Ramen!

All right, I'm not in the hood. The new job took me out to LA for the week so I thought I'd post a short report. Had my second meal of the week tonight in LT -- yes you're right, that's Little Tokyo. Even though I come from Italian and Mexican stock, Japanese food is way up there for me.

My first LT meal of the week was a bit disappointing, was good, not great. I had some izakaya at a place called Izayoi. Was a lot better the last time I was in town. Was gonna try another izakaya place tonight, but when I walked up the place was dead. So I thought, what are my options? I knew there would be ramen places nearby, so I pulled out my phone and surveyed the scene.

Lo and behold, what did I find -- Orochon Ramen! This place has a bit of a following since it is both really good, but it was also highlighted on a Travel Channel show called Man v. Food not that long ago. A main draw for the show was the Special 2 ramen.

This is an extremely spicy ramen. And I think if you actually finish an entire bowl you get some kind of special prize. I am not that loco, but I did want to push it a bit and I ordered Impact - Orochon 3. It would have been better if I didn't start with a couple small dishes -- the spicy scallops and the cucumber with miso -- but hey, I was hungry. Both dishes were good, but the ramen is very filling. Especially when all the broth is combined with a couple big Sapporo's.

You can choose from 3 styles, miso, soy sauce and salty. I chose miso.
I can't imagine what salty would have been like. I'm already gonna have to double up on my blood pressure medicine after that meal.

And all the prices are cheap, around $6 to $7. Same for the small plates; mine were less than $4 each. I also added tofu to the ramen ($2 extra), but it obviously comes with ramen noodles and veggies. I thought it also might come with pork - since the menu said that - but mine didn't. Just as well since I know it was not happy pork.

Now doesn't that look good?

And the spice level didn't kill me. It was hot, but not so much it wasn't enjoyable, But for sure, as I made my way down to the bottom of the bowl it did get hotter - or liquid lava as my fellow ramen eater next to me called it.

And even though I tried my best, I could not get all the way to the bottom of the bowl. It was a bit of heaven and hell, agony and ecstasy. I was so full, but the ramen was so good. I didn't want to stop, but I had to. I did make it pretty far. I would highly recommend this place if you're out in LA for any reason. It's on the 3rd floor of a little mall called Sutton Court - has a lot of other restaurants - at the corner of 2nd Ave and San Pedro.

I wish I knew of a place in the metro area that did ramen like this. Given the low price of serving ramen, I bet it would do well. I read the other day in SS Singular that Langano is losing its lease. Is there any way a ramen place could take it over?? If so, I would be one happy man.

Two quick items of note

First off, some news outside the 'hood but still pretty close -- a very good vegetarian eatery in Langley Park, Udupi Palace has lost its lease and is shutting down. I believe this may be taking place at the end of the month. If you need a fix from Udupi you only have a couple weeks to get this done with a short drive, otherwise you'll have to haul yourself out to Chicagoland where they have two other locations. Or if you're just jonesing for Indian cuisine in general, you can always hit the vegetarian Woodlands or Udupi's sister restaurant, Tiffin, both located in Langley Park. And let's not forget Ghar-E-Kabab right here in SoCo.

Next, wanted to alert folks that Charlie Koiner, our local SS farmer is being showcased in a short film at Silverdocs this year. Charlie was actually on the front cover of the Montgomery Gazette today talking about his big screen debut. The short will air three times, the first one Tuesday night, June 22 at 9:00 pm outside at the Silver Plaza on Ellsworth. If you miss this one you can also catch it on either June 25 or 26.

Glad to see Charlie is gaining some notoriety, just hope it doesn't go to his head and he raises his prices. I just can't pay more than $1.50 for green onions. OK, see you there.

Taking one for the team - my lunch at FS1

Well, that sums it up pretty good. And I know I am not alone in thinking this given all the chatter about Fire Station 1 on ThayerAve.com.

I concur with many people who are seriously disappointed about our new addition to the neighborhood. Some of it is forgivable -- waiters who seem unclear on beer/food, the service perhaps being a little slow, and the kitchen not getting things quite right yet. But others are not in my book. First, FS1 still calls itself a brewing company when it is not brewing anything, and worse than that, a lot of what they are serving is some of the most generic beer around. Here's what was being offered today in bottle: Coors, Miller, Bud, Michelob, Heineken, and Corona. They also had Newcastle Brown Ale, but I don't find that very interesting anymore. As one might expect they did have H&L to offer too, but that along doesn't cut it for me. The taps were not that different -- Bud, Stella, Yuengling, and then two H&L varieties. My assessment of the beer selection: boring!!

