There were people every where, and it was paired with Japan Family Day
2014 as well as the horse races at Santa Anita race track.
After buying our food ($8) and drink ($2) tickets we tried to find the most delicious looking bowl with the shortest line and ended up at Tajima Ramen from San Diego.
The line was definitely not short, but compared to some of the shops from Japan the wait went much quicker (and we were starving so that made the decision easier).
The Ramen from Tajima was a Kotteri Tonkotsu with strong flavor and a decent assortment of toppings for not being at a restaurant.
Unfortunately, the egg was over marinated in shoyu and a big mess in the bowl and the corn tasted like it came straight from the can (which it undoubtely did). But the flavor of the egg was good and the corn could be over looked because the soup itself was above average.
The soup had a rich and strong pork flavor with no fat floating in it. It was smooth and delicious. I'd say this was a good bowl to start the day with as it demonstrated well what should be the forte of Ramen to begin with, the soup itself. It also showed the difficulty of cooking so fast and for so many at the Festival evidenced by the egg and the corn being sub par.
The next stop was Hayatemaru Ramen from Los Angeles. They touted their creation as Authentic Hokkiado style. They have a location in Torrance, CA that I have been meaning to try, so I took this opportunity to check them out.
This bowl was Hokkaido style Shio Ramen. It was notably salty, had decent toppings (menma, iwanori, negi, chashu), had an overcooked egg, and tasted like it was made from a strong fish based broth. The chashu was passable, the iwanori and menma added good flavor, but the flavor of the soup was just not there. Perhaps this was due to it being an outdoor festival and slightly more difficult to make true Hokkaido style Shio but regardless this one was lacking overall quality, and definitely not my favorite.
Our last stop was Daikokuya from Los Angeles. This is a very popular Ramen Shop in LA in little Tokyo and a few other locations. I have been meaning to try this place for a long time so I was glad to finally have the opportunity to try them. The ramen did not disappoint!
It was topped with negi, bean sprouts, sesame seeds, a powdered seasoning, delicious chashu, and a fully cooked egg. The noodles were so tasty and the broth was thick and smooth and delicious. It was my third bowl of the day and by far the best. I will be stopping by Daikokuya shortly to try the real deal and post more pics here!
Other booths of note at the festival were the Takoyaki truck (which had a huge line), and the Ramen shops from tokyo: Mattou Seimen, Tatsunoya, and Tsujita Tokyo (which had a 3 hour wait!). These I plan to try next year or next time I'm in Japan, whichever comes first!
Hope to see you there next year!
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