Jinya Ramen Bar - Costa Mesa, CA (closed)

One evening last week I was in the mood for ramen. I think it was that one day that sprinkled a little bit here in the OC. I know, right? If I lived in Seattle, I would probably live in a bowl of ramen soup every day.

Jinya is located in the Costa Mesa Square shopping center...where the Super Target is.

When we walked in during dinner time last week, it was still pretty empty inside. I'm always a little bit concerned when I walk into a restaurant during peak meal hours and it is not full of people eating. I hate waiting for a table but sometimes not waiting could be equally bad.

M ordered the 10-piece Karaage Chicken. There was a 5-piece option but I guess his eyes were bigger than his stomach because he had to take half of this home. This came with a yummy soy sauce based dipping sauce that I forgot to take a photo of. Personally I found this dish to be too salty. I only managed to eat one piece and had to down an entire glass of water afterwards.

M also ordered the Spicy Miso ramen which had a really nice flavorful broth with just a little spicy kick.

I ordered the Tonkotsu Black mainly because I think this place is known for this bowl of ramen. The broth was very thick and it was a little bit too salty for me but it was still pretty tasty. Especially that runny egg. This was overall a good bowl of ramen that could be made better by being a little bit less salty and oily.

The noodles were of the thin variety and I like my noodles thicker but I'm not going to dock points for that since it went well with the other items in the bowl. Overall, I think I need to go back and at least give this place another try.

Jinya Ramen Bar
1450 Baker St, Ste C

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

(714) 424-0377

Ramen Yamadaya - Costa Mesa, CA

Remember that crazy thing I did a month ago? You know, where I vowed not to eat any cupcakes or ramen during the month of January. I still can't remember why I thought that was would be a good idea. All I have to say is thank goodness it was over yesterday. I was starting to get the shakes. Maybe that was just my stomach rumbling. My little experiment proved nothing to me except that it was possible to not eat one of my most favorite meals for a month.

So to celebrate the end of my ramen fast I went to Ramen Yamadaya. Yeah I did a little dance. I even went so far as to make a note of it on my calendar to come straight here on February 1.

Don't know why that Grand Opening sign is still up, they opened shop back in November 2011. I've never been here before and I cannot remember how I found out about this place. No matter because I love trying out new restaurants! Ramen Yamadaya is a chain with locations in Culver City, Westwood, Torrance and now Costa Mesa. You know this place is legitimate when they have a store in Torrance where there are lots of other good ramen restaurants around.

Upon walking into the restaurant, I see this large blackboard with some stuff written on it. It is a blue print to a bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen. ^_^  I need one of these to hang at my place. It's a work of art!

The menu is not large because they only serve Tonkotsu ramen. Twenty-hour Tonkotsu ramen to be exact.  

M ordered the Chashu Ramen with thin noodles. He commented that the bowl came with more chashu than other places. He really likes meat! The portions sizes are pretty good even if you have a hungry man on your hands.

I ordered the 7oz Tsukemen which was plenty of noodles by the way. The waitress made it sound like it was not going to fill me up but it was a lot of noodles. Stick with the 7oz unless you are really hungry.

I love the thick chewy noodles and the flavorful dipping broth. I've only ever had Tsukemen once before but this one blew that other time out of the water. It had the right amount of toppings and the pork was cooked well.

Gyozas - I wasn't planning on ordering this but I always do when I go to a new place just to try it out. These were very tender and fell apart when I bit into them. I love having a couple more ramen choices now and you can bet that I will be back. Oh yes I will.

Ramen Yamadaya
1175 Baker Street
Costa Mesa, CA
714-556-0091

Parting Is Such Sweet/Savory Sorrow

Today we are going to talk about food! I know I already talk about food on a regular basis around here but this post is somewhat about dieting. Okay, so it is about dieting. So for the most part, I don't talk too much about dieting on this site because basically I don't diet. I eat healthy most of the time and try to stay within reason with the not so healthy stuff. There have been days when I've really gone overboard. As in 'food como' overboard. Can't go back and change that now so I move on. 

For the most part I think I eat pretty healthy. That was until recently when I scanned through my photos from last year and found all these photos of cupcakes that I may or may not have eaten. Eek! Keep in mind that these are just the ones I remembered to photograph. There may be countless others that I may have eaten on the go or in my closet. Also, you will notice that these are just cupcakes, not to include regular cakes and other forms of desserts and sweets. I didn't want to shock you with that collage. Plus I don't think it would have all fit on one collage. Wow, I have one heck of a sweet tooth.

Let's have a look at my other food obsession...namely ramen. So this is a collage of all the photos I took of ramen last year. I'm certain that there were more bowls than shown here eaten by me. Oh wow, I've eaten quite a few bowls. And by 'few', I mean a million. Ramen is a comfort food for me. I crave it when I'm happy, sad or when it is cold outside. Basically anytime is a good time for ramen. I cannot think of a time when I have turned down a bowl of ramen. Just won't do it. 

