475391 Wed Jan 02 11:24:24 -0800 2008 28 33 Food Media and News 0 3253764 http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-rameniac2jan02,1,4811899.story As the tagline suggests, he's the rock star of ramen. Just to keep things on topic, here's a list of his 5 favorites: Santouka: Despite their pedestrian locations in Mitsuwa Marketplace food courts, these restaurants are hands-down the best in Southern California, Wong says. "That's right. The best noodler in town is roughly the Japanese equivalent of a Panda Express or an Orange Julius," he writes on his website. "Rich and luscious, Santouka's Asahikawa-style tonkotsu shio broth is the reigning champion of world-class ramen in Los Angeles." 3760 S. Centinela Ave., Los Angeles, (310) 398-2113; 665 Paularino Ave., Costa Mesa, (714) 434-1101; 21515 S. Western Ave., Torrance, (310) 212-1101. Asa Ramen: Wong raves about this new place, open only since early fall. "Already, a bowl of Asa's kotteri shoyu ramen rates among the best in town," he writes on the website. "Though it lacks the institutionalized perfection of a Santouka shio ramen, Chef Kubo's shoyu-tonkotsu creation already stands head and shoulders above nearly everything else in the local game." Furthermore, he says, Asa is one of the few ramen shops in town to source its noodles domestically, from an artisanal maker in the Bay Area. 18202 S. Western Ave., Gardena, (310) 769-1010. Gardena Ramen: Wong loves the spirit of this place so much that after first eating here he ranked it second, behind only Santouka. But, he now says, the quality may be slipping a little -- or maybe it's just that Asa has come on so strong. Gardena Ramen is a one-man operation run by Isao Nakamura. On his website, Wong describes the soup as a "complex (the key word here) concoction derived from torigara (chicken bones), genkotsu (pork knuckle), and niboshi (dried sardines). It is slightly opaque and just a tad too salty, but flavorful in impossibly distinctive ways. It is sweet yet savory. Rich yet light."1840 W. 182nd St., Torrance, (310) 324-6993. Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen: In Japan, Wong says, Hakata ramen is "super popular, and is actually my favorite style of ramen overall; Shin-Sen-Gumi's version of it comes close to what I miss most about living in Kyushu." Hakata ramen is made with ultra-thin, firm noodles; is a purely pork bone soup with no shio, shoyu or miso; and has a wide range of toppings. 8450 E. Valley Blvd., No. 103, Rosemead, (626) 572-8646; 18315 Brookhurst St., No. 1, Fountain Valley, (714) 962-8971; 2051 W. Redondo Beach Blvd., No. C, Gardena, (310) 329-1335. Daikokuya: Though this Little Tokyo standard is a favorite among Internet foodies, Wong demurs. "It is a decent place," he says, "but I have to say it's also the most over-hyped place in L.A. You have to wait for hours to get in, and it's just not that great." 327 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, (213) 626-1680. Wed Jan 02 11:24:24 -0800 2008 50350 SauceSupreme 1 3253782 Whoo hoo! On the front page too! :) Great profile dude!! And I totally want to check out your store now... --Dommy! Wed Jan 02 11:28:05 -0800 2008 3253764 10659 Dommy 1 3253840 Very cool! Wed Jan 02 11:46:50 -0800 2008 3253764 17644 raytamsgv 1 3253889 Are there any ramen places in L.A. that do NOT use MSG (or at least not much)? Or is MSG a necessary ingredient? I can tolerate small amounts of MSG, but in large doses it gives me an excruciating headache. Wed Jan 02 11:58:12 -0800 2008 3253764 13875 Nicole 1 3254006 yeah- i read it in the times this morning! congrats! mm...i've frequented your ramen site (and even made the trek out to gardena) but i don't think i ever made the connection that i've met you until i saw your pic in the article. we met at a 4th of july party and witnessed the most spectacular fireworks perched on that downtown roof. this year's fireworks sucked, btw. my ratings: 1) santouka 2) chabuya 3) daikokuya 4) gardena 5) shin-sen-gumi i recently had asahi, just for college nostalgia's sake, and it friggin SUCKED. can't believe i ate that crap for 4 years. Wed Jan 02 12:23:02 -0800 2008 3253764 16200 greengelato 1 3254178 lol thanks you guys! ticking down on my 15 minutes of fame... i'll put them to good use by loading up on as much arterial-clogging tonkotsu ramen as i can find. still recovering from shin sen gumi's late night new year's eve noodling =) Wed Jan 02 12:59:10 -0800 2008 3253764 11521 rameniac 2 3270087 Super! And here's another 15 minutes, http://www.chow.com/grinder/4541 Mon Jan 07 11:40:48 -0800 2008 3254178 10039 Melanie Wong 1 3254949 That's awesome! :) Congrats Rameniac. Wed Jan 02 16:26:16 -0800 2008 3253764 113442 exilekiss 1 3254950 Link has been showing "server error" all day ... ! Frustrating. Wed Jan 02 16:26:28 -0800 2008 3253764 10877 Sarah 2 3255029 Rameniac you crack me up "For an Asian American, being a foodie on the Internet is kind of like being a rock star without having to be unemployed or doing a lot of drugs or disappointing your parents." I think my asian parents would agree with that if I weren't too lazy to do a