Showing posts with label noodle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label noodle. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Udon and Uni at Marugame Monzo (Downtown LA)

When Marugame Monzo opened in Little Tokyo, I was excited for two things. First, the handmade udon means I don't have to drive to Torrance for good udon! Second, two words: uni udon.

Yep, one of the signature items is the Sea Urchin (Uni) Cream udon ($15.95)

Marugame Monzo
Perfectly chewy udon, creamy sauce, uni. I mean, what's not to like? During my first visit with a couple of friends, we barely tried anything else because we all wanted to order this.

The glass windows of the kitchen let you see the udon making in action.
IMG_7649
Trust me, having freshly made noodles of any kind (soba, pasta, and yes, udon) makes a huge difference!

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Gourmet Dumpling House (Boston, MA)

When relatives come to visit, I inevitably end up at a Chinese restaurant. At least once. It happened twice this time, and one of the two was at Boston's popular Chinatown joint, Gourmet Dumpling House.


This place was named as having the best XLB aka xiao long bao aka juicy dumplings in Boston.
IMG_7239
The dumplings were pretty good. They're on the bigger side and the skin is thicker and not as delicate as Din Tai Fung, but the inside is juicy. It's more of a rustic style, you can say.

During lobster season, you'll also find lobsters for pretty cheap here.
IMG_7241


Sunday, August 17, 2014

Jiro-style Ramen at Yume Wo Katare (Porter Square, Cambridge, MA)

As you exit the red line T stop at Porter Square, you will soon notice the line going towards Yume wo Katare, a place popular for the fatty pork ramen in the style of Jiro in Mita.

image
Buta Ra-man!
Yume wo Katare is supposedly one of the first (if not the first) US shop to serve Jiro ramen, which is a really fatty pork broth that is completely different from a tonkotsu, topped with a big pile of bean sprouts and some cabbage. With that, some thick chashu (more pork fat!)
image
Being from LA, I initially snuffed at the Boston ramen scene, but this small shop is one of the very few that looked promising and I was happy to see this particular style, which you can't even find in LA until Tsujita Annex opened just a couple of years ago.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Top 12 Spots to Get Uni and Ramen in Los Angeles

These two "collections" of favorites list I made for Foodie.com are for those looking to pig out!

You should know by now how much I love uni or sea urchin, so here are my 12 favorite spots to get dishes made with uni, or just to get fresh uni in the shell.


Best ramen in LA? That is a controversial topic indeed, but to create a list of the top 12 was actually pretty hard! We have a lot of great ramen places, but apparently there still can be more. Some of these places are actually my favorite places for tsukemen and not ramen, but close enough :)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Your Summer Asian Staycation: The Cold Noodle Roundup

For most Asian countries, the quintessential summer dish comes in the form of a cold noodle dish. From buckwheat to spinach noodles, from fish paste to cold beef broth, slurping these noodles cools down the sweat on your back. Being the melting pot of many ethnicities, the Los Angeles area is an ethnic dining haven which offers these summer noodle dishes – sometimes year round. Don't let recession stop you from tasting all over Asia. With dishes $8 or under, the only expense you need to worry about is gas.

1. Japan: Zaru Soba

From:
Ichimiann
1618 Cravens Ave
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 328-1323



The best place for soba in the area at the moment is probably Ichimiann. This small shop just off of the downtown of Torrance hand makes their soba and udon noodles. A couple of tables are available, but mostly Japanese businessmen would fill up the wooden counter lining the wall. You can get a variety of soba and udon noodle soups, with eel to Japanese sticky yam as an accompaniment. For the summer there’s only one thing to get: zaru soba. The zaru soba is not only a great summer dish, it is also an initiation dish for those new to this buckwheat noodle known as soba. Cold handmade soba is served atop a bamboo tray. A bowl of tsuyu sauce (a mixture of dashi, sweetened soy sauce, and mirin), scallions, and wasabi are provided on the side. Mix in the wasabi and scallions in the sauce, then dip your cool strands of soba in the sauce. This simple dish brings out the resilient texture and flavor of this freshly made soba like no other.

2. Korea: Mul-Naengmyun

From:
Chil Bo Myun Ok
3680 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90189
(213) 387-9292



The Korean naengmyun are delicately thin yet chewy strands of vermicelli noodles made from buckwheat. Mul naengmyun is naengmyun served in a cold beef broth along with julienned vegetables, beef slices, and boiled eggs. At Chil Bo Myun Oak, the mul naengmyun is also served with slices of Korean pear. Despite being a popular Korean summer dish, a good naengmyun is still hard to find. Chil Bo Myun Ok takes so much pride in their naengmyun that the noodles are prohibited from leaving the premises. No to-go orders, no take out, the wonderfully supple and chewy noodles must be enjoyed in their metal bowls inside the restaurant that keeps it cool during your meal. The server will ask if you’d like the noodles cut, scissors ready in his other hand. The answer is yes, you’ll need him to.

3. Vietnam: Bun Thit Nuong

From:
Com Tam Thuan Kieu
120 E Valley Blvd, Ste I & J
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 280-5660



It’s always hot in South East Asia. That’s why you can find bun thit nuong in most Vietnamese places, all year round, but summer is the perfect time to try it. Rice vermicelli is topped with chargrilled pork, julienned carrots, scallions, and crushed peanuts and served at room temperature. Order a bun thit nuong cha gio and you will find sliced egg roll (cha gio) atop your bowl. For a mere $4.99 you will find the top of the bowl generously covered with meat and egg roll. Douse everything in some fish paste and you are ready to go. For the pork lovers and the fish sauce lovers, this one’s for you.