As good as ramen is, it is also a big bowl of too much carb, sodium and fat. Duh, that's why it tastes so good.

Cupcakes and ramen. That's me in a nutshell. And I'm okay with that because I will always be a foodie at heart. That part is just never going to change. That's why I try to do something active everyday. And even though the cupcakes and ramen only represent a small percentage of my overall total consumption, I want to make an effort to eat healthier and eat these things occasionally as treats instead of as a regular part of my eating plan. Some day...perhaps this year, I would like to have visible abs. So for the month of January I'm not going to have any cupcakes and ramen. I'm a 'cold-turkey' kind of person. It works for me. I'm sure as the year progresses these things will find their ways back to my eating plan but I want to be more mindful about this. Let's face it, if I am traveling somewhere and see cupcakes or ramen that I haven't tried before, you can be sure that I will be having some. Note to self...everything in moderation.

Up next I'll show you more of what I AM eating these days instead of cupcakes and ramen. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Not sure how I could be any more fond of cupcakes and ramen but we shall see.

Katana-Ya Ramen Restaurant - San Francisco (Tenderlion), CA

Leave it to me to wander around San Francisco looking for ramen of all things in a city filled with so many amazing restaurants. But that was exactly what I did the last time I was in SF. I remember that day well. It was my first day in SF and Sister K had to work so I was on my own. The first thing I did was head to the Ferry Building, next the SF Marathon race expo, it was at the expo that I decided to whip out my trusty phone to see if there were any ramen joints close by...I don't know where my head is sometimes, I think it is always in a bowl of ramen soup. To my luck, there were two but they were not that "close" and soon I will realize what a crazy feat it is to trek over there. I don't know why but I really wanted ramen on that particular day and it was already past lunchtime when I decided to seek out lunch so I was hungry. Hunger makes me do crazy stuff. Like walk a couple of miles through the Tenderloin district to get ramen. The route I decided to take to get to Katana-Ya was "interesting" to say the least. If you decide to come here, take a cab or go with a friend. Don't be like me and walk here alone. It can be a scary place if you know what I mean. Finally, I arrived. I was so relieved and so tired as it was an uphill walk.

This better be worth it!

I took this photo while pondering the walk that I would have to make to get back to my hotel. Back out there in the streets of the Tenderloin. Not a pleasant thought. As you can see this photo is neither here nor there but it does show that this place served more than just ramen.

So much ramen, so little time! I wanted to order the Kimchee Ramen but decided to play it safe and went with the Regular. What am I, insane? 

I sat there at the counter for 15 minutes before I had to flag someone down to take my order. They were surprised that I still had not ordered. They informed me that they thought I had already ordered. You know because I was sitting there pouring over the menu. Yeah that makes a whole lot of sense. Bad service! 

When I finally got my bowl, it was almost 3pm! I was famished and this was tasty. Nice chewy noodles. Broth was okay. I ate it so fast that I didn't get a good look at it. Luckily I took this photo! ;D Although this was a good bowl of noodles, I don't know if I will go back into that area just for this. But you never know. Hunger makes me do crazy things!

Katana-Ya Ramen
430 Geary St (at Mason St)
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 771-1280

Slightly Less Bad Is Still Not Good

I try hard not to eat packaged food too often. For me, packaged food often means overly processed. I don't have a problem with processed food, I just try not consume too much of it. It's a personal preference as I know lots of people including friends and family that love it. I love it too unfortunately sometimes.

One of my worst food weaknesses is ramen. Yes, ramen! My love for ramen stems from fond childhood memories. Doesn't many of our food obsession start that way? Anyhow, I try really hard not to eat it too often because it is not that good for you. The noodles are deep fried before packaging and the powdered soup base is loaded with sodium. Loaded! There is honestly nothing healthy about ramen. I eat it in the closet! Okay, not really but I do feel bad when I eat it because I feel like I am doing my body a disservice. When I can get my hands on it, I try to find fresh ramen, as in from a restaurant where the noodles are fresh and the soup is not from powder. That in itself isn't a health food either but a little better than the packaged kind.

Recently, while I was shopping at H-mart (a local Korean supermarket) I found packaged fresh ramen made by Pulmuone. I *love* Korean ramen (yes there are different kinds) so I threw one in my basket to try.

The sodium content is still off the charts but the rest looks much better than your average packaged dry ramen. 

Inside the bag was a package of noodles, dried seaweed flakes and a powdered soup base. 

The noodles were soft since they were fresh. 

I boiled some water to make the soup, then I added some water spinach and cracked an egg right into the broth, followed a couple minutes later with the noodles. They don't need to be cooked too long since it is fresh. I have to say that I really liked the final product! The noodles had a nice chewy texture and the soup wasn't half bad. I didn't think I would like this much because I've tried other fresh packaged ramen before but I never repurchased so I'm guessing I didn't like them. I would definitely buy this again.  

