Hanabi Ramen & Izakaya

Last weekend, a friend and I decided to take a day trip out to Ft. Worth. Neither of us have been there much and just wanted to check out the sights, and of course, food!!

The first place I wanted to hit up was definitely Hanabi. I've heard great things about it and almost everyone who's been there has said they have the best ramen in DFW. God knows we need a good ramen place here!

Hanabi Ramen & Izakaya
3204 Camp Bowie Blvd
Fort Worth, TX
(817) 420-6703
Price: $$

Obviously I've never been, so I always imagined it to be a small place. So I was pleasantly surprised that they took reservations. I made one for 3 people on Saturday at 11:30AM. We arrived on time, and there was maybe 3 other tables there. haha. And the place is wayyy bigger than I thought. I guess the reservation is totally unnecessary. Oh well. Better safe than sorry, eh?

We were seated immediately and the waitress came to take our drink orders. We all got the hot green tea which was really good. A lot of matcha flavor. :)

We got some appetizers to start.
Squid Leg Fry (6 pcs.) $4.50~ 

6 pieces for 5 bucks is a little expensive in my opinion, but at least the pieces were big. It was yummy. It came with a side of Asian mayonnaise to dip. Loved it! The squid was cooked well, the outside was fried nicely. The mayo had a sweetness that paired well with it.

Salmon Onigiri (salmon rice ball; 1 pc.) $3~ 

This was good too, esp with the mayo as well. But these tend to have more rice than filling ratio, and this was no different. There wasn't that much salmon in the middle.

I already knew what I wanted. The dry ramen. If it's an option, I always opt for the dry. The noodles are generally thicker and chewier, which I prefer.
Kara Miso Aemen (pasta style ramen, without soup, with pork belly, egg, cabbage, carrot, chives and green onion) $11~ 

My fiance decided to get the same thing. It was a HUGE bowl. Wow.. I think we could've shared! haha. The sauce is all on the bottom so you have to mix everything together. As soon as I started mixing I realized there was chili oil... this was spicy. The name should've tipped me off "Kara" indicates spicy but I didn't even think of it. And they didn't put "spicy" anywhere on the menu... I think restaurants should indicate that, not everyone can take spice. I mean I love spicy so it's great. But my fiance can't eat spicy. It really upsets his stomach. So the waitress overheard and told him not to mix, and they would remove the bottom part with the sauce for him. I dunno, that seemed like a stupid move on their part but we didn't say anything. She brought a new bowl back with everything that was above the sauce. So basically half the noodles were gone. She told him he can add additional flavor with the soy sauce at the table... Uh... ew? He decided to just go with what he had. He didn't use the soy sauce, but just threw the squid in for extra flavor. haha. I told him he should've sent the whole thing back and gotten something else. And why didn't they offer him the broth from the dipping ramen or something?? Doesn't this ruin the flavor/experience of someone's meal? Needless to say, it was bland bland bland. But he was too nice to complain. :( 

 

Mine however, was great. The spicy sauce on the bottom had chunks of meat in it. The egg could've been a bit runnier but I didn't mind it. There were plenty of veggies, which I appreciated. And everything was finely chopped so it was easy to pick it all up with the noodles. The noodles were great. Nice chewy texture. Although I think the noodles at Wabi House was even better. Hanabi totally trumped with the flavor. It reminded me a lot of the Chinese Zha Jian Mian, which is one of my absolute favorite noodles in the world. So that was a plus. I tried to finish it all because it was really good, but couldn't. It was wayyy too much.

My friend got the Karami Tonkotsu Ramen (creamy broth made with pork bones; with chashu, egg, bamboo shoot, green onion, takana, nori; spicy) $10~ 

 

At first bite, she said "this is good!" Better than Wabi. I tried a bite or two. I felt the noodles were a tad overcooked but it was the curly kind so I still liked it better. The broth flavor was good. We both agreed that so far this has been the best in DFW.

I really enjoyed it. My friend did too. My poor fiance... not so much. I think they should've discounted his dish too, but they didn't. To pay $11 for bland noodles is not a great feeling. But he did learn to always verify spicy or not in the future. Other than the poor choice in dumping out his sauce instead of giving him something else, our waitress was very nice and attentive. I do agree with most people that it's the best in DFW. As comparison to the rest of the world tho... it's somewhere in the middle. And it's so far from Dallas still... sigh.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Uncle Uber's Sammich Shop

We had an event to go to Saturday afternoon in Deep Ellum at the Kettle Art Gallery. Naturally, I looked up food options in the area for dinner after. I saw that Uncle Uber's was just around the corner. In the past week or two, I've been hearing about this place a lot. And the pictures I saw looked really tasty.

Uncle Uber's Sammich Shop
2713 Commerce St.
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 653-8237
http://www.uncleubers.com/
Price: $

It was surprisingly empty around 7:30PM on a Saturday night but oh well, that just means we get our food faster! You order at the register then find your own seats.

