Kyushu Jangara
I LOVE Ramen. I prefer ramen over soba or udon. Although it’s not as healthy as the latter, I love it. My favorite Ramen spot ever is an Osakan chain, called Kamukura Ramen. (I’ll talk about it in another blog.)
Ever since joining PacSet, Evan had been raving on and on about how good “Kyushu Jangara” ramen was. I was a bit skeptical, as I consider myself a ramen connoisseur/snob.
There’s so many options for ramen in LA, especially, in Torrance, and there’s only one or two that I consider good enough to compete at the level of Japan’s ramen. Even if some popular chains from Japan cross over to the LA market, it’s just not the same, and I believe it’s in the chef’s talents or lack there of, and possibly due to the lack of quality ingredients. Snob, right? 😛
During Animated Spring this year, we went to Evan’s favorite Akihabara shop of Kyushu Jangara, and the wait was quite long. Everyone was patient though. The gentleman working was very efficient and took our orders as we waited outside. He was also very kind and kept us informed and made us feel welcome. After what seemed like an eternity, I was able to enter the store, and to my dismay, it was so TINY! No wonder the wait was so long! There were only a few tables and the rest were counter spaces, and maybe 10 seats at that. A few moments after we were seated, our bowls arrived, piping out. I prefer thin, harder noodles, and that’s exactly what appeared before me. Not sure if you can call ramen noodles al dente, but it was al dente to perfection.
As I always love to do when I first take on a bowl of ramen, I used my renge (ramen spoon) and scooped up a bit of the soup and slurped it. MMMMMM it wasn’t that fatty and the broth was very delicious! One point for Evan! I thought to myself, as I noisily slurped up some noodles. It was definitely worth the wait.
In May, during the Taste of Japan tour, Jangara was also on the itinerary, and it was just as AWESOME. That morning had been spent devouring Sushi and enjoying Coffee, so I wasn’t exactly hungry, but I finished my bowl! Def did not order seconds on noodles though! Kamukura Ramen still is my all-time favorite, but Jangara has earned it’s recognition high up on my list!