Lucky Belly in Honolulu, Hawaii

Lucky Belly



By far the most popular ramen shop in town, I figured I would head to Lucky Belly for a late night bowl before leaving Hawaii. An informal poll over at the Ramen Adventures Facebook page reveals that this is the one to try.



Located at the end of Honolulu's hipster road, in Chinatown, the shop is beautiful. Dramatic lighting (hence the poor quality of my photos), exposed brick, and beautiful paintings all come together. Definitely a winner in the first impression category.



Quality craft beer and a respectable sake list. So far, this place is looking pretty sweet!



And then the ramen. The belly bowl, named after the shop I suppose, seemed the way to go.



Right off the bat, strike one. The ramen is served in a comically large novelty bowl. Bowls are important for slurping. Many of the best shops in Japan that are striving for gourmet status will painstakingly choose the perfect geometry in their bowls. This affects the smell, how fast the soup cools, even the ability to sip the soup directly from the bowl.

Lucky Belly's bowls were too big to even fit in frame for a photo.



Strike two. The soup was near flavorless. The lack of flavor, and the mass of wakame seaweed means that this one ends up as a seaweed flavored tea. And, yes, that is a wiener in the ramen. I wanted to roll it in some dough and serve it at a children's birthday party.



Strike three. The noodles were a poor match, and soggy to boot. More like saimin noodles. Serve the locals what they are used to?



To put a cap on the evening, I was accosted by the pair of tweakers loitering outside the shop. One of them was, I kid you not, lighting the rubber of his shoe on fire and then stomping it out. Over and over. The other was staring at me with some crazy eyes. I knew taking my customary post-dining shop photo might be a problem, and I wasn't mistaken. One shot taken, I sped away on my bicycle while he screamed at me for violating his right to privacy. Past the craft whiskey bar. Past the organic pizza and imported beer place. Past the artisanal cupcake shop. Never to return.



Official Site Here.

50 N. Hotel St., Honolulu, HI 96817
Open 11:00-14:00, 17:00-24:00
Some kind of "window" is open until 2:30am

AGU in Honolulu, Hawaii

AGU, a ramen bistro



I didn't come to Hawaii to eat ramen. I came to get away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, and just kick it for a few weeks over the holidays. I have family in Hilo on the Big Island, but this time I opted to spend some time in Honolulu first. I was there just long enough to get sick of all the locomoco, burgers, and sub-par gourmet cuisine. I needed a ramen fix.



AGU came recommended by a trustworthy source, and it completely lived up to the expectations. The kotteri tonkotsu is very reminiscent of a Kumamoto-style bowl, with garlic oil and garlic chips battling the fatty soup for flavor. The egg was great, the chashu great, and the noodles were practically perfect.

Many people are put off by all the fat in a bowl like this. Look at the photo above. If it looks bad to you, you won't like it. But if you are accustomed to this sort of seabura rich soup, you'll be right at home. They have a lighter jidori ramen made with local chickens that is, I'm assuming, lacking all the fatty bits.

The menu is vast, and most of the diners were pigging out on ramen, rice, stewed pork, fried chicken, and gyoza. I have no idea how they do it. A bowl and a beer for me was just the right amount of food.



Official Site Here.

925 Isenberg St., Honolulu, HI 96826
Nearest station: Take the Narita Express to Narita Airport, then fly six hours

Open 11:00-24:00

Narumi Ippudo at the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum

Narumi Ippudo



Most everyone knows Ippudo. The small chain of shops in Japan exploded internationally in cities like New York and Singapore. It isn't a huge surprise, the ramen at Ippudo is great. So great that it has spun off some off-brand shops like an Ippudo miso shop and some Ippudo express shops at shopping malls around the country.



But when I heard about Ippudo opening a French inspired shop, I was baffled. What gives?



Well, this was all a result of an event in France in 2014; Paris Ramen Week. Paris Ramen Week brought some of Japan's top ramen chefs out for a week of popups, seminars, and general food fun. Some of the chefs were inspired by their venture into the foreign food scene, and ideas were born. One that comes to mind is Soranoiro, who brought back the idea of putting a vegan ramen on his menu.

This is where Ippudo comes in.



As an homage to their trip to France, Ippudo created a French-Japanese fusion bowl. The dashi is a blend of French beef consomme and traditional Japanese broth. The noodles are half Japanese flour and half French bread flour. The toppings are roast beef, red onion, and sauteed mushrooms.

Sounds good on paper, and it sure looks tasty.



Camera rolling, this was the first YouTube video I've made without testing it beforehand.

Luckily, it was excellent. I think the key were the noodles. By using some French bread flour, you almost get a sense of dipping a crusty baguette into a lovely consomme. Really interesting. I don't know how a stand-alone shop of this nature would fare, but in the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, it is a perfect fit.



Two other menu items are worth a note. First is the vegetarian ramen. This one works, using extra mushrooms to make up for the lack of beefy umami present in the regular bowl. As always, I enjoyed the meat version more, but this was a pleasant surprise. Not too sweet, which is a problem with vegetarian soups I've found.



There is also a French-inspired ochazuke. Rice, topped with roast beef, and drowned in consomme. Good, but you'll probably want to save room for another couple shops. This is the Raumen Museum after all!



Like every other shop at the museum, you can order mini bowls. You should plan your visit accordingly. I'd say start with a taste of something light, like Narumi Ippudo, then move to something a little heavier like Komurasaki or Nidai-me Genkotsu-ya, and finish with a thick one like Sumire or Ryu Shanghai. A full list of shops can be found here.



Check out the YouTube video!



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神奈川県横浜市港北区新横浜2-14-21 新横浜ラーメン博物館内
The Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum
Closest station: Shin-Yokohama

Open 11am-10pm