Ra-Ra-Ramen

Ramen! I belong to the percentage of folks who are all too familiar with the infamous 'cup o' noodles.' Many cups in my day were eaten. For the cups were a luxury dinner in comparison to the ramen in the shrink wrap sans cup. I decided to step it up in the world of ramen...which may I add, have not eaten since my 'cup o' noodles' days. I took a trip to Little Tokyo's famous DAIKOKUYA ramen, a ramen shop known for big lines and even bigger flavor. Kathy and I headed out last night for an early dinner at 6:30. Luck was on our side as we rolled into a metered space (free after 6PM) not too far from the soupy haven. As we walked up, we caught sight of a small crowd. Destination found. After a wait of about 20 minutes, we were seated at the bar with a full view of the soup kitchen.

To give you an idea of the amount of soup served, behind the counter were two giant cauldrons that were being supplied with a constant flow of water from the tap. Steam. Spice. Heat. Flames. I was captivated. I asked the server if the soup was spicy...because I am a heat fiend...and he brought a variety of oil, flakes and sauce for when the ramen arrived. We didn't have to wait but 7 minutes and two steamy hot bowls of ramen were brought to the two of us. The ramen was awesome! Pork. Noodles. Hot sauce. Bamboo shoots. More hot sauce. A hard boiled egg and to top it off, the rest of the hot sauce. It was amazing. The ramen gave my favorite Pho at Pho Cafe a run for its money............