Another not-as-bad for you packaged find was this box of WhoNu? That's the name of these nutrient rich cookies that resembles Oreos. I was picking up a couple of things from Albertson's the other day when a lady at a sample table beckoned me over to try one of these cookies. Don't have to ask me twice to sample a cookie. I have to preface my next sentence with this little fact, I am not an avid Oreo cookie eater. Something about crunchy cookies that turns me off. I actually cannot remember the last time I had one. So I tried one of these and it tasted good to me, just like an Oreo. So I purchased a box since she gave me a couple for $1 off. I take the box to share with my loved ones and they tell me that it tastes nothing like Oreos! They said something like, "yes...these do taste like Oreos, if Oreos were healthy." Hmm. I don't know, I think they taste just like Oreos. More for me I guess.

This is impressive for a cookie! It's like the little cookie that could. 

So I started eating bagels again recently since I've been doing so much cardio. I find that I have more energy to work in the early morning hours if I eat a little something. That something has been half an Orowheat cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter. I was at Trader Joe's the other day and realized that I was about to run out of bagels so I picked up a bag of Whole Wheat Raisin Cinnamon Rolls. Okay, so these are not technically bagels but the bagel selection at Trader Joe's is slim pickin'. Seriously, they only carry healthy bagels with terms like sprouted and flax seed this and whole grain that. Man, sometimes I don't want all that fiber before I go on a run. These are okay. Obviously not chewy like a bagel because they are not bagels but it was the only cinnamon raisin anything in that section. It tastes good when you toast it up though.

I guess not all packaged food is bad. Yesterday, I forgot to pack lunch and it was already too late in the day to go and eat lunch at my work cafe so I picked up a single serve container of Sabra hummus with pretzels and ate it with 2 hard boiled egg whites. It wasn't much but it was lunch and it was good!

9 Miles Monday - A Day Late

Yesterday morning I did something that I haven't done in a while...namely run to work. I use to try to do it twice a week but it *is* a 9 mile run after all...which is still some substantial mileages. I don't think I have ever done it on a Monday since I am normally so tired from jam-packing my weekends full of activities. Yeah I'm one of those people that tries to squeeze every last drop of time out of their weekends. I personally think this may be too much since sometimes I need a vacation from my weekends. But yesterday, I felt good and so I headed out and completed 9 miles. I have a race this coming weekend so I think I may run one more 9 miler with some spinning in between. Should be good enough! After this race, I really need to buckle down and focus on my training for the Long Beach Marathon, I have PR aspirations and they won't accomplish themselves.

After work, we headed to M's parents' house for game night. But first a dinner stop. But where? There are nights when I am at a lost of what I want to eat for dinner. Last night was one of those nights. I wasn't sure what I wanted. Salad, sandwich...it was at that point that I remembered that there was a Japanese restaurant down the street from M's parents' house. When we got there I had forgotten that La Men was right next door. I've past by La Men many times before but thought that it was a Chinese restaurant. It isn't. I even made fun of the name by integrating it into the popular song...Raining [La] Men. Yes, I am 12 years old at heart.

La Men is actually a ramen restaurant! Not sure how I missed that all these times. But I was so happy because it is difficult to find something that I like to eat in that area outside of Cafe Hiro.

Get it your way!

Some inside wall decorations.

I decided to go with the Kimchi Shoyu Ramen. This item is new so it isn't currently on their regular menu but I love kimchi ramen when it is done right so I was curious to try this out. I got this to go which is why there are two containers in this photo.

Included in the Kimchi Ramen is a slice of pork, a piece of seaweed, half of a hard boiled egg, chopped green onions and of course the kimchi. The broth was a little salty and tasted like they stewed a couple pieces of kimchi in shoyu broth, instead of an actual kimchi broth. I've had better versions of kimchi ramen. The noodles were nice and chewy but I don't know if I am a fan of this kimchi ramen. I definitely need to go back and eat here a couple more times and try out the Tonkotsu ramens before I give my final verdict. Overall, I enjoyed it and will likely eat here again. Decent noodles but the broth needs work.

Content of the Chicken Shoyu Ramen.

Pork Shoyu Ramen - this was pretty good. The pork was tender!

La-Men

10488 Valley View St
Buena Park, CA 90620

(714) 952-1258

OC Great Park Progress

Today I decided to head over to the Great Park to see how the construction was coming along. Boy, they sure have made progress since I was there last. No lake yet but there is now a large grassy area and I think part of the sport complex area is done and I think you can check out equipment as well. It was hot out today so I didn't really walk around too much to investigate. Next time.

This is the newly finished Palm Court and Art Center.

The carousel!

I believe this hangar is being converted into a stage for future concerts. Yay!

There is also a Farmers Market there that operates on Sunday from 10-2pm. I noticed that the farmers market has moved further away from where it was which was next to the giant balloon.

The farmers market is also growing...

More food trucks as well...

...and lots of food vendors!

The park also provides benches in the shade for picnics.

This row of stalls are vendors selling non-food items. I may have to check it out on a future visit.

This was dinner last night! Meal of champions! Not. I should really eat better...and I will this week!