Asameshi Maeda Honpo Ramen @ Mitsuwa
What a healthy start to the day. Roll out of bed, drink some hot tea, and head over to Mitsuwa for some ramen. As the second and last vendor in the Legendary Ramen Fair at the Torrance location, Asameshi was dishing out noodles with lightning speed. Every inch of the food court was packed with diners, so I retreated to the overflow seating area around the corner.
The first thing I noticed was that Asameshi’s ramen was served in a ceramic bowl, instead of a plastic container like Sumire. By American standards, the bowl might be considered small. In actuality, it was probably a proper serving.
The surface was covered with thin strips of chashu pork, negi, and menma with a cold quarter egg floating to the side, sprinkled with black pepper. The slightly cloudy yellow broth was akin to a bowl of chicken soup in color and permeability. It was a good balance of flavor with the pork bones and dashi faintly detected in the mainly shoyu base. A thin layer of oil was present in the bowl, but it wasn’t overwhelmingly greasy.
The noodles were somewhat curly, yet on the thin side. I worked through them alongside the toppings till only a half bowl of broth remained. There was no problem cleaning out the rest of the bowl, as this ramen was significantly lighter on my stomach.
There was nothing particularly impressive about Asameshi’s ramen. I feel altogether neutral about it, like so many bowls I’ve eaten in the past. I’m sure I wouldn’t go out of my way to taste it again. It showcased a good mix of shoyu and tonkotsu broths and was a filling start to my day. And for that, it did it’s job well. So long to the Mitsuwa Legendary Ramen Fair!
Great review! I felt neutral about it as well although I was glad to be able to try it.
Santouka is finally coming to Mitsuwa SD.. I can hear power tools behind the closed off wall in the food court. Exciting! :)