[Food] Robata Jinya

Robata Jinya is a ramen house in West Hollywood with a very modern, hip look to it, which is probably important if you want to be a big name restaurant in Hollywood. We were among the first patrons of the day and were promptly seated.

All of the broths they make are some variation of my all time favorite, tonkotsu. They have shio tonkotsu, shoyu tonkotsu, miso tonkotsu, and spicy tonkotsu broths. Our whole party chose to get the house special shio tonkotsu, which they only make 20 servings of per day. We also got a few other dishes on the side.

The sushi and rolls were good, but not amazing. They were of your run of the mill sushi joint variety. The clean, simple presentation definitely makes for nice photos though.

The chashu pork bowls were not what I expected. Their chashu pork is not the chashu pork that I am accustomed to. In fact, it tasted just like jang jo reem (장조림), a korean dish made with beef cooked in soy sauce. It was salty and a bit tough to chew.

There was one dish that really stood out, the Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna. I have never had anything like it, so it caught me off guard. The base of the dish is made with cakes of rice fried to a golden-brown crisp on the outside while maintaining a soft, pillowy inside. The textural contrast is amazing. On top of the hot, crispy rice is cool spicy tuna. Finally, the whole thing is topped off with a slice of jalapeno.

I’ll say it now, this was easily my favorite part of the meal. The dish is perfect in just about every way.

The ramen was another one of those “good but not great” dishes. Maybe I’m just spoiled by Daikokuya (previously reviewed); I tend to judge all other ramens against their's. Let’s take the shio tonkotsu ramen part by part.

First of all, the noodles. You get the choice between thick and thin noodles. Everyone got the thin while my cousin went with the thick noodles. I enjoyed my noodles, they had snap without being overly tough. Perfectly cooked; think al dente. The thick noodles on the other hand were too chewy. I would definitely pick thin over thick here.

The broth was a mix of tonkotsu and shio (salt). As I mentioned earlier, they only make 20 servings of this broth per day, which is why we went so early. Sadly, I did not think it lived up to the hype of exclusivity (the early bird gets the worm). A good tonkotsu broth is thick, almost creamy, fatty, and chock full of flavor. The broth here was not as thick and flavorful as I would have liked. In my book, straight tonkotsu is the only way to go.

Now, the toppings. The pork was the same disappointing pork used in the chashu pork bowl. It was far too salty for the ramen. However, in the ramen, it was sliced and boiled rather than chopped and dry, so it was definitely better. The absence of the almighty egg was another disappointment for me (again, spoiled by Daikokuya). The vegetables cut through the fatty broth nicely and were refreshing in between slurps of noodles and soup. Finally, I loved the addition of the fried onion straws, but then again, I have a soft spot of onion straws. These will (obviously) lose their crispiness and get lost once mixed into the broth, so I do not think they are very necessary. Still, a nice touch nonetheless!

Although I may have downplayed Robata Jinya, it is still a nice ramen shop that makes a good bowl of ramen. I definitely recommend the crispy rice with spicy tuna though. If I was in the area, I would go and get a couple orders of just that and I would be a very happy man. Ultimately, I would point you in the direction of Daikokuya if you wanted a great bowl of tonkotsu ramen, but check out Robata Jinya and make the decision for youself!

Robata Jinya 8050 W 3rd St Los Angeles, CA 90048 (323) 653-8877 www.jinya-la.com

[Food] Daikokuya

Ahhh, ramen...one of life's great pleasures. But there's so many different kinds! There's shōyu (soy sauce based), shio (salt based), miso, and what I consider king, tonkotsu. Tonkotsu is the rich, milky soup that is made by boiling pork bones for hours. This is exactly why my favorite ramen place is Daikokuya. Daikokuya specializes in this heavenly ramen and the long wait testifies to its greatness. In fact, while I was eating at the bar, I overheard a woman next to me that came from hours away in Northern California. That's right, just for Daikokuya.

After waiting for a good 45 minutes, we entered the small restaurant and were seated at the bar (the small size of the restaurant definitely contributes to the wait times). Without thinking we all placed our orders. I got the ramen combination with the shredded pork bowl while my sister and cousin (check his brand new blog!) got the combos with tuna sashimi bowls.

Soon after placing orders, we got our salad. It may just look like some cabbage with dressing and masago, but it's a lot more than that. The dressing has a very full-bodied, almost meaty flavor. It's hard to describe, but we all loved it. It was the perfect way to start the meal.

Just look at how sexy that tuna looks. I don't know if words are necessary here. I didn't try it, so I really can't use words, but wow.

My pork bowl was just as good as that tuna looks. The pork is tender and full of flavor, the sauce heightens the flavor experience, and the ginger cuts through the rich flavors.

Before we get to the ramen, let's take a moment and observe the proper way to eat it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WrkdTrrwew]

Here's an excerpt from the 1985 movie, Tampopo featuring the Ramen Master. Now that we are properly educated...

The noodles are perfectly cooked, just enough bite without being firm. The pork is fatty and melts in your mouth. The soy boiled egg has a yolk that straddles the border between runny and solid. The bean spouts offer excellent textural contrast to everything else. The soup, oh the soup. Someone save me, I'm salivating at my screen. It's everything that you want your ramen soup to be. Flavorful but not overly salty, rich without making you sick, and creamy. Creamy? Yes. That's probably my favorite aspect of the tonkotsu broth. I'm going to have to stop here, I'm having withdrawls.

Does your favorite ramen cause such strong feelings? Probably not. If you've never had a taste of glory, be sure to stop at Daikokuya. There are several locations, but my favorite is the one in Little Tokyo. My other recommendations here are the gyoza, the pork fried rice, and the kotteri, or extra back fat, in the ramen. One comment on the kotteri option, it's delicious, but too much of it can be a bit overwhelming. I've only had it once, but definitely try it out for yourself. Really, anything you get here will be good.

Daikokuya 327 E 1st St Los Angeles, CA 90012 (213) 626-1680 www.daikoku-ten.com

[Food] Late Night: Classy College Food

It's 2 am, so don't expect a long post. Our floor got some sushi from Nude Sushi delivered, yep they deliver sushi late into the night. That's probably the only good thing about this place. I got a Crazy Monkey Roll, which is tuna, salmon, unagi, and masago. If you must get sushi late at night, stay away from the fresh fish, it ain't that great. [Edit: I just noticed that I said if not to get the fish if you want sushi...I wrote this at 2 in the morning. Forgive me.] I'll probably go with an avocado and cream cheese roll. To complement our sushi, we made the tradition Korean cup ramen. Always a winner in my book.

Nude Sushi 6228 Telegraph Ave Oakland, CA 94609 (510) 547-6833 www.getnudesushi.com

Hours Mon-Sat: 5pm - 3am