Going Unilingual

Ate raamen the other day that left a bit to be desired. It felt old and grumpy, if you know what I mean. I won't mention the name of the place because a) you may never be in the area and b) finding a bad raamen shop is half the joy of finding good raamen shops.

One reason it felt old was that the shop only sold one kind of raamen, which is getting to be more common. In the last oh, five - six years raamen shops have been 'specializing' in a single type of raamen: miso, shio, or Hakata raamen for example. This is making for pretty boring shops. No variety.

America is tilting in that direction: uni- everything. One language, one religion, one political thought. I live in a country that is all that plus one basic ethnic group. It can be, and this is a warning America, extremely booooooooooring. Whenever I trip back to the States I enjoy the cacophony of languages and ideas. It feels vibrant and alive. It feels great. It feels like a symphony of the world! But if your less-than open-minded politicians have their way we will all be humming the same tune at the same time of the day. They will consider this a 'good' thing. I consider it the death of America.

If you don't want a boring raamen shop specializing in miso raamen, then you've got to encourage diversity where and when you can. I, personally, like my miso mixed up with my shio raamen bowls. My Hakata nestled next to my Sapporo. My TopRaamen snuggling upagainst the Nissin.

Keep the Raamen Open

VIR (Vegetarian Instant Raamen)

I didn't keep the package or take a picture of it, but I had vegetarian instant raamen the other night in the confines of my little abode deep in the darkest recesses of the night (when hunger strikes). It was delicious. Tasty. Sparkling with briming-over taste. I didn't read the instructions, of course, so I neglected to add extra, my-choice, vegies. Ah, well, all was not lost. The noodles were done right - not too soft - and the soup was just this side of spicy. Near spicy, I guess you'd have to call them. Like near-beer only better.

On the other, third, hand, I have learned how to play for hours and not accomplish much with Audacity, GarageBand, and iWeb, for those who enjoy bashing their heads against a wall for no apparent reason other than to ease the pain of learning. No, seriously, I managed to make a small audio file using Audacity and GarageBand and then I uploaded it nicely to iWeb. Can't find the damn file now, but, hey, what's a learning curve if you can't lose control, careen like a madman, and wrap your head around the proverbial telephone pole of life?

Build Peace Through Raamen

Wooden Raamen

Went to a nice place the other day that seats about 30 people but comfortably could probably seat 20. The seats, counter, walls, and bookshelves all looked hand-made. Nice little feeling to the place except for the smokers. If only one person smoked, the whole place ended up with a layer of smog. And a table of four were smoking so I ate with my head just below a thick layer of second-hand carcinogens. Delightful, and I mean that in the worst way.

The place was called Raamen All Japan. Of course it was written in Japanese. ラーメン全日本.

The noodles were done perfectly. I ordered miso (味噌) raamen with extra bean sprouts and I got a ton of bean sprouts. A lot. And the soup was good, too, and I'm not really a miso fan. So why did I order it? Couldn't tell ya, mate. Haven't got a clue. The food overall was good. If there are no smokers, I'd probably eat there again. On a scale of 1 - 10, maybe a 6 ~ 6.5 for the food and a 2 for the ambience so a total of 8.5 overall.

Only problem was the time. Raamen is a fast food for some folks. It took me about 15 minutes to get my food. One reason the smokers were smoking was they had nothing to do with their hands for 15 minutes so they automatically poppled a rolled up stick of tobacco in their face. Fifteen minutes! People eat raamen in less time than it took them to make it.

There was only one waitress and two cooks. That doesn't explain the time problem, though, as both cooks delivered the noodles. Hmm. Next time I go there I'll go after lunch and see if it's quicker. All I can say, thank goodness I bought an iPod Nano.

Seize the Raamen!
(That doesn't sound right.)