Shihnong

I’m not exactly cultured in Japanese ways, but when I walk into Shin-Sen-Gumi, and they shout in Japanese to welcome you (at least I suppose they’re welcoming you), there’s some kind of instant attachment. Though they all have accents, that’s part of the charm. That doorway to the little shop transcends boundaries. Enough pantry poetic prose, Shin-Sen-Gumi kicks ass.

It is by far one of my favorite restaurants. They have udon, rice… forget those, just Ramen. This bowl of Ramen is ultimately customizable: you can order many extras to it such as egg, meat, corn, seaweed, bamboo, etc.; you can choose how thick you want the soup base, firmness of noodle, and amount of oil; and the combinations that come with it during lunch and dinner.

How amazing is the ramen? I hate candied ginger – that vile red stuff, and they put it in the ramen. I wind up eating it because it perfectly balances the taste.

The combinations for lunch come with gyoza (fried dumplings), chicken rice balls, fried rice, chicken rice bowl, spam-sushi, or many more. They’re all delicious, though the rice balls can waver depending on whether or not they’re fresh or frozen. Still, it’s good.

Dinner Combos come with a 1/2 order of gyoza, and then you have a choice of potato salad, shark fin in plum sauce (you better really like your plum sauce), fish cake with cheese, or one other, which I can’t remember off the top of my head. There are only two dinner combos: both include the above, but they differ in drinks: Alcohol or non-alcoholic.

Really, just try it yourself. Lunch is by far cheaper and far more worth it.

And when you leave, they yell at you in Japanese. So cool.