The place looks like a dive bar. Dark lighting. Lots of TVs around if you want to catch a game. And on Friday and Saturday nights they have live music. (It got kinda loud though once that started so we left soon after eating. Couldn't hear anyone else talk.)

My bf got the Shaved Ribeye Steak (angus beef topped with grilled red onions, bleu cheese crumbles, romaine lettuce, tomato, roasted garlic mayo on a warm baguette) $8.99~ 

Everyone who's had it, highly recommended it. It was one of their best sellers. I wanted to get it too but opted for something else since I always want to try different things. This didn't disappoint. The bread was toasted but not too hard. The ribeye was juicy and tender and full of flavor. I loved it. The only complaint is that I got a couple mouthfuls with too much bleu cheese. Next time I might ask them to put less or just omit the bleu cheese all together. But yea, it's legit!

I got The Cuban (slow roasted pork, Boar's Head ham, swiss cheese, pickles and Uber sauce in a hot pressed baguette) $7.29~ 

My bf wanted to try that one as well. Plus I love pressed sandwiches. The bread was nicely pressed, crisp top but still soft. The pork had tons of flavor and the pickles and mustard provided just the right amount of tang. I enjoyed it a lot and my bf ended up liking this better than the shaved ribeye. We should've switched our order! haha.

I also got to try some of my friend's Fries $1.99~ 

Pretty damn good. And you get one dipping sauce with an order of fries. Each additional sauce is 25 cents. He got the Uber's Special Sauce (mayo, bbq sauce, sriracha) and some sort of Habanero mayo sauce. Both were good but the special sauce was awesome. Paired really well with my Cuban. The habanero sauce was not spicy at all but still good.

Really good sandwiches. The hype is valid. I'll definitely go back to try more sammiches in the future.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

NYC Apr12 - Ramen Showdown: Totto vs. Ippudo

I love ramen...too bad there isn't really a good place in Dallas. I've heard that NYC has lots of great ramen places so I was pretty excited. The only thing is that they are always busy and normally do not take reservations so you have to wait. We flew into NYC last Wednesday night. Got in around 10pm, picked up a friend and went straight to Totto Ramen. He highly recommended Totto, but said that Ippudo was better.

Totto Ramen
366 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 582-0052
http://tottoramen.com/
Price: $$

This was a hole in the wall...maybe about 15-20 seats total with the kitchen right in front of the seats. You put your name and party size on the clipboard on the front door and you basically just wait. If they call your name and you are not there, then too bad... It was slightly cold and a little rainy and there wasn't really covered waiting area. :( I'm hoping this was really worth it! I peruse the menu multiple times while waiting. They all sound soo good!

Finally we were seated along the bar. We could see the guys cooking the noodles and other items. It was very entertaining.

The whole vibe was just very casual, very Japanese.

My friend ordered the Miso Ramen (the finest Koji Miso and ground pork in a scoop atop slightly wavy noodles in original Paitan soup. Topped with a seasoned hardboiled egg, scallion, bean sprouts, and onion) $10.75~

I believe he had to add extra corn in it. This wasn't your normal miso ramen. The scoop of miso and ground pork on top elevated the flavors. The miso flavor was so rich and bold. He said that the miso ramen at Ippudo was ever better. That totally got my expectations up!

I opted for the Char Siu Mayo Don (house special broiled pork with yuzu mayonnaise on a bed of rice) $5.50~

I wasn't too hungry plus I wanted to try something different. So I ate some of my bf's ramen and ordered this. The yuzu mayo is what intrigued me the most. It was a pretty hefty bowl but it was mostly rice. I wish they had put 1/3 less rice and more pork. The pork was broiled with a handheld blowtorch. You can see them doing it in front of you. Pretty cool! The pork was super fatty which I like, but along with the mayo it got a bit much. The yuzu mayo was interesting. The yuzu added a citrusy punch to it and was able to cut the creaminess of the mayo a bit. The combination of the pork, rice, scallions, and mayo was very simple but totally worked together. The rice was cooked perfectly.

My bf chose the Niku-Ramen (topped with variety of Pork meants, garlic, bean sprouts and scallions) $15~ It wasn't listed on the regular menu. There was a separate sign on the wall.

The picture definitely looked better than the actual product though.

We expected wayyyy more meat. But it was really good. The noodles were cooked perfectly and the broth had a ton of flavor. Although after we finished all the noodles the broth became a bit too salty to finish on its own.

Overall, we loved it. Everything was cooked perfectly and I really liked the hole in the wall setting. The service was pretty good for the setting. Everyone greeted us as we sat down and left at the end. And our waitress was nice.

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The next night, Thursday, we planned on going to Ippudo to make a comparison. My friend says that on the weekends it gets ridiculously packed so it's better to go late on a week night to attempt to get in. He said Ippudo was the most popular US business on Yelp.

Ippudo
65 4th Ave
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-0088
http://www.ippudo.com/ny
Price: $$

We arrived at 9PM and was told there was an hour and half wait. Sigh... This is why they don't take reservations. They don't need to! The place was totally not what I expected. For some reason I thought it was going to be a hole in the wall too. Not at all! It was modern, trendy and much much bigger than Totto.

