Side Chick: Hainan Chicken Rice

Over Thanksgiving Break, I had the opportunity to go visit a new Hainan Chicken Rice join in Westfield Santa Anita called Side Chick.  Now as a seasoned Hainan Chicken Rice consumer, both in Los Angeles as well as in Singapore, I tend to have a specific perspective when it comes to chicken rice.  My go to, is always Savoy Kitchen in Alhambra.  There, the chicken and rice are absolutely amazing and the portions are always on point.  It's a hard place to get into because parking is next to impossible and there's always a line.  However, that never deters me from making a visit and grabbing two plates.  Naturally, when I heard about this new place from my friend at USC, I knew I needed to come at some point.

Side Chick is located in the Westfield Mall in Santa Anita.  It's right next to the race track and the mall has copious amounts of parking.  The place was a little bit hard to find as it was in a different food court than I had original thought, as it was in a secondary upper eating area next to Ding Tai Fung.  It's small, and there are a few sporadic food court-esque tables and chairs.  There wasn't much foot traffic so there was no line at the counter.  They are opening a new EMC Seafood & Raw Bar next door, so it's bound to get crowded fairly soon.  The menu is quite limited, with maybe 5-6 items.  I ordered the mix plate with both white and dark meat as well as a serving of stir-fried vegetables.

You can also request for either dark or white for just 1$ extra.  The rice came with three sauces, a scallion-ginger sauce, soy-based sauce and a chili sauce.  The rice itself was topped with fried scallions and there was some pickled cucumber garnish on the side.  Everything smelled quite aromatic and the portion was quite substantial.  The rice was clearly cooked with chicken fat or chicken broth, as is the standard, and the fried scallions provided a noticeable crunch.  The chicken was done very well, very juicy.  Everything was de-boned and the flavors were all spot on.  The soy-based sauce was quite sweet and helped bind all the flavors together.  While the rice was not as fragrant as Savoy Kitchen, I did like how the rice and chicken portions were satisfactory.  Ultimately, I found that the flavors were not as strong or powerful as Savoy Kitchen's.  The price for the chicken rice was about the same as Savoy Kitchen's.  For the entire experience, I think Side Chick may be better, as there's always parking and there's no line.  If I was only focusing on food, then I my preference would still be Savoy.  

I really enjoyed my visit to Side Chick and it's nice to have another choice for Hainan Chicken Rice in LA.

Brief Blog Retrospective

Last year, I revitalized my blog to what it was designed to be.  A reviews site with pieces written from my own personal experience.  Since restarting it in March, I've had a lot of fun visiting, eating and writing about different places in LA.  I am excited to continue this blog into the new year with more posts about different places to eat.  I also can't wait to finish my series on "The Best Ramen Bowls in LA" as it has taken me across different neighborhoods eating some amazing bowls.  Finally, I also want to begin adding more reviews in other things, such as books and movies.  I recently read Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult and it was one of the best things I've read this year.  Look out for something in that area fairly soon.  Thank you so much to my readers who support me and who invite me to have great food.

The Best Ramen Bowls in LA #4: Fujin Ramen

Looking at the map from Discover LA's "The Best Ramen Bowls in LA", I remember being surprised at the two ramen shops in East LA.  Most of the stores that I had been to, or enjoyed were all in West LA, if not down south.  Nonetheless, as with all my other visits, I had to figure out an excuse or at least a reason to be so far east.  As it happened, I was visiting friends at the Claremont Colleges and decided to go out for dinner.  I decided that we should check out Fujin Ramen, in West Covina.

I was actually looking forward to this ramen bowl as it was unique in that it was one of a few miso (fermented soy-bean paste ramen bowls.  Most ramen stores in LA feature tonkotsu (pork bone) or shoyu (soy-sauce) or just shio (salt & oil) based broths.  Miso ramen is usually tonkotsu mixed with the miso paste to give a more savory flavor to the broth.  While tonkotsu broths are usually quite creamy and filling, miso broths are savory and smooth. Miso ramen is my favorite and it's actually quite difficult to find good miso ramen outside of Japan.  Nonetheless, I had high hopes for this restaurant.

The store was actually quite large, bigger than I expected.  Most of the ramen joints in LA are small, and tight; probably only fit 15-20 people at most.  This restaurant could easily fit 35-40.  Ambiance aside, the food looked good and they had quite a bit of options.  As always, I order what the writer of the article recommends, with minor adjustments of course.  I ordered the Fujin Ramen with miso, and requested the "medium wavy" noodles to be firm.  I had planned to order my bowl just as the writer did in the article, but unfortunately, by the time I visited, they no longer offered the "spicy chopped garlic", "kimchi chives" or special "miso paste.  The bowl did however come with chashu, half a soft boiled egg as well as fresh garlic, bamboo, corn and wood ear mushrooms

When the bowl came, my heart sank a little.  The presentation was not very appealing.  Because I had also requested the kotteiri, which is extra oil, there was a visible sheen to the broth.  Mainly, the bowl looked like the elements were just frivolously placed into it, and not carefully allocated as if to highlight the different ingredients.  While presentation is not a big factor when it comes to my reviews, it does set a tone for how the bowl is then consumed.  

