's okay, at least I can still say I've seen it.

Traffic in Marseille was something. I'm definitely not a fan of roundabouts in big cities. haha. But we made it back in time for some Andouillette.

à bientôt...

Three and out...

Day 462:

One: Yamate Ramen (山手ラーメン) in Tomigaya. The big brother of Yamate Bekkan.

Katsuo Shoyu Tsukemen (left) and Pirikara Kaisen Tsukemen (right).

I went with the shoyu.

It didn't taste bad, but something just didn't feel right. I should have went with the kaisen that the assistant had. 「麺を盗んでごめんね。」:P

As we were walking home, we noticed this shack-like Freshness Burger. After a little research, it turns out that this was the very first Freshness Burger that opened back in 1992. Cool!

Two: Nama ramen from Ichii (いち井).

Nobo had brought this back for us after a recent snowboard trip to Niigata.

Love it!

The deep shoyu base is too good for words. Thanks Nobo!!

Three: Tondaku Wadashi Soba.

I was craving this all day and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until I ate it.

Three bowls...and I'm out...lates.

Tofu revelation...

Day 440:

While working the lunch shift I decided to try this nama ramen from Ten Ten Yuu that Boom brought back from Kyoto over the break.

So does it look like the picture this time? This creamy chicken blend was smooth and delicious. At least that's what I could tell from the first two bites. A few customers came in and my third bite came 15 min later. By that time it was lukewarm, but I still ate it.

After work I was craving some sundubu for dinner so the assistant and I decided to check out a Korean Restaurant called RaaTan (らーたん) in Sasazuka.

By pure coincidence they sat me down next to this sign. Sundubu Tsukemen!!

So as you would expect, after some samgyeopsal it was time for...

Sundubu Tsukemen!!!! You wouldn't believe how excited I was after trying this. Hopefully by seeing this, all my favorite Korean restaurants back home will start to do something similar.

This was ingenious. I can't look at this picture for too long because it starts to make me drool.

Fusion is fantastic!

"The circle of life...is just a bunch of triangles."

And we're back...

Day 431:

Bassanova is now open for 2011! And of course the first thing I wanted to eat had to be the green curry. Ahhh how I missed thee!

Ooohh yes!

Shuga also brought some nama ramen from near his hometown so you know I had to give that a try too.

This one was from the town of Sano.

I always try to mimic the picture on the box using the toppings I have on hand. So what do you think? If I only I had some naruto.

This bowl was a refreshingly light shoyu ramen. The chicken oil tasted superb and the handmade noodles were very Sano-like.

Anyway, we'll be waiting for you at Bassanova!!