Umami Mart

We just reupped on Sunny Side Up Studios’ Pothead Planters, including one in a new color – Glossy Ocean Mist. This serene blue hue goes well with the blissed-out face on these lovable ceramic plant pots, created by Japanese LA artist Yoskay Yamamoto. We currently have two varieties of pothead at the shop: Glossy Ocean Mist […]

Shortribs, potatoes and dduk (rice cakes). Savory, comforting and down right delicious. The oils bubbled on the sizzling hot stone platter throughout the entire meal. This feast felt like celebration for kings and queens, family and the closest of friends. Sun Nong Dan 3470 W. 6th Street at Alexandria Los Angeles T: 213.365.0303

Two years ago, bored at work with nothing better to do but read through American ex-pat ramen journals, I decided to start my own ramen blog. I didn’t tell anyone about it for a year because I was only using it to learn more about ramen and chronicle the bowls I downed. I never would […]

Everytime I go to LA, I like it more than the last time. I didn’t really like LA as a teenager… maybe it was because I would have rather been blasting Head Like A Hole in my bedroom with the curtains drawn all day. The friendly people and cute palm trees were probably too cheery […]

We’re going to LA! That’s right, we’ll be spending a few days in sunny Los Angeles, driving down Sunset Boulevard with the top down searching for the Walsh residence in Beverly Hills. Then, poolside sunbathing in our bikinis, sipping on Mai-Tais with little umbrellas. Cause that’s what you do in LA, right? Woohoo! Aside from all […]

I’ve written plenty about Tsujita. It is easily the best ramen shop in LA (both their hakata-style tonkotsu and tsukemen dipping ramen) and is, in my opinion, the best shop in America. But since opening in the fall of 2011 there has been one glaring flaw — they only serve ramen at lunchtime. Last call […]

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a man embarked on a quest was to eat at every ramen shop in Los Angeles. Mr. Ramen was on the list from Day One, but the man never visited. You see, Mr. Ramen has a certain reputation. To put it bluntly, the man has […]

Men Oh hails from Tokushima prefecture on Shikoku Island, the smallest and least populated of Japans’s four main islands. Until the completion of the first of several bridge systems in 1988 the island was only accessible by ferry or plane, and to this day the mostly rural island flies under the radar. Their ramen is […]

This post is so delayed, but better late than never for such an epic guide to tacos in California. After being open seven days a week during the holiday season, Yoko and I took a much needed 10-day break. Hooray! Yoko traveled to Tokyo, and I went to San Diego to visit my best friend […]

We finally made it into Tsujita for lunch during our trip down to LA over the summer. You know, when they actually serve ramen… Yoko and I had ignorantly gone there for dinner once, all excited to try their tsukemen (dipping ramen). But they don’t serve noodles at night! BAH! How silly, to call yourself […]