The bowl did taste very good though.  The broth was amazing.  You could taste the melding of flavors between the savory miso paste and the sweet richness of the tonkotsu.  The broth wasn't as creamy as typical tonkotsu, but there was a definite mellowing deepness to it.  Because I added raw garlic, there was a slight kick to the broth.  The medium wavy noodles were really filling and satisfying, though not as firm as I'd prefer.  The wood ear mushrooms provided a nice contrast in texture with the crunch.  The bamboo tasted a bit processed, but was also crunchy.  The chashu was surprising in that it was quite thin, but it was still bursting with flavor.  The corn was canned, so it had a bit of sweetness, but wasn't too special.  

Overall, I think it was one of the weaker bowls of ramen I've had.  The presentation was really disappointing and all the standalone ingredients didn't seem to combine together very well.  The saving grace was the miso broth.  Granted, I am slightly biased towards miso, but it the broth was quite good.  Ultimately, I probably won't come out to West Covina for this bowl of ramen.  It just doesn't seem to be on the same level as any of the previous ramen places I've been to.     

The Best Ramen Bowls in LA #3: The Ramen Joint

I cannot believe I'm writing another post already.  I had planned to have ramen today as I was going to be around LAX, but I didn't expect to go Friday night.  Today, I visited The Ramen Joint, another one of The Best Ramen Bowls in LA, by Discover LA.  It's only about 5 to 10 minutes north of LAX off Sepulveda Boulevard on 6220 W 87th St, Los Angeles.  As I've stated before, I usually only go out of my way for these places when I plan to be in the area.  Either that, or I come up with an excuse to go.  In this case, I was picking up my aunt from LAX as she had a quick layover.

Now, there really isn't much around in that area, at least off that specific side street, except for a Thai restaurant, so safe to say, the line that forms is due to a lack of other choices.  Nonetheless, like any other ramen restaurant in Los Angeles (it would seem), the restaurant itself was quite small, probably could only seat about 15-25 people with only one table for four people.  It's atmosphere is quite minimalist, where menus aren't even handed out, instead your attention is directed to a blackboard with all the choices.  If you're elderly and can't see, hopefully you have friends who can relay the contents orally.  As recommended in the article, I ordered the Shoyu Tonkotsu ramen, in which I also asked to have a seasoned boiled egg and crispy garlic chips.

The bowl comes with pork chashu, woodear mushrooms, green onion, bamboo shoot, and wild perilla seed.  The noodles themselves were very similar to the ones served at Shin-Sen-Gumi, thin and white.  Now I usually prefer my noodles to be firm, as they offer a better texture when it comes to chewing, but I've come to realize that unless the restaurant offers the choice, don't bother asking.

When the bowl came, I was excited.  All of the ingredients were prominently displayed, waiting to be devoured.  From the dark swirls of the woodear mushrooms, to the beautiful sheen of the egg.  To my chagrin, there seem to be a distinct layer of oil in the bowl, about 0.5mm.  It was a little bit disconcerting, but I wasn't too worried.  To begin with, the broth was quite flavorful, almost overpoweringly so.  You could taste the shoyu and tonkotsu mixture based on the saltiness but also the deep pork bone flavor.  Most tonkotsu broths leave a creaminess sensation to the bowl, in contrast, the broth was smooth.  The saltiness of the shoyu and the sweetness of the pork bone really combined beautifully.  The woodear mushroom provided a great earthly contrast of flavors, and help cleanse the mouth in between noodles and broth.  The pork, well not as soft as other restaurants, still packed a punch when it comes to flavor.  It was a sizable piece both in thickness and length.  Later as I explored the bowl, I found that the oil didn't really seem to affect me other than noticing it visibly, and that if anything, it helped showcase a depth of flavor that seemed stronger than most other bowls.  The biggest surprise was the egg.  Typical soy-sauce marinade, the egg was hard on the outside, in the sense that it was solid, however the inside blew me away.  Somehow, the chef recreated the poached like softness on the inside, the egg white enveloping the golden sweet pouch of the yolk.  I was enamored.  It reflected great skill and care in the preparation.  As I bit into it, I enjoyed the sweet and savory yolk with immense satisfaction.  The garlic chips were a little bit unsatisfactory though.  Clearly prepared in advance, there was a bit of a staleness to it and the burnt flavor of the garlic was a bit overpowering when not paired with noodles (as I had run out by the time I poured the rest of the chips in).

