A Surprisingly Good Bowl of Ramen

The waiter delivered two small bowls of ramen to Mr. and Mrs. A’s table.  The kitchen had split their order to two half portions upon their request.  In each bowl, the noodle was covered by a generous portion of tontoro (pork cheek) and deboned pork trotter slices.  The bowl was garnished with thinly sliced green onion, radish sprouts, a sheet of nori (seaweed) and half a marinated soft boiled egg.  Missing were menma (marinated bamboo shoot) and kamaboko (fish cake), both of which Mrs. A did not care for.

Tokyo style ramen

Mr. A started with eating a little bit of the ramen noodle, then a piece of tontoro, before taking a sip of the soup.  The noodle had the proper texture.  The pork cheek was incredibly soft and tender, with just the right amount of fat to make it sinfully delicious.  The soy-sauce seasoned Tokyo-style ramen soup was gentle and rich in pork and chicken flavor with no hint of MSG.  Mr. A finished his ramen with relish, drinking up every drop of the soup.  It was the best bowl he had in many months. 

That the ramen was so good came as a complete surprise because Mr. and Mrs. A were not eating at a ramen shop, or a Japanese restaurant for that matter.   They were having dinner in a casual bar/restaurant in a small town called Saint Helena.  It was curious to them that ramen was one of the main courses on the menu.  So they ordered it as their “pasta” dish following small plates of potato and salted cod fritters, roasted marrow bones with crispy sweetbreads, fried shrimp, and a spicy tripe stew.  

Baccala fritters

Roasted marrow bones, crispy sweetbreads

Fried shrimps

Tripe stew

Dessert was ultra-light Malasada doughnuts and Meyer lemon fool (note: a fruit fool is whipped cream or custard with fruit puree folded into it; in this case it was cream).  

Donuts and Meyer lemon fool

Mr. and Mrs. A enjoyed their dinner very much.  They have planned to return for more ramen.  They won’t share it the next time; each will have an order.