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An expert’s No. 1 choice for ramen in O.C.

November 5th, 2009, 11:17 am · 18 Comments · posted by Jeff Overley

ramen-ramen

Foodie confession: Until recently, I had never tried ramen, except for Top Ramen, which is surely not considered real ramen by ramen lovers.

Luckily, local ramen fanatic Keizo Shimamoto got word of this and decided to educate me.

How big a ramen fan is Keizo? So big, he runs a blog dedicated solely to ramen. So big, he went on a trip to Japan this year and consumed something like 55 bowls of ramen in one month. So big, he just quit his job and moved to Tokyo to become a ramen master. Seriously.

Before his departure, Keizo met me at Gomen, which after all his noodle-soup adventures he considers the finest ramen establishment in Orange County. And judging just by the crowd when we arrived for lunch, he’s right.

Gomen was packed at noontime, and we waited at the entrance amid the din of dishes clanging and the sound of lips slurping.

Speaking of slurping, while it is often perceived as rude among Westerners, it is actually considered complimentary to the ramen chef. Hence, Keizo’s shirt:

ramen-keizo

Before we got down to complimenting the chef, Keizo whipped up a little dish of sauces to go with pork gyoza.

ramen-sauces

I’m a big fan of dumplings, and Keizo showed me it’s wise to balance the saltiness of the dipping sauce with a heavy dose of oil (chili oil, in this case).

The dumplings here were seared sensationally on the outside and were rich and meaty inside, and for only about $4, they were wallet-friendly.

ramen-gyoza

Also affordable was the star of the show; there’s a litany of ramen variations, but Keizo recommended the salt ramen, shown at top, which goes for about $6.50.

The blood-cell-constricting salinity of the broth was divine, the noodles were thin and super-slurpable, and the hard-boiled egg had soaked up all kinds of awesome flavor.

Most surprising, for me, was the pork - thin, extra-fatty and just sinful. The whole bowl was brought to life with the expected green onion slices.

Ever since our lunch, I have a whole new outlook on ramen; with the weather getting colder, I now daydream about how nice a big hot bowl of the stuff would be.

Keizo is gone now, toiling away under a ramen master, “living the ramen dream,” in his words. One ramen fan left Orange County, but he left another in his place.

Gomen
7147 Katella Ave.
Stanton
714-761-8007

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