Big in Japan: The search for the perfect bowl of ramen continues

by Matthew Firestone on

Today, Big in Japan brings you an update on one noodle lover’s countrywide search for Japan’s most perfect bowl of ramen.

I love ramen.

For some, it’s the rich color and briny pop of beluga caviar. For others, it’s the pink tint and soft flesh of fatty tuna belly.

For me, it’s got to be ramen, Nature’s most perfect food.

Since first coming to Japan several years ago, I have been engaged in a tireless quest to find the most perfect bowl of ramen. Like finely aged wine, matured cheese or sun-ripened fruit, good ramen must be appreciated, savored and at all times revered.

Last month, I wrote about the spicy ramen bowl at Two Guy’s Ramen, a neighborhood landmark here in the Nakameguro ward of Tokyo. Although I was quick to grant the title of ‘Most Perfect Bowl of Ramen,’ I may have found a worthy competitor.

For your visual consumption, I will now introduce you to the black sesame ramen bowl (kuroi-goma-ramen; ???????????????????) at Chiyomatsu (????), a small noodle shop just around the corner from Hachiko Plaza in the Shibuya district of Tokyo.

As a self-professed ramen aficionado, there are number of striking features about his particular bowl of ramen.

For starters, admire for a moment the rich ebony hue of the soup broth. Like the addition of squid ink to handmade Italian fettuccine, the black sesame paste is the soaring crescendo in this masterful culinary symphony.

When your spoon first breaks through the surface layer of pork fat, the black sesame paste begins to swirl through the broth like a seething black hole. This awakens the rich aroma of toasted sesame, which merges effortlessly with the heady aromas of miso and soup stock.

And the taste – oh lordy!

Like a heroin junky indulging in a back alley fix, the eyes dilate and the blood starts to flow the moment this sodium-fueled concoction races across your tongue. Health food it ain’t, but few calorie-packed meals comfort the mind and sooth the body quite like this feat of ramen engineering.

Of course, perfection is all in the details, which is why the black sesame ramen bowl at Chiyomatsu is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Like the wood trim on a fine automobile or the sparkling bracelet on a runway model, the latest subject of my affection is all about the accessories. From the addition of the finely shredded saffron and fresh sheets of pressed seaweed to the perfectly soft-boiled egg and cubed pork chuck, this particularly bowl of ramen is just as fashionable as it is delicious.

Chiyomatsu – I salute you. Although my quest for the most perfect bowl of ramen is far from over, the bar has been raised, and my hunger quenched (for the time being).

For more on Nature’s most perfect of foods, check out An Ode to Ramen, a four-part series on the history and culture of this heaven-sent dish.

Bon appetite!

Michelin Guides hit Los Angeles: Three restaurants honored

by Neil Woodburn on

As if there wasn’t already enough reasons to visit Los Angeles, the fine folks at Michelin have provided three more.

The most prestigious of restaurant reviews has finally published a Los Angeles version and has awarded three local restaurants with a very impressive two stars. This might not sound like many stars, but the guide’s top restaurants in the world only receive three stars. And how big of a deal is this? Some chefs have actually committed suicide when their restaurants have dropped a star in the Michelin Guide.

So, two stars is very impressive indeed.

The lucky culinary winners in Los Angeles are Mélisse in Santa Monica, Urasawa on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and Spago in Beverly Hills.

I was lucky enough a couple of years ago to win a dinner-for-two at Spago where I dined among celebrities and indulged in what is now considered some of the best food in Los Angeles. And let me tell you folks, it was tasty indeed. I can’t imagine what a three-star restaurant has to do to beat out a place like Spago.

German food does go beyond schnitzel

by Abha Malpani on


Michelin Guides have been compiling lists and reviews of the best restaurants in the world for over a century.

In their latest series of European restaurant guides issued yesterday, restaurants in Germany beat ones in Italy. Yes, the schnitzel beat the lasagna as more German food places (9 in total) got the coveted 3-star Michelin rating than Italian ones (only 5). French food aced the ratings with 26 French places given the highly aspired for stars.

I know it’s possible that these 9 restaurants could be a mix of Chinese/Japanese/German/Indian restaurants in Germany, but since we are talking about Germany, I’m going to take this opportunity to talk about typical German food.

Never having been to Germany, as far as I’m concerned German food is beef, potatoes, sausages and schnitzel. So to see how these items could beat anything that comes out of an Italian kitchen, I thought I’d enlighten myself on the subject. This is some of the interesting information I found:

  • There are over 1500 types of German sausages, and the country boasts over 6000 types of bread!
  • Germans also eat vegetables! The main vegetables in their diet are carrots, turnips, spinach, peas, beans and cabbage.
  • Asparagus can be a made into a full meal.
  • Potatoes are not included as vegetables.
  • They do use herbs and spices: parsley, thyme, laurel, chives are common and the most popular spices are black pepper, juniper berries and caraway.

So the Michelin rating, and knowing that German food does go well beyond the schnitzel, it looks like Germany is strengthening its position as a European Gourmet nation.

[Via Sydney Morning Herald]

Is that chocolate, or a $25,000 mouse dropping?

by Catherine Bodry on

It’s going to be difficult for New York’s Serendipity 3 to recover from a health inspector-mandated closing, which was due to rodents and roaches. The restaurant has already seen a lot of positive media attention, most recently from its Guinness-record breaking $25,000 dessert. If it were just any restaurant that had to close due to some infestations, we probably wouldn’t hear about it. But if you charge what amounts to many people’s yearly salary for a dessert, well, it’s going to be hard to live that whole rodent-and-cockroach-infestation thing down.

Naturally, owner Steve Bruce is scurrying to fix the problem as quickly as possible. But how do you feel about dropping several thou for a dessert in a restaurant that can’t keep its pests in check?

The City of Brotherly Love shines.

by Grant Martin on

I think Philadelphia has been getting a bad rep. Sure, it leads big cities in murder rate and robbery is at a five year high, but is that really a big deal? I lived in Baltimore for a little while on the Johns Hopkins Campus and it was the best summer of my life. In Philly the streets are narrow and intimate and the Georgian and Federal architecture looms over you like parents watching a child wander the city blocks. Bars line the streets in Center City and after a hard night drinking you can still get a solid Whiz Cheese Steak at Jim’s to burn off your hangover.

With the crime rate so high in the city, the police department has their hands full keeping order; straight off a conversation on the virtues of JDate, my friend Brandon and I were leaving an apartment last Saturday with a couple of pockets-full of Yuengling. He cracked one open as we were leaving and I asked:

“Can’t you get an open intox here for that?”

He looked at me and shrugged, shaking his head politely.

“The police here have other things to do”.

Sweet. It’s just like being in Vegas. So next time your college roomate or your high school prom date asks you to stop by Philly for a visit, give it a good thought. The people, history, food and culture that abound in Philadelphia won’t let you down.