food blog, LOL. I've tried 3 out of the 5 on your list, I'll have to try out Asa and Gardena still for now Santouka will rank as my favorite. Great article. Wed Jan 02 16:52:27 -0800 2008 3254950 13176 bassbiz 2 3255243 hehe sorry ! the sudden spikecrashed my server... been dealing with tech support all day XD... Wed Jan 02 17:52:27 -0800 2008 3254950 11521 rameniac 3 3255292 LA Times' site is having probs as well -- food and dining. Wed Jan 02 18:09:10 -0800 2008 3255243 10877 Sarah 3 3255829 Read the article. What city in the SGV are you from? Ditto to fellow bloggers I will have to try Asa. Congrats. Wed Jan 02 21:35:08 -0800 2008 3255243 147459 b0ardkn0t 4 3256042 thanks =). i'm from alhambra, pretty much grew up in all the restaurants in the alh/monterey park/san gabriel area. every now and then i still crave a bowl of roast duck won ton at sam woo on valley! Thu Jan 03 01:00:45 -0800 2008 3255829 11521 rameniac 1 3255905 Sweet! Great profile. Rameniac, I appreciate your writing (Santouka is a frequent stop for us) and you should know your recs go far - my son just turned 3 and when I told him I'd take him anywhere he wanted to eat, he said after a short think - "the Japanese market", which for us, means ramen. He's hooked! LOL! Wed Jan 02 22:23:54 -0800 2008 3253764 14582 CulverJack 2 3255914 My 10-year-old held his birthday dinner at Santouka to introduce his favorite ramen to his friends. :) Wed Jan 02 22:27:57 -0800 2008 3255905 15633 fdb 3 3258151 Ha! LOL. You must be as proud as I am... F.I.Ts (Foodies In Training) are the best. Thu Jan 03 14:08:15 -0800 2008 3255914 14582 CulverJack 2 3256041 LOLOL... younglings need their carbs! XD Thu Jan 03 00:59:33 -0800 2008 3255905 11521 rameniac 1 3256618 I said it in private, and now I'll say it in public: you done your parents proud!! <smile> But, seriously, Rickmond, the chow community has benefited tremendously from all of your hard work. Thanks, E.M. P.S. Tell Russ that it's Erik-with-a-K. <smile> Thu Jan 03 08:29:53 -0800 2008 3253764 11340 Erik M 1 3256685 Nice article...now I can also put a face to a name! Thu Jan 03 08:45:27 -0800 2008 3253764 12873 OCAnn 1 3257391 I saw the article. Pretty cool. Too bad the only Top 5 place in the central part of town is listed as "slipping". Thu Jan 03 11:30:50 -0800 2008 3253764 89849 Akitist 1 3257898 By the way, TonyC tells me that his Japanese coworker went for dinner and it was packed, all with non-Japanese. A 2 hour wait! Fortunately it's open until 2am, so if there are any late night Chowhounds who still want to try Asa out, GO LATE. Thu Jan 03 13:11:36 -0800 2008 3253764 50350 SauceSupreme 1 3258065 Wow, nice! Much more than 15 min. of fame. Now I want to check out your store too. :) Thu Jan 03 13:45:06 -0800 2008 3253764 13957 slacker 1 3259069 What a treat to fly back into town and see this when I rip open Wednesday's paper. And the photo is much better than the KCRW one. Great article next to it regarding Hitachino Nest and Echigo beer. A couple I know living in Japan has flown into town as well. I gave them a bottle of Hitachino Nest White Ale, and neither had ever seen it over there before. But I took them to Santouka (West L.A.) on Wednesday, and they were very satisfied with the special pork ramen. Gotta hit up Asa Ramen at some point to check it out, but now I'm a little worried about crowds. What's a good time to go to sit solo at the bar? Thu Jan 03 18:36:28 -0800 2008 3253764 36389 nakni 1 3271470 Tried to go to West L.A. Santouka today (Mon. 1/7) to get the special pork ramen around 3:15 and they had already run out of shio broth at 1:30! Granted I've usually never gone there right by closing time, but that was a first for me. They know about the article by the way. I don't know if the broth ever ran out so early when Jonathan Gold's review in the Weekly came out, but foot traffic never seemed more excessive than usual when I visited. <shakes fist> DAMN YOUUUUU, Rameniac! Mon Jan 07 17:08:47 -0800 2008 3253764 36389 nakni 2 3271499 It was easy to get a table at Asa last night, during the torrential downpour. Until the hubbub dies down, save your noodling for when the weather turns. Did you have the shoyu broth instead? Honestly, both are very good. Mon Jan 07 17:18:01 -0800 2008 3271470 50350 SauceSupreme 3 3272500 Here, here. We also were stuck by a shio outage last week, went with the Shoyu and it was great. Still very porky and nice. I was pleased. Mon Jan 07 22:49:30 -0800 2008 3271499 14582 CulverJack 3 3274193 I'm only in town until Sunday, so I'm gonna have to deal with the hubbub at Asa. Will try going early evening Wednesday or Thursday. I want to go early enough to get the kotteri shoyu ramen and not be denied. I had the shoyu at Santouka twice I think, and it was never more than serviceable to me. I left and decided to hit up Ramenya and get some garlic-y goodness, which also enabled me to walk a little ways and get my Beard Papa fix. Tue Jan 08 11:52:28 -0800 2008 3271499 36389 nakni 1 3284032 And on the Chinese newspaper: http://www.worldjournal.com/wj-la-news.php?nt_seq_id=1651320 Fri Jan 11 00:29:06 -0800 2008 3253764 15633 fdb