If anything though, I was a little bit disappointed with the serving size and I find that the problem lies in the noodles.  With the thin noodles, there's a lack of filling, the portion sizes were smaller than I expected and it didn't feel like I had enough. I finished all the noodles with about half of the soup left, when I usually like to have about 1/3 left to enjoy.  I felt a little bit unsatisfied because I wanted more, but couldn't bear to dish an extra 2$ for more.

Overall, for about 12$, it's not as much as you'd hope, but the quality and the flavors certainly make up for it.  With such a small little business, it seems like a secret gathering.  With only 5-8 people waiting outside, it felt like the restaurant was just waiting to explode with people.  Yet with such a small staff on our visit, they too struggled to keep up with the demand.  There seem to be more to-go orders than in-house dining.  If you're in for a quick layover at LAX and want something other than In-N-Out, I would recommend The Ramen Joint.  You'll leave satisfied, and your appetite just about sated, though I would recommend extra portions of the noodles.

Daikokuya Original Noodle & Rice Bowl (Little Tokyo) Review

I love coming to Daikoyuya Original Noodle & Rice Bowl (Little Tokyo) Not only is it an amazing place to eat, but it also has a great deal of nostalgia factor for me. It was one of the first places I visited as a first year in college.  I remember borrowing a bike from Oxy Bike Share, taking a ride down and having an amazing bowl of ramen.  Looking back, I remember that first bowl quite fondly.  I remember walking into the shop after chaining up my bike nearby, sitting at the bar and just delving into a bowl of delicious ramen.  The tastes, the smells, even the atmosphere, brought me back to my brief childhood in Japan.  I loved it.  I've explored other stores for ramen in L.A. as evidenced by this blog, but Daikokuya is always fun to go back to.

When I go, I always order the Daikoku Ramen with firm noodles and the kotteiri flavor, which is added oils to make the ramen richer and thicker.  Daikoku ramen is their "famous tonkotsu soup base, infused with their secret blended soy sauce."  It comes with chijire style egg noodles, kurobuta pork belly chashu, soy sauce marinated boiled egg, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, green onions and sesame seeds.  To make it a satisfying meal, I always get the combination which adds a salad and a rice bowl of your choosing.  I get the Oyako Don, or Japanese Chicken & Egg rice bowl.  They have the option to add your own minced garlic and benishoga (pickled ginger).

The quality is always the same, superb.  The tonkotsu, or pork bone broth is simply fantastic.  There's a depth to the flavor that is indicative of a broth that has been cooked for a very long time.  With the added oils, it adds a bit of creaminess that adds another degree of satisfaction.  I always add some minced garlic to help accentuate the broth, but also add a subtle kick that really completes the bowl to my liking.  The firm noodles add a degree of chewiness which I prefer, as it provides a contrast in texture between the crunch of the bamboo and the bean sprouts as well as the soft pork belly.  Finally, the soy sauce egg is sweet and satisfying, that helps wrap up the bowl.  As I finish the broth, the garlic I add reveals that spiciness and kick that helps finish the meal.  

With the oyako don, its always simple.  Sweet and savory, coming together in a small bowl that helps sate my appetite.  That soft cooked egg and chick combine with the rice that honestly, makes a satisfying meal in itself.  Not to mention the onions that have been cooked into the bowl that are soft and crunchy in a paradoxical fashion.  It's not too salty, and actually a bit underwhelming in flavor when compared to the ramen.  Still satisfying nonetheless.  

I always recommend Daikokuya to my friends and family who visit because, in my opinion, it's one of the better ramen places in Los Angeles.  It's a mainstay in Little Tokyo, with its walls decorated with old Japanese movie posters and the bar, designed to be like a typical ramen joint in Tokyo.  All that is missing is the vending machine that prints out ramen tickets.  The atmosphere is busy and electrifying as the door spins constantly as patrons walk in and out.  Food comes at a frenetic and passionate pace in order to keep up with the demands of an always full restaurant.  I arrived at 10:00 PM and waited 15 minutes for a spot at the bar.  For 18$ including tax and tip, this is always a must-visit for out of town visitors looking for ramen.  I always leave satisfied.  

Address is 327 E 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

The Best Ramen Bowls in LA #2: Umenoya Ramen Co.

Looking at the Discover Los Angeles article on the "The Best Ramen Bowls in LA", it was definitely hard to find which restaurant I should visit next.  The list covers a great deal of geographical distance and a lot of the places that I want to explore are across the county.  That being said, whenever I plan on being in those areas, I try and make it out to one of the joints.  With that, I ventured down to Torrance and went to Umenoya Ramen Co located on 24222 Crenshaw Blvd in Torrance CA.

