Ducks Restaurant - San Gabriel, CA

1381 E Las Tunas Dr #1
San Gabriel, CA 91775
(626) 287-8743
Ramen Menu

If someone were to tell me a Japanese restaurant in San Gabriel named Ducks serves good ramen, I would have laughed and said "You're Crazy!!" Wait a minute...that actually happened! I can't believe I've driven by this place thousands of times on my way home from work and never realized that (1) they had ramen and (2) it's Japanese. Apparently known more for their curry & spaghetti, Ducks also has a few ramen on the menu. Simply labeled Chashu Ramen, choices of soup base include Shoyu, Miso, Tonkotsu, Curry, and Tonkotsu Curry. But don't worry, no actual ducks were hurt in the boiling process.


Chashu Ramen (Shoyu Base): Beautiful! Definitely well presented, but we all know true beauty comes from within. So after a poignant first impression, it was time to sip its soul...absorbing, exotic, captivating, humurous, fashionable. Oh wait...I'm describing the girl that was sitting across from me...hehe. Sorry folks, now let me get back to the ramen. Wonderfully presented, this ramen was light and refreshing with a decent non-overwhelming flavor. Slightly above average, simple enough to soothe a craving would aptly describe this shoyu ramen. Topped with chashu, bok choy, and a few strips of negi, I felt like it could have used something more. The chashu was somewhat disappointing as well, but like I said...it's simple enough to soothe a craving.


Although most likely not homemade, the noodles tasted very fresh and cooperated with the soup. Evidently, my slurping got a 10 on the noise meter...haha.


Cold Ramen: Basically a hiyashi chuuka without most of the ingredients that make it a hiyashi chuuka. Did that make sense? In other words, it's the same sauce without all the vegetables and ham and stuff. It was good and I liked it, but I'd rather have some soup.


Mini Curry: The curry was delicious! Impressive, but I still wouldn't call it the best. Hmm...it makes me wonder how the Tonkotsu Curry Ramen tastes.


Ducks has been around for a long time. Something like 10 years if I'm not mistaken. Which makes it all the more shocking that I never knew it was here. This can only mean one thing...that there must be others like Ducks hiding in a neighborhood near you! If you have a recommendation, please please let me know!

Aji Man 味満 - San Gabriel, CA

821 W. Las Tunas Drive
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 282-3478

The newest ramen-ya in LA sounds like a potential ramen superhero, but can Aji Man create enough hype to rescue the SGV ramen scene?...I didn't think so. Literally meaning flavor-full, I was disappointed to hear that Aji Man uses MSG to enhance its flavor (maybe Aji Man is short for Ajinomoto Man), but that wasn't going to deter me from giving it a try.


Shoyu Ramen: Upon ordering I asked the waitress if they use MSG and she politely said no. Perhaps the chef has since mastered its flavor without the need for it. Anyway, since shoyu has always been my preferred flavor, I had to order it and skip their signature Sapporo Miso for now. My first observation was that this soup had a lot of oil. Possibly more oil than water...okay I'm exaggerating. Aside from all the oil, it still had a good shoyu flavor that was semi-impressive. The toppings (chashu, menma, negi) were like footnotes on a page--barely noticeable. The noodles were horribly clumped and very average and unimpressive.


Shio Ramen: This shio ramen was proof that it didn't contain MSG. There was absolutely no flavor at all. It was more like oily-water ramen. Did I mistakenly order this shio ramen without salt? Hmmm...it was like a bean burrito without beans.


Gyoza: The gyoza was ma~ma~ (decent) and definitely contained Ajinomoto. If you're looking for good gyoza then go ahead and skip these.


So it appears that the SGV is still lacking a quality ramen-ya. Hopefully Aji Man will improve over time, but for now I would probably prefer to eat at Tamaya down the street.

Fuji Ramen - San Gabriel, CA

537 W. Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91778

"New ramen place in san gabriel called fuji ramen." That's how the text message read from a friend and fellow ramen fanatic who just happened to drive by it Saturday morning. After seeing the words "new" and "ramen" in the same sentence, I immediately called him back to get the scoop. And that's when we decided to check it out on Sunday. At first I was really excited, but then a ramen place in San Gabriel can only mean one thing--Chinese-owned? I just hope it's not as bad as Mountain.


Red-orange and yellow walls with wood trim. Bright blue and yellow seats. Umm...are you sure this is a ramen place? It's definitely not a ramen-ya! I suppose I can live with the strange color combinations, but c'mon...Teriyaki Chicken Ramen???!!! Are you kidding me?? From the funky decor to the waiters speaking Cantonese to the Young Ho restaurant next door, I braced myself for an interesting experience.


Cha Siu Ramen: So I ordered the cha siu ramen. The soup was lighter than I thought it would be. It had hints of pork, but seemed to be primarily chicken-based and I really couldn't taste any fish. The noodles were clumpy and only slightly better than the noodles from Cup O Noodles. The toppings (cha siu, egg, green onion, and 大根 daikon) were probably the worst I've ever experienced.


First of all, why is there daikon (japanese radish) in this ramen?? I love daikon, but in ramen? That's just so weird! The egg was borderline nauseating...wait I take that back, it indeed crossed that border. I've eaten play-doh that tasted better. The cha siu was on the tastier side, but the texture was tough and far from melt-in-your-mouth. Overall, it wasn't as bad as Mountain, but don't count on seeing me there again. If I ever do go anywhere near Fuji Ramen in the future, it will only be to visit the Peach House two doors down.


Gyoza Dumplings: The gyoza dumplings didn't exactly look like gyoza, but at least they weren't fried. The gyoza dumplings didn't exactly taste like gyoza either. They were more like Chinese dumplings. With that said, I liked them. But I wouldn't call them gyoza.


The meat in the dumplings looked like paper wrapped chicken meat. As you can see, it's not your typical gyoza.