Take a Dip at Ikemen Ramen

Ikemen is "The Dip Ramen".  The new ramen spot recently opened up a stone's throw from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in a minimall at the intersection of La Brea and Hollywood Boulevard.  The specialty of the house is dip ramen, in which the noodles are served alongside, rather than in the ramen soup.

I am happy to report that there are ample choices for fans of chicken ramen.  For pork-challenged ramen fans, this is an occasion to celebrate.  The Chicken #1 Dip is made with chicken broth, thick chewy noodles and grilled chicken.  I added Onsen Tamago, a hot poached egg, for $1 more.  There are ample noodles provided, so much so that I ended up ordering extra broth to finish them all.  The noodles are significantly chewier than those used in the "Genuine Ramen."  I began by using the broth as a sauce and dipped the noodles and then ate them; then progressed to putting the noodles into the broth and eating it as a soup.

The dip ramen was good but I confess to preferring the Chicken Miso Ramen, among the Genuine Ramens. It was made with chicken broth, green onions, thin noodles and grilled chicken.  The miso broth was intensely flavored and the thinner noodles were less chewy than the dipping version, which I find preferable. 

Dip ramens are $9 and genuine ramens are $8.  All in all I can see the chicken miso ramen joining my regular rotation of casual inexpensive spots.  As a bonus, the restaurant is open very late.  Ikemen is small, fewer than a dozen seats at tables and two counter areas.  No fuss, reasonably priced, delicious and friendly service.

Ikemen: 1655 N. La Brea, Hollywood.  Phone: (323) 800-7669.  Website: http://www.ikemenhollywood.com/

Ramen Jinya: lives up to the hype

Ramen Jinya opened up in Studio City only a month ago but immediately began acquiring acclaim, beginning with Rameniac's review, which was quickly followed by that of Jonathan Gold, Joshua Lurie of FoodGPS, and Dylan Ho of Eat, Drink,& Be Merry. I was especially excited as their signature ramen is a chicken broth ramen, not a common option in Southern California, and one I could eat/slurp to the last drop.



I recently headed there with Ron of Sauce Supreme to check out what all the hullabaloo was about. For $12.50, Jinya offers a set meal of salad, gyoza and ramen. The gyoza are also made of chicken and are pictured above. I was starving so ate these in two minutes flat. They were good but the main event was the ramen. I opted for the Spicy Ramen (pictured below), which is chicken broth, chicken meatballs, spicy beansprouts and spinach. The broth was rich and flavorful and the noodles were great. The only weak spot was the chicken meatballs, which were not that tasty. The portion size is large: the soup spoon was ladle sized. The soup is $8.55 a la carte.



The service was quick, friendly and efficient. There is ample free parking in the underground parking structure, which is always a big plus. Overall Ramen Jinya is a winner with good food at reasonable prices, ample portions and good service. Worth going to whether you are in the Valley or not, especially if you eat chicken but not pork.

Ramen Jinya: 11239 Ventura Blvd (in a strip mall with a Marshalls), Studio City. Phone: (818) 980-3977. Website: http://www.jinya-la.com/ramen/

Soup for You: Yatai Ramen Twist @ Breadbar 3rd Street

A stretch of Third Street near Robertson has been transformed into Shibuya for the duration of Yatai Ramen Twist, the pop up ramen bar at BreadBar Third Street in the evenings now until July 24. Yatai is a collaboration between Chefs Nori Sugie and Kazuo Shimamura, both of Sugie's Ironnori Concepts, featuring both traditional and modern/twists on ramen.

The door to Breadbar is festooned with a bright red noren (Japanese door covering) with the word Ramen on it. The menu is short and simple. Just four types of traditional ramen, four "twist" ramen options and either pork or vegetable gyoza (potstickers). Yatai is BYO, so feel free to bring a bottle of wine, beer or sake.

The menu is not meant to be complicated as Yatai is named after the term used for mobile roadside food/drink stands in Japan. They are popular with salaryman for an afterwork bite to eat and drink and typically have limited menus, with ramen being a staple.



I began my meal with the kale gyoza (pictured above). They were served with the traditional dipping sauce made with soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil. The gyoza had a nice crunch to them from the kale and absorbed the tasty dipping sauce nicely. They come 5-6 to an order and are $8.

Although it was hard to choose between the oxtail and the foie gras ramen, I opted for the oxtail ramen (pictured above) which included "rich oxtail soup, truffle oil, marinated poached egg." The broth was rich and hot and the truffle oil taste came through. The oxtail was rich and fatty and there were large chunks of it attached to the bone and floating in the broth. The ramen noodles were al dente and a bit chewy and very long. This dish was $14 and quite filling. A sheet of nori, the thin dried sheet of seaweed, jutted out of the bowl (on the right in the photo), perhaps as a nod to Chef Nori who had been the opening chef at the luxe Asiate restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the Time Warner Center in Manhattan before moving to Los Angeles to collaborate with BreadBar.

The full menu is here, courtesy of Thrillist. The traditional ramen options are $10 - $11, while the twist ones, range in price from $12 for the vegetarian tomato ramen to $18 for the foie gras ramen.

On Tuesday evening they sold out of ramen shortly after 8 pm, so come on the early side to ensure that you will not leave empty handed after being told "no soup for you." If you would like to sit indoors, reservations are essential. Reservations are taken on Open Table. Be sure to select BreadBar 3rd Street, not Century City.

Breadbar is located at 8718 W 3rd Street, just East of Robertson. Phone: (310) 205-0124. Website: www.breadbar.net