My hope was that at least I'd have good beer to drink since I was not expecting great food, but now we have the mix of average food and boring beer. As people have already complained the menu is generic and very uninspiring. I know this place is not a chain, but man, it really does feel like it. What else can you say about chicken wings, queso sticks, wraps, pizza, burgers and sandwiches.

These dishes could be somewhat interesting if done right, but it appears FS1 is trying not to offend anyone with its dishes. I'm guessing these meals would fit in without anyone blinking their eyes at Ruby Tuesdays or TGIF. It's like they had a formula and they followed it without letting any creativity get in the way. This restaurant is a business plain and simple. To me it primary mission is to make money, not serve good food or provide good brews.

While food-wise I can only comment on my lunch and it was mediocre at best. A Caesar salad and a fried mahi-mahi wrap. The salad was fine, but not worth $7.99. The wrap was pretty much tasteless - not sure where the cajun aioli was or the pico de gallo. In addition, the tortilla which wrapped the sandwich was not that hot - even cold in some places. And check out the McCormick salt and pepper. Wow, this places takes their food serious!! Also my pint of Sam Adams was $5.50, a little too steep in my opinion. I could see $5.00, but would prefer $4.50. It is only Sam Adams. To accompany my beer I had a glass of soda water -- $2.39! Not acceptable for carbonated water.

The office worker who was sitting next to me asked how my wrap was and I told him. I think I convinced him to get something else, but he never had the chance since no one wanted to take his order. He waited patiently and then finally left. I bet he ate better elsewhere. Maybe he got a gyro!

Not sure what else to say about the place. I do not expect to be back unless the place gets a serious makeover. I typically grade on a sometimes pretty easy curve when restaurants are walking distance to my house, but this place still gets a failing grade.

And for those interested in the World Cup, FS1 does have 4 big TVs behind the bar, but not surprisingly the bartenders did not know if the games would be televised. Even if they are, I bet the muzak will not go away, so no volume on the games. Just head a block north on the Avenue to Olazzo. They already have their World schedule out on the street.

All right, I need a $1.25 pupusa to make things right again.

Hay pupusas en el barrio! Ole!

After a prolonged hiatus I am back. Had a good trip - spent part of it in Spain and will blog about that later - but am glad to be back in the hood. Even though I write this email from the west coast (another work trip).

Looks like I missed a lot in my absence -- the Nicaro fire, wonder what's going on there? Also a lot of pollo news with Nando's on the way and Mr. Chicken planning to roost right next to Velatis on Georgia Ave. We also have FS1 getting pretty close to throwing its doors open to serve us beer and some grub. Certainly a lot of chatter on this place. Will anyone go once they do open? People seem to have already formed serious opinions even before they've had a sip of beer or a bite of a burger. While my hopes are not sky high, I will certainly give them the benefit of the doubt and give them a try to see what they have to offer. Hope I can do that this weekend.

But in other SS food news, wanted to let folks know that Charlie Koiner's downtown farm has plenty to offer at always good prices. If you don't know Charlie, his little farm is at the corner of Easley St and Grove St -- just one block east of Fenton. While my pic of his signage to alert folks what he's offering at the moment leaves a bit to be desired, I will tell you he has kale, spring onions, lettuce, bok choy and if you get lucky - strawberries! While walking the dogs the other night we happen to notice Charlie had strawberries for sale ($5 per quart) so we high-tailed it over there and picked some up. Talk about sweet and good. Topped them with a little whip cream and it was an excellent dessert. Hope you can tell how good they look.

And since I haven't mentioned anything as it concerns pupusas, I did want to make sure you all were aware about the pupusa truck we now have in the hood. It is called El Salvadorena Pupusa. They have set up shop in the county parking lot right across from SS Towers in between Easley and Bonifant.

I will say the ladies who run this truck are not at this location all the time. We tried to get a handle on their hours and thought we were told they are there - todos los dias - from about noon to ten. But we've walked by a couple times this week during those hours and no truck. So, not really sure what to tell you. But if you're in the hood in the evening and can easily walk by, or swing by in the car, it is worth it if you'd like a good -- and inexpensive -- pupusa or tamale. And also don't mind eating in the parking lot or your car (aqui), or maybe taking it home if you live close by (para llevar).

Our first trip landed us one cheese pupusa and four bean tamales. All good. I have not often seen bean tamales and these were very tasty. Also, the cheese pupusa was not greasy at all. The items were served with some nice salsa and latin slaw. All this came to $6.50. Can you believe it? I wasn't planning on having this for dinner that night, but hey, you can't argue with good Salvadoran food. And for those looking for beef, chicken or tongue, they had that too. Hope you can find them and throw them a little business. Just be aware, little to no English is spoken. But food speaks for itself, right?

OK, that's all I have for now. Will be back soon with a review of Jackie's and her new chef. Maybe see you at FS1 this weekend!