We were seated in a little over an hour. They have booth seating for larger parties and then large tables like cafeteria style where you have to sit with other people. I thought it was cool that you can see into the kitchen where they were cooking as well. The decor was cool, but I was a bit disappointed that it was a trendy, main stream hot spot.

We started with Hirata Buns (2 pieces) (steamed buns filled with pork served with Ippudo's original spicy mayo buns sauce) $9~

A lot of people told us this was really good so I wanted to give it a try. Sooo expensive for 2 tiny pork buns?! Craziness! But I do have to say it was delicious. I loved the sauce on the pork and it was cooked well. I wouldn't order it again though, wayyy too expensive for what you get.

I shared the Noodle Master's Special: Kasane Black (topped with pork loin chashu, cabbage, sesame kikurage mushrooms, red pickled ginger, naruto, scallions, and fragrant "Black" garlic oil) $16~ with a friend since we weren't super hungry.

The black garlic was interesting. It added a slight sweetness to the broth. I thought for the price, they didn't give us enough stuff in the noodle... We got like maybe 3 small leaves of cabbage??

And the noodles themselves... Sigh. I thought they were cooked well, but they are thin and straight, not my definition of ramen. I was actually more reminded of the Chinses Yang Chun Mian, normally made with a simple light broth. My parents grew up eating it in Taiwan because it was cheaper to buy). They used similar thin noodles like that... (If you are Chinese you might know what I'm talking about.) I like the curly noodles much better. So I felt like I was just eating some regular Asian noodle dish as opposed to Japanese ramen. Now, I know there are different types of noodles used in ramen but I really just prefer the curly kind. They were cooked al dente but eh...I wasn't feeling it too much.

My bf got the Akamaru Modern (the original silky Tonkotsu soup noodles topped with Ippudo's secret "Umami Dama" miso paste, pork chashu, cabbage, sesame kikuage mushrooms, scallions, and fragrant garlic oil) $15~

The waiter said this was one of their most popular choices. The broth in this was awesome. I liked it so much more than ours. But same complaint here. The same thin noodles and not enough stuff for the price. My bf actually thought his noodles were undercooked. He didn't like this style either. I do have to say that I like his broth a little better than the broth at Totto though.

The quality of ingredients were all there, but I just didn't care for the noodles. And I believe we're paying high dollar for mostly the setting. But our waiter was really nice and accommodating. And everyone greeted us as we walked in and out.

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I would say Totto is the hands down Winner in my book (my bf's as well). Ippudo didn't live up to the hype for me. I was turned off by the style of noodle as well as the trendy setting. I enjoyed the quality and ambiance of Totto better. It felt like you were in Japan (or so I was told since I haven't been there). Plus Totto is a little bit cheaper. But if you don't take my word for it, go to both and judge it for yourself. hehe. Everyone has different opinions!

**I also have to add that the Shio Ramen in Santouka at Mitsuwa Marketplace in LA is still my favorite ramen of all time!!**

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

H/G Weekend: Day 2: Lunch 2

We had to go to Galveston for a wedding. A friend of mine HIGHLY recommended we hit up Mosquito Cafe when we were down there. She said she HAS to go there whenever she goes to Galveston. So we went after lunch in Houston, for a second lunch. haha.

Mosquito Cafe
628 14th Street
Galveston, TX 77550
(409) 763-1010
http://www.mosquitocafe.com/

Price: $-$$ (for lunch)

The cafe was quite interesting, the exterior was not what we were expecting. Inside, you order at the counter and they call you to pick up your order.

We weren't too hungry so we shared the Salmon Club Sandwich (Grilled fresh filet on toasted honey wheat bread with Hickory smoked peppered bacon, balsamic onions, Chipotle Mayonnaise and House Greens with choice of side: Potato Salad) $10.55~

We thought the price was kinda high for a sandwich, but after seeing it I understood why. It was a very impressive sandwich. I would say the salmon was at least 7-8 ounces, which most other restaurants don't even give you that much fish when you order salmon. The salmon was an inch thick, covered with multiple slices of thick cut bacon. It looked SOOO good. The taste matched the look...it exceeded my expectations. Great flavor, lots of different textures, the fish was cooked nicely, and all the flavors worked perfectly together. I would have this all the time if I could.... And the potato salad was a great choice. It was pretty awesome. One of the best potato salads I've had. It also worked deliciously with the sandwich. Now I know why it came sooo highly recommended!! :)

I read reviews raving about their Zucchini Spice Cake (3 layered spice cake with cream cheese frosting) $4.50~ So of course I had to get it.

The portion was HUGE! Just like the sandwich. Triple layer cake with cream cheese icing. Super moist, you can see the zucchini, and awesome icing. Really great cake! :)

I will completely agree with all the reviews I read. I would totally go back if I went back to Galveston and I highly recommend everyone to check it out!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~