Vegetarian RaamenLinks

Here is a link to a vegan (no meat, no dairy) raamen: Link Me! You have to scroll down past the desserts and hot dogs.

There's another site I don't have the address for that talks about chicken raamen being the only raamen a vegetarian could eat until the discovery of vegetarian raamen. Uhm, chicken is meat. If you eat chicken, you're not a vegetarian. (Are you celibate if you have sex only once in awhile? Or married?)

Another site mentions baby raamen. Oh, no! They're serving baby raamen! (Is that raamen with babies or mini-portions?)

Yet another crunchy-style raamen for veggie people can be found Here! A really simple advertisement for Sunny Maid Mi Chay.

And here's a link (Click me, baby!) to an article about the kinds of instant crunchy raamen found in the world, including vegetarian curry-flavored raamen in India and halal raamen in Islamic countries (which isn't necessarily vegetarian, only that the meat in the raamen was killed according to Islamic law.)

Another link to another site (evidentally sponsored by the Superior Tofu Puff people) about how to make a vegetarian raamen using, wait for it: Superior Tofu Puffs. But that doesn't make the raamen any less vegie or good. Just with tofu. Sounds like something I should check out. You can, Here.

Stay with the Tao, move with the present.
And bring a good, hearty raamen.

The Costly Add-Ons

You walk into a raamen-ya and see a machine to your right and a poster of Lao Tsu, founder/writer of Tao, on your left (like the one on the left of this post). The machine has lots of buttons to push all with words related to raamen. You choose your favorite, you hope. You insert the money and start punching. Now, in the raamen shop I went to a couple of days ago, the basic miso raamen was 590 yen. About $6.00 (US). But if you want any toppings (green onions, more meat, bean sprouts) you have to pay extra. At this particular shop the extras were a buck each (about ¥100.) This adds up. If you want two toppings, your basic six buck raamen becomes eight.

This system seems to be new and spreading. I'm sure it's a good deal for the shop owner as it cuts down on required staff and a register.

Also, to be fair, the drinks were all ¥50; incredibly cheap.

The raamen-ya: Gatsunko. The raamen: Shoyu (soy sauce) with extra bean sprouts. The service: slow but not noticeably slow. The raamen: good. Not knock me out good, but good. The ambiance: functional and sporting menus on artistic hangings on the wall: like the menus were a work of art, inlcuding ambient lighting. Some wood but fixed stools. This raamen-ya is near an engineering university where the student body runs 90% male so ambiance wasn't a top priority. That said, the outside attracted me: A very nice, modern, woody exterior with plants.

On a scale of 0 - 10, about a 7.5 (Points off for the extra toppings charge but points on for the exterior.) I should come up with some criterion for this scale.

Peace Through Raamen, My Friends, Peace Through Raamen.

About The Shouting and a new Restuarant.

Drifted into a modernistic shop - modern in that it had etched glass for partitions and had a black/red wooden motif which seems to be the current rage for raamen shops in Japan. While the decor was modern, the serving style was not: Lots of shouting. As a cure, I've posted a calming Toaist photo with two swan-boats.

Let's talk about the shouting, shall we? First, you open the door and are met by a veritable avalanche of shouting: Irrashaimase! Yelled by the first eagle-eyed worker to spot you. Then all the other workers shout out in response. Irrashaimase!! You sit down, scan the menu, choose your poison and relay your choice to a server. This server shouts it out to the cooks who in turn repeat the order in nice loud voices. All the way down to the poor slob stuck washing the raamen bowls. Miso raamen Icho! Miso Icho! Miso Icho! Like an echo, if you know what I mean. Then, while you're eating, the shouting continues for each new customer who comes and goes. You leave: everyone shouts: Arigato-gozaimasu! Or Maido! (this being the first part of the phrase Maido Arigato-Gozaimasu!) A quiet little out of the way place for a romantic interlude a raamen-ya is not.

This new place was called Hokushin 北辰.
A chain but this particular place was put up about three months ago.

It had a vegetable raamen that I ordered that had slices of carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, corn, bean sprouts and four small hunks of an unidentifiable meat, more than likely pork. At first it tasted funny but I grew to like it. Lots of vegies. Lots and lots. And the noodles were al dente, perfect. In fact, the vegetables were not over-cooked, either. The carrot slivers were crunchy. And it was cheaper by about 100 yen than the place yesterday. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate it about a 7.6 (points off for chain affiliation but points added for quantity and price.)

