Normally I am weary of Japanese restaurants with suspicious names like this one- An izakaya isn’t a ramen joint, and a ramen joint isn’t an izakaya. My daughter and I were going to try dimsum across the street at Fu Lam Mum, but alas we found out that they are closed on Tuesdays. Since its already late, we just crossed the street to get some noodles.
Chicken paitan ramen, with five spice roasted chicken leg on the side. Nothing worked in this bowl. The broth was not particularly fragrant. The five spice roasted chicken leg on the side was barely marinated. The flavors were only on the skin. First, should have ordered the regular chicken paitan with chicken slices in the bowl. Second, should have ordered something other than the chicken paitan.
Are you talking about the new Fu Lam Mum or the version before they closed? Had a dimsum meal there last week and it was pretty nice, much better than before they closed.
I used to live walking distance to yu-gen. The roasted five spice chicken is pretty meh indeed.
I found the tsukemen overwhelmingly salty, and I wasn’t big on the toripaitan. I like the tonkotsu base the best out of the yu-gen broths.
My usual order there (usually an early dinner…I don’t think it’s worth waiting in line for) is the plain kobe curry (but I’ll confess I’m not particularly picky about japanese curry). I like the garden salad that comes with it.
Of the ramen places in downtown Mountain View, I like shalala and yu-gen best…but every time I go to shalala my lactose intolerant digestive system is upset enough that at this point I’m almost sure they top their noodles with butter.
Before Silicon Valley around upped the ramen game, Castro’s ramen, even though it didn’t shine, used to compare favorably. But now in the last decade, we got Santouka, Orenchi, Orenchi RWC, Nagi, Nagi in VF, and for a while, Kumino in MV while Castro’s ramen quality stay roughly the same as a decade ago.
I do like Kapo Nami Nami. I haven’t been back for 1.5 years. Because too many customers can’t distinguish between izakaya and sushi-ya, they adapted their menu to include more sushi. Sadly, too many people equate Japanese food with just sushi.
