Moca!!!...

Reunion in NYC!

MO! CA!...

Day 1176:

moca: im coming to tokyo! jan 20 -23. you are going to take me and rob to try different types of ramen. when are you free?
me: 22!

moca is back in Japan!!! and say hello to Rob!

They wanted ramen so I took them to one of my favorite shops.

Soranoiro is outstanding!

Thanks for the free dessert!

After a little AKB R&R, we made it to Ameyoko for 48 more minutes of fun.

Then moca wanted more ramen.

Menya Musashi Bukou (麺屋武蔵武骨)

This is definitely not the moca I remember.

Thanks to Rob for changing her. haha.

The rest of the night was filled with shrimp...

Fat perverts turned skinny elvissises...

And stupid 100 year anniversary notifications 88 years from now.

At least the ramen is still good.

bye moca!

NY street ramen contest 2012...

Day 1076:

Round 3 of the NY Street Ramen Contest was in full-effect. And I just had to go check it out.

On this day, there were a total of nine shops competing for a spot in the finals. I pondered being a part of this with some friends of mine, but with the FoodFilmFest coming up it would have been too difficult to prepare. Maybe next year!

Anyway, the contest was packed!! Yeah, they weren't kidding...ramen in NY is HOT!!

After greeting with some friends of mine, it was time to get in line.

Italian Ramen from the Ramen Lab. (Chicken and pork base soup with tomato, basil, and grated cheese)

Yaki Ramen from Hakkoan. (Salmon, mushroom, cabbage, carrot, garlic, onion, and miso)

Shoyu Ramen from Asahikawa Ramen. (Shoyu, olive oil)

Spicy Miso Ramen from Jin Ramen. (Chicken & pork base miso soup)

Dark Men from Tabata Noodle. (Black sesame paste flavored soup, roast pork & chicken, scallion)

Shoyu (Jiro-kei) Ramen from Yume Wo Katare. (Pork base soy soup, cabbage, garlic, bean sprout, chashu pork)

Tonyu Herb Ramen from Tonyu Ramen. (Pork base soup, soymilk, paprika, mushroom, spinach, and Alfalfa)

PESU Ramen from Colorful Ramen. (sorry, I didn't get to try this because the alien scared me)

Alex York!!

A big THANKS to everyone that made it out here to meet me today!!

Ramenate!!!

Hiro!!!

Yamachan!!!

Steve Schiltz!!!

Kenshiro!!! Go Sun Noodle!!!

Kelly!!! (If you're wondering, she's my writer...)

JapanCulture-NYC.com

On my way out, I ran into this guy. Ivan!!!

After the ramen contest I tried to make it back to Brooklyn for the Bacon Takedown, but unfortunately I was too late. So I went to Zuzu Ramen instead. (btw, is this a new trend for shops not to have signs?)

Haven't I seen this light before?

Green Curry-Miso Ramen.

It's definitely no GCS. And it reminded me more of pho than ramen.

But I still killed it.

Woah, look who I ran into!! lisaj!! and moca!!!!!

This calls for a falafel!

Hmm...falafel ramen?

Look who's back!

Day 443:

Can you find her?

moca!!!

moca was back in Tokyo for a week so when she woke me up to say "let's go eat ramen!" I got up and got dressed as fast as I could. She was craving something light, so I suggested Afuri (阿夫利) in Ebisu.

You can't go wrong with Afuri's famous Yuzu Shio Ramen. There are two types of soup bases to choose from, Tanrei or Maroaji.

The difference between Tanrei (above) and Maroaji (below) wasn't very clear to me, but it was something about the Maroaji containing more chicken oil. Either way, they're both delightfully refreshing.

The Yuzu Shoyu Ramen is equally amazing.

I always wondered why everyone raved about Afuri and now I know. Although I won't call it my fave, Afuri is highly recommended.

And then it was time to do a little catching up with moca over some ice cream.

But soon it was time to go to work where I just threw some ingredients together to create this ramen. I'm not sure what to call it, but it was impressively good.

And then she was gone. Good luck moca! I'm not sure when we'll meet again but I will forever look forward to that day.