Ramen Burger in Northern Cali!!...

You asked for it, so now you will have it! To all my friends in the Bay Area, the original ramen burger is coming. And not just the original, but for the first time ever on any menu...the Double Ramen Burger!! With cheese or without! We'll see you at Mitsuwa San Jose from 11am until they are all gone. Come early and get your hands on one!

Ramen Burger at Mitsuwa Torrance Part 2...

So you've probably heard by now. But in case you haven't...

I'll see you at Mitsuwa Market in Torrance on Sunday, November 10th.

500 Ramen Burger's AND cheese.

http://la.eater.com/archives/2013/11/05/ramen_burger_strikes_mitsuwa_torrance_november_10.php

Thank you Los Angeles!!

What an amazing turn out. My apologies to all the people that got turned away but thank you very much for showing your support.

Thank you Mitsuwa Torrance.

Thank you Osawa Pasadena and Chaya Downtown.

Thank you to my amazing staff of friends and family.

Thank you mom for always supporting me.

Thank you for approving!

Thank you all for making this such a special weekend.

Go Ramen! Go Life!

Thank you Cameron Leung Photography for all the amazing photos.

Incredible people, incredible fun.

Thank you Tachibe-san!!

A special thanks to my brother Jeff and sister Miho. You guys are the best! Thank you for putting this event together on such short notice. Can we do it again??

Ramen Burger Los Angeles AND Smorgasburg Week 6...

A week ago I had a dream that my mom would be able to try a Ramen Burger™, not an imposter but a REAL Ramen Burger™, the same one I debuted at Smorgasburg five weeks ago. Today that dream will come true. But not only will my mom be able to eat one, my fellow Angelinos who come early will also get to try one.

So get ready California. Get ready Los Angeles. 500 hundred Ramen Burger's (and maybe some more) will be first come first serve for $8 beginning at 11am this Saturday (9/7).

Where?? At Mitsuwa Market in Torrance. 21515 S. Western Ave., Torrance,CA 90501

And to my fellow Brooklynites, don't worry we'll still be at Smorgasburg in Williamsburg this Saturday too.

Ramen Burger™!! On both coasts!!!! What's next? Global??

Kamome jersey...

Day 1327:

Sun noodle town...

Day 1192:

There's nothing like taking a trip to one of the coolest factories in the world--the Sun Noodle factory in New Jersey.

It's my second time touring this facility and it was just as exciting as the first. Thanks Kenshiro!

Afterwards, while waiting for our bus back to Manhattan...

Will, Adam, and I decided to kill some time over a hot bowl of Santouka.

Ahh, Santouka...always the same.

Back in Manhattan, we headed to the infamous Totto Ramen.

Totto is actually one of my favorite shops in NYC.

I'm not sure I'd say it's the best in NYC quite yet, but it's definitely up there.

I just really like the ambience and the staff is all cool peoples.

After a little meeting in Bedford...Fette Sau!!

BBQ anyone?

Oh yeah!

Next up...Decibel.

And then Noodletown.

That's all I remember.

What a day...

Mitsuwa Autumn Fair 2009

"The masters of renowned shops will come in by the flocks!
Smack your lips over selected their specialties."

Here is the rundown:

Chibakiya
10/22(Thu) - 25(Sun) Torrance Store
10/29(Thu) - 11/1(Sun) New Jersey Store
Featuring "Shina Soba."

Gomaichi
10/22(Thu) - 25(Sun) Costa Mesa Store
Featuring “Tan Tan Men”, “Sung Hon Men”, and “Shoyu Ramen.”

Yamachan
10/29(Thu) - 11/1(Sun) Chicago Store
Featuring "Rich Miso Ramen & Rich Shoyu Ramen."

As always there will be more than just ramen, including “Fish Cakes” of “Murakawa kamaboko”, “Ijinkan Maki” and “Waffles” of “Kobe-Fugetsudo”, & "Okonomiyaki" of "Otafuku". Check Mitsuwa's website for more details!

Mitsuwa Hokkaido Fair 2009 - Recap

Fresh off the plane from Japan, I dropped off my suitcase and headed straight for Mitsuwa Market and the 2009 Hokkaido Ramen Fair! Yes, I did say ramen fair cuz who really cares about the other stuff (j/k).

Anyway, Ezo Fukuro at the Costa Mesa location was first up with their Shrimp Butter Shio Ramen and their Shio Tanmen. To put it lightly, I wasn't very impressed. The Shrimp Butter Ramen was basically the Tanmen with 3 pieces of shrimp and a half cube of butter. I also thought the butter neutralized a lot of the flavor from the yasai itame. And the noodles in both were starchy and undercooked. If I had to choose one, I'd stick with the Tanmen.

Ramen Shingen, working out of Torrance, was surprisingly better than I had expected. It was light, yet flavorful and gave my tongue a tingly sensation. Oh wait, that was the MSG. The chashu was the highlight--very moist and delicious. The noodles were once again slightly undercooked but I'm sure it would taste much better if I was in Ishikari.

That's all. Forgive me for not adding much detail. I'm still jet lagged.

Mitsuwa Hokkaido Fair 2009

The Mitsuwa Hokkaido Fair is BACK!! And this time there will be three--YES THREE--ramen's to try! Here is the rundown:

Ezofukuro
9/10(Thu) - 9/13(Sun) Costa Mesa Store
9/17(Thu) - 9/20(Sun) New Jersey Store
Featuring "Shio Tanmen" & "Ebi Shio Butter Ramen."

Ramen Shingen
9/10(Thu) - 9/13(Sun) Torrance Store
9/17(Thu) - 9/20(Sun) Chicago Store
Featuring “Shio Ramen” from Ishikari, Hokkaido.

As always there will be more than just ramen, including “White Taiyaki” and “Crepes” of MJ Shokudo & "Curry Bread" from Pullman bakery. Check Mitsuwa's website for more details!

And in other ramen news, the San Jose store will soon be getting their very own Santouka. Sweet!

Tatsunoya (龍の家) - Mitsuwa Kyushu & Okinawa Fair 2009

Rarely do I wake up and crave a good bowl of tonkotsu ramen, but today was different. Tatsunoya is in town for the Kyushu & Okinawa Festival at Mitsuwa Torrance and I hear their ramen is "BOMB!"


Straight out of Kyushu (Kurume to be exact), Tatsunoya's ramen has been influenced by both Hakata and Kurume styles. (If you want to know more, check out Nate's blog.) Normally, there are two ramen on the menu, but this weekend's fair only showcases the Koku-aji as opposed to the Assari. Unfortunately, the Torokeru Pudding didn't make the trip either.


Okay, so it may not be exactly like how it's served in Japan, but Tatsunoya's tonkotsu ramen was indeed ticking. Every sip of the smooth, salty, pork bone soup brought my tastebuds closer to exploding.


Mixing up the special miso paste into the soup provided a much bigger bang that tingled my tongue and massaged my inner cheeks.


The chashu was interestingly hard on the edges, but very moist in the center. The contrast initially pinched my eyebrows together, but then it led to an understanding smirk. The noodles were typical Hakata/Kurume style straight & thin.


Although the ramen was BOMB, these special flan-stuffed-cream-puffs from Kikuya were amazingly good. Seriously, don't miss out on these either!


Tick...tick...BOOM!