4. China: Cold Noodles with Green Tea Pork and Cold Vegetables

From:
Bamboodles
535 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 281-1226



At Bamboodles, to keep the dish cold, the plate is served on top of crushed ice to keep it cool throughout your meal. Spinach noodle, as with all other noodles at this restaurant, is made fresh every day. The dough is pounded flat by the chef by bouncing up and down on a bamboo pole – a method developed by a Guangdong noodle chef – and when you’re lucky you can watch him do this through the glass window of the kitchen. The noodles are arranged on a platter with shredded pork cooked in green tea and sliced vegetables. Mix everything in with the sesame sauce served on the side for a cooling and healthy meal.

5. Thailand: Jade Noodle

From:
Sapp Coffee Shop
5183 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027-6113
(323) 665-1035



This place may be most famous for their Thai boat noodles, but don't skip the jade noodle. The delicate, bright green noodles are served dry with bbq pork, roast duck, , crab, and a sweet ginger sauce. Squeeze the lime and mix everything well with the chili flakes. The lime gives the dish a refreshing sourness but not as strong as the one found in the boat noodles. This bowl lets you appreciate the delicate yet springy noodles themselves.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Bamboodles and the $1 Noodles (I Kid You Not)

Bamboodles has kind of been at the periphery of my radar ever since reading Exile Kiss' post on it, but when Wandering Chopsticks told me they had $1 daily special noodles ($1 ???) I immediately asked her to take me there.

The draw of Bamboodles is the bamboo-made noodles, made fresh daily. When we got there the guy was still working on some noodles, but alas, he didn't mount the big bamboo for my enjoyment. WC got a video though so hopefully she'll blog (sorry, vlog) this.I know the green tea pork noodles is supposed to be the highlight dish here, but since I came to get $1 noodles, the green tea pork will have to wait.
Since I felt kind of bad coming in and just ordering $1 dishes, I asked for an iced lemon tea also and WC got a side of spicy wontons.

Here's the $1 chicken-green onion-noodles:
Pretty good, huh? I don't think I can get this for $1 even back home in Indonesia these days ... Wandering Chopsticks said that the last time she got it, they put less chicken meat, so I guess don't always expect as much meat. But still, for $1 this was quite a meal, and quite a deal.

The noodles are quite good, with a nice chewiness and firmness. There was light fragrance to it. Parts of it were still sticking to each other but I believe these would work wonderfully in a soup. Can't wait to try their spinach noodles also.

The Spicy Wontons ($1.95) contained of eight wontons lightly covered in chili sauce.
The chili sauce itself was nothing special, but the wontons were wrapped in a thin yet springy skin. The meat was also nice and of higher quality (more meat, less bad fat) than most. This was also a nice deal for the price.
(These wontons, plus the chili sauce from YunChuan would be zomg amazing!)

The most expensive item on our check ended up being my iced lemon tea for $2.45 (expensive for an iced tea but I guess they have to cover overhead somehow)!
I'm going to be back to try their other items, but in the meantime ... guys, if you're feeling poor, just come here, get your $1 noodles, but please be considerate and tip reasonably (the dish usually sells for $5.95).
Oh, and the $1 special only lasts while the daily supplies still last, so go there early.

Bamboodles
535 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 281-1226
www.bamboodlesrestaurant.com

Bamboodles on Urbanspoon

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Things to Slurp - Part 1 (Ma Dang Gook So)

It doesn't matter who first invented noodles/pasta anymore. Nowadays every culture has their own specialty noodle dish(es). The Korean Gook So is said to be the equivalent of pho to Vietnamese, but then pho is just the equivalent of some other soup-based noodle dish somewhere else. But like I said, it doesn't really matter.

Ma Dang Gook So is one of those small, homey restaurants in Korea town, and it specializes in Korean noodle dishes, one of them being (naturally) the gook so. This item is identified simply as "handmade noodles" in the menu.

Being weak to spice, I avoided the kim chee gook so and opted for the anchovy instead. The noodles were bathed in beef broth that has the taste and flavor of anchovies. Two slices of potatoes are hidden inside, and most believe these potatoes are the secret ingredient to their broth's subtle taste and body.
Halfway through the bowl I was completely bloated as I couldn't stop drinking the soup. The one bad thing about the dish is that I do occasionally miss my protein (there was no actual anchovy inside). To actually get real meat, one could opt for the chicken gook so.
The chicken gook so uses instead chicken broth, but it still hides the potato slices and hence still has the same body as the beef broth. The chicken shreds are definitely a plus, but I still prefer the beef broth better myself (I'm a red meat eater!).

Ma Dang Gook So gets steady business early in the morning. It does seem like a good meal to have after a late night. Or a hangover.

Ma Dang Gook So
869 S Western Ave Ste 1
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 487-6008

Ma Dang Gook So on Urbanspoon

Ma Dang Gook Soo in Los Angeles

Gourmet Pigs   © 2008. Template Recipes by Emporium Digital

TOP