This was actually my second visit to Umenoya and I had an amazing time the first time I went.  Last time I ordered their Jiro Ramen which was a massive bowl that contained a grand amount of Napa Cabbage and bean sprouts.  It was delicious.  However, today I ordered their Spicy Miso Ramen as it was recommended in the article.

The Spicy Miso Ramen came with three pieces of slow-cooked chashu (pork belly), a flavored boiled egg, chopped onions both white and green, bean sprouts, Napa Cabbage, leeks and shredded dried chili pepper.  I also ordered mine with a preference of having firm noodles.  Because I ordered Combo C, it included a small order of gyoza (potstickers) and a karaage (Japanese fried chicken) rice bowl.  However, I won't be writing about those because those have nothing to do with ramen.

This bowl was absolutely fantastic (you're going to hear me say that word often, almost as if I was channeling my inner "Ninth Doctor").  Despite being an oily looking broth, the soup was just amazing, it had this surprising kick of spice that accentuated the pork bone and miso based flavors.  What I really loved about the bowl was the different textures that came with it.  The chewiness of the noodles, the clean and crisp crunch of the cabbage and the onions, and the melts-in-your-mouth pork belly.  Each bite was different depending on what elements were added.  The pork belly was so soft that you could cut through it just by using the chopsticks, indicative of a long slow-cooked process. The flavors were also so good.  The rich and flavorful soup combined with the clean and crisp cabbage and onions with a slight kick from the garlic and the chili, all made for a well-rounded bowl.  None of the flavors were overpowering, rather carefully measured and allocated in order to complement each other.  Another highlight was biting into the egg, it was sweet almost like caramel that made for a fantastic contrast to the bowl.  It was also perfect in the sense that it was also perfectly portioned, there was no craving for additional noodles.

If I could describe the experience of eating this bowl, I would say that it was like descending through layers and layers of flavor till which you rested on this happy place where everything came together.  From the pork bone base to miso to the spice to the clean and crisp vegetables, every bite and slurp took you deeper and deeper until you finished the bowl, content.  Its bowls like this that solidify my dream to finish all the bowls on the list and inspires me to continue to drive around to visit all the restaurants.

The Best Ramen Bowls in LA #1: Men Oh Tokushima

This is the first post of a new series where I'm follow this article's Discover Los Angeles "The Best Ramen Bowls in LA".  Granted there are a lot of different sites that say they have the "best list", but I'm committed to trying all of these.  While I've been to some of these places before, I've decided to only order the ramen they recommend on the article in order to try out the "best bowls".  I'm committed to finish this list before I graduate in May.  Please note that the order in which they are written are not determined in any particular way, rather I just decided to go to that one on that particular day.  

Which brings us to the first bowl that I enjoyed: Men Oh Tokushima. Located in a side strip mall in Little Tokyo, it's actually a little bit harder to find as the storefront faces an internal parking lot as opposed to the main roads.  Their address is: 456 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

I ordered the Tokushima Ramen, their eponymous bowl. Tonkotsu (pork bone) soup that's been stewed for 16 hours that has been infused with a specially seasoned soy sauce. Their recipe, originating from the Tokushima region features medium sized noodles. Their bowl also included: stir-fried pork belly, braised pork, bamboo, green onion, bean sprouts and a seasoned boiled egg.

For a broth that has been simmering and cooking for over 16 hours, it wasn't very heavy. The broth had a very deep and rich flavor profile but it wasn't heavy to eat. It didn't feel overpowering. The rich pork bone combined with the seasoned soy sauce produced a fantastic sweet and yet clean taste. There was also a slight kick that was attributed to garlic in the soup which made the soup complete. It seemed that the broth was strained and sifted to have that clean clear look with that refreshing flavor. The stir fried pork had an amazing burnt charcoal flavor. It was burnt but not overwhelmingly so. The pork belly was also fantastically juicy and it fell apart at each bite. With a "Facebook like" I was also able to order benishoga (red pickled ginger) which complimented very well with the broth. The acidity paired very well with the richness of the broth. It was a great contrast of flavors that made the dish much more exciting.

Overall the bowl of ramen was very good. It wasn't too big, but filled with immense flavor. What I really liked about it was that the noodles were very filling and the portion size was well done. In some restaurants I order kadaema (extra noodles) because the noodle portion and size, make each portion seem unfulfilling. This bowl was perfectly portioned and I didn't feel the need to go overboard. It was rich, but wasn't that heavy. It felt very complete. This bowl of ramen was very good and it would make sense to be on this sort of list of "best ramen bowls in LA".