Ramen Wars.

Posted by terri | Filed under tabemono

With all the indulgence of this Thanksgiving not too far from our memory, it seems inappropriate to make a post about ramen, of all things. Let’s just say that this is what happens when you don’t blog right away when you mean to. So here goes…

I have a rather unique thing with ramen compared to any other dish out there. When I lived in Japan, going to an authentic ramen shop was always a treat because of the pride that I knew the restaurant put in their dishes. Coming back to Hawaii, I held very low expectations for ramen as it seemed that all the restaurants get their noodles from the same supplier (that being Sun Noodle) and they ended up tasting the same and very less than ordinary. Ramen has to be really good for me to like it; I wouldn’t settle for subpar ramen as I do for other things. I think just to please others or to be part of the group, I would “endure” a bowl of ramen from places like Ezogiku or Daiichi.

These past several weeks, I had the opportunity to go to not just one but two ramen establishments on the island that have a reputation for being authentic. That being said, I went in with the expectation that some extraordinary ramen was out there to be had. The first one I tried out was ごまいち (Gomaichi) on Keeaumoku Street across from Wal-Mart upon the recommendation of many of my co-workers. I felt that my co-workers could appreciate a really good bowl of ramen, and so I decided to give it a shot with my friend Kent. I ordered the Char Siu Tan Tan Men which is apparently one of their best selling items. I have to say that it was quite magnificent. There was a kick to that broth and richness unlike anything I had before. The noodles were also quite different and well prepared. And where usually I find ramen overfilling with its mediocre soup, I managed to down almost every drop of what was in my bowl. Definitely good stuff. I can see that a lot of other people think so too. When they opened up for dinner, the small place quickly filled up; it even appeared that many Japanese speaking residents (or dare I say tourists?) frequent the place. Hey, so it’s got to be REALLY good.

Gomaichi Char Siu Tan Tan Men at Gomaichi

And then a couple of days ago, I went to another ramen restaurant upon the suggestion of my sister. My sister, who had never been to or even heard of ごまいち, had said that Yotteko-ya in the McCully Shopping Center had the best ramen. I ordered their signature dish, the Paitan Chashu Ramen. The noodles were fairly good, but the soup just seemed bland to me despite it looking good with its unique looking texture. Perhaps with my expectations were set a bit too high, I ended up leaving the place a bit disappointed.

Yotteko-yaRamen from Yotteko-ya

So the winner for me was obviously ごまいち (Gomaichi), and upon telling my sister this, she is anxious to try it out. To any readers (or lurkers) I may have that reside on our lovely island, I definitely recommend that you check it out at least once to try their Tan Tan Men. Gomaichi is located on 631 Keeaumoku Street on the other side of Makaloa Street from the old Tower Records store (or new Walgreens, if you actually visit that place.) I think they have parking on Makaloa Street, but otherwise, you can go during a trip to Ala Moana and just walk through Nordstrom’s to get to the Kapiolani Boulevard exit where the restaurant is only a block away. It is a cash-only establishment, and prices start at about $9 up. For some variety, I would definitely recommend ordering vegetables in addition to ordering the ramen because you otherwise just get meat and noodles in soup.

Not sure when is the next chance I’ll get to go to Gomaichi to eat, especially with all this ingestion of turkey and other bad food with lots of leftovers to be had. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and am actually looking forward to the holidays. I hope there will be more entries in the coming weeks, and that the mention of food will be to a minimum.

Permalink | Comments (4) | Nov 28, 2008

4 Responses to “Ramen Wars.”

  1. Kento Says:
    November 29th, 2008 at 12:11 am

    Yay Gomaichi!

  2. BK Says:
    November 29th, 2008 at 10:56 pm

    Aw, keep writing about food, food blogs are awesome. I definitely have to try this gomaichi place. I’m not the biggest ramen connoisseur but I’m always excited for good food. Thanks for the inspiring review :), and keep blogging :).

  3. jen Says:
    December 6th, 2008 at 3:33 am

    oh yeah and tenkaippin is supposed to be pretty good too but i haven’t been there either

    http://www.yelp.com/biz/tenkaippin-hawaii-honolulu

  4. jen Says:
    December 6th, 2008 at 3:35 am

    meh! i think safari ate my first comment to this post! >:o

    anyway i wanted to say thanks for the reviews.. i’ll have to try gomaichi when i come back home since i will be sorely missing fukuoka/hakata tonkotsu ramen. but i really like yottekoya! haha

    this is one of the main reasons i love fukuoka…. hahaha

    http://gallery.me.com/jenmorales/100289/IMG_1543/web.jpg
    http://gallery.me.com/jenmorales/100289/IMG_1544/web.jpg
    http://gallery.me.com/jenmorales/100297/IMG_1616/web.jpg
    http://gallery.me.com/jenmorales/100195/IMG_1003/web.jpg

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