I promise to get pictures of these places soon, not just park photos passing as Taoist thought. Before it's too late.

Peace be Upon You; Share Your Raamen.

New Shop - No Pictures - But a Link

"Found," if that's the word for a chain-restuarant, a new raamen shop: Tomenbo or, in the lingua franca of the country: 東麺房 (East Noodle Factory?).

Here's a link: Tomenbo.

How was it? I'd give it an 7.5 on a scale of 1-10. The food was good (lots of vegies in the vegie raamen but it also came with tiny little chunks of what could be considered meat. Beef or chicken? Hard to tell, they were so small.), the service was okay but the decor was chain-restaurant average. Nothing too exciting. And, to make it even better, slightly above average in price. But it had a child's menu which most raamen shops don't have. On the other hand, the music was Japanese pops of the worst kind but thankfully not too loud.

A current trend in business in Japan seems to be the franchise. You can get a lot of different kinds of franchises from bookstores to, obviously, restaurants. (Although it should be added that McDonald's, up until recently, was one franchise owned by the late Fujita Den (藤田田), one of Forbes 100 richest people in the world.) The restaurant I was at today was a franchise run by what appeared to be a husband-wife team with the husband the cook and the wife the server. It would be interesting to find a raamen shop run by all women. I have found a shop that has female cooks and male servers, however.

Franchises are available, by the way. If you go to their website (address up there) you can find out all about it. If you and your computer can read Japanese, that is. And if you have the money. It costs about 2,000,000 yen plus a place to put it. (relatively cheap, really.)

Peace! Like Raamen, Should be Everywhere.

Tale of Two Vegetable Raamen Bowls

I ate at two different raamen places last week but didn't take any pictures. First, a hole-in-the-wall small dump run by a small family. (As opposed to a giant family? Very short people, at least.) They had a vegetable raamen and a bunch of other raamen choices. I chose the vegetable raamen.

Veggie Raamen Recipe

I swear to whomever it had more vegetables (carrots, onions, bean sprouts, cabbage, a mushroom) than noodles. Didn't mind, though, because it was delicious. And it had no pork! Truly a different approach. I asked the waitress why there wasn't any pork in my vegetable raamen and she said, "Because it's vegetable raamen." And I could see she was silently adding "Dummy." Good enough reason for this raamenhead.

Then, yesterday I ate at a chain raamen restaurant with a vegetable dish. It had cabbage and carrots. And two pieces of pork that was mostly fat. (Do you think people would protest in non-pork eating cultures if I ate it?) The taste was generic. Neither good nor bad nor indifferent. The price was slightly lower than the family raamen-ya.

Why is the hole-in-the-wall family-run raamen shop better than the chain restaurant? Why is the chain restaurant so... bland? I know it's trying to match the tastes of everyone, but why can't it be popular AND tasty? Lowest common denominator on the prowl. The smaller shop was just pleasing the owner and her family. Great.

Be Proud! Choose Raamen! Choose Peace!

Ramen Fueled

I've written about Fueled By Ramen Records before. A long, long time ago. In a Galaxy Ford far away. But since then they've added bands, the bands have released records and are going on tour all over the universe. Or at least the continental United States. For example, their group "The Academy is..." will be in Toronto (which, I know now, isn't in the CUS anymore. I guess they moved it.) in February. And "Paramore" will be in Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma, WA also in February. Busy busy. If you like lively music, check out Fueled by Raman's website by clicking on the link above. (No, I don't get a kickback from mentioning them.)

How is this all related to food The Raamen? Besides the name of the record company? It isn't. However. And However! Here's a review for a raamen restaurant in Toronto if you're alive in Toronto after attending or before attending or just hungry near the The Academy Is concert: Review Here. For another review of the same restaurant, click Here! Which one do you believe? I guess it's up to you to check out the place and report back.

I did a google search for Madison, WI and raamen restaurants (spelling it "ramen" like the rest of the unenlightened world) and the first zillion sites mentioned Fueled by Ramen Records and one of their bands who recorded in Madison, "Fall Out Boy." I guess Madison doesn't like raamen in restaurants. Who knows, eh?

Be Positive! Keep up the Life!