Shin-Sen-Gumi, Fountain Valley

Well I'm late posting this one, but better late than never.
I heard about Shinsengumi Gardena from a friend, so I thought I'd go to their web-site to check them out. I found out that not only do they have five restaurants, most of them do ramen, but that there is one close to me in Fountain Vally. So I asked my ramen buddy, Ken, if he wanted to take a scooter ride down to F.V. to check it out, he agreed, so off we went.
18315 Brookhurst St. #1 Fountain Valley, Ca (714)962-8952
We arrived 15 min. before opening, and a line had already developed. We put our name on the list to assure ourselves a spot once open. Just before opening the crew approached the door all together as if it were some kind of greeting ritual. But instead of opening the fellow I believe to be head chef lead them in a ceremony that was a kin to a coaches pep talk before a game. It was quite a site, I must learn more about this practice and it's significance to restaurant running generally, and ramen production specifically.
This place is a bit of a mix between old school ramen-ya, and modern cafe style ramen joint. I mean the building is literally divided down the middle.The west end of the building is a cafe/diner looking place with its own full kitchen, laminated tables and steel chairs. And on the other side of the shared wall is the old school wooden counter with wooden pub size chairs, very cool. We were fortunate enough to be seated on the old school side. I would have been content to sit on the diner side, but it was a cool experience to sit where we had a view of the yakitori grill and the family sized Chabudai on a raised platform. As you walk in, the entire crew shouts a traditional Japanese greeting to you that is very welcoming, and sets the tone for the rest of the visit.
The menu is kind of a score card where you choose how they make your ramen. You pick the base, you pick the noodle, and you pick the toppings. The noodle choice is soft, normal or firm, the broth is light, normal or thick. Since I've not been here before I decided to go normal on everything to establish a base line of what exactly is normal. I further chose chashu, negi and egg as my toppings. They also ask you if you will be wanting extra noodles later so that they can have them ready should you need them. You can get the ramen by itself, or with various appetizer or sides. I went with the gyoza, of course.
When the bowl arrived I knew this ramen would not disappoint. It looked so good with the negi and ginger lovingly sprinkled on top, two hanjuku egg and loads of chashu. The eggs struck a nice balance between firm and runny, just the way I like them. The chashu was not melt in your mouth, but quite good none the less. The noodles were very nice, close to the best I've had. All in all a damn good bowl of ramen, so good in fact that I finished the entire bowl, a first for me.
The gyoza are quite nice, and very obviously made on site. The filling was a tad under done,(pinkish), which you usually don't want with pork, but they were just fine, and I'm still here to talk about it so no harm no fowl.
At some point during our meal, the guy it seams is the team leader brought out a meat slicer and several packages of pork roll, and proceeded to slice the chashu for further ramen production. What a show, I know I'm easily entertained.
The part that surprised me most was the check. I thought I was keeping a running tab in my mind as to what the bill would be, but was floored when it finally arrived. The basic ramen is $6.95, you add for gyoza, toppings, and drinks, and the total with tip came to $20.00 each. A little high I thought at the time, but upon reflection if that's what it costs to have a quality experience, a great show, and the knowledge that your helping to keep a nice old school ramen-ya open, it's worth it.
As you walk out, the entire crew shouts a thank you to you and welcomes you to come back soon.
On balance a very nice visit, I give Shin-sen-gumi 5 chopsticks.

GOMEN Stanton, Ca.

This is a place you will be hearing quite a bit about on this blog. You see this particular Ramen-ya is what you might call,"my local". Two and a half miles from my house. How happy am I? Very.
7174 Katella Ave. Stanton, Ca. 90680 (714) 761-8007
Well my wife and I go Friday night, and right away I sense a different vibe. The place is not packed as usual, but there is a wait to be seated. The same two women who serve are there, and we know what they are capable of, quick and efficient, non stop friendly service. Something else is wrong, and after sitting for a while and looking into the kitchen, as you do, I see that the proprietor is running the kitchen by himself. Now this meant of coarse that food would come from the kitchen a bit slower, but you got to hand it to the guy, he wasn't any slower than a normal restaurant with a full compliment. Every time I go I find new reasons to be excited about this place. Think about the passion this fellow must have about his Ramen, Katsudon is another story, more on that later. Now on to the review.

I had the #2 Tonkotsu Shoyu, "A" combination. The "A" means Ramen + fried rice. I usually get the "B" combo, Ramen + gyoza, but hadn't tried the chahan yet, so I decided to give it a go, and boy am glad I did. You see I'm a pickled ginger fanatic. If I knew that the chahan came with a great big heaping clump of pickled ginger, I would have gotten it much sooner. Now don't get me wrong, I love gyoza, and Gomen gyoza is no slouch, but it's just not my favorite. I like more pork and garlic, this gyoza has too much cabbage for my liking, it might as well be an egg roll in my view.
The tonkotsu was brilliant. Even with no one else in the kitchen this chef manages to deliver perfection in a bowl. I love the aroma of the broth as the bowl is placed on the table. I love the artful composition of the garnish. The chashu fanned out like a winning poker hand when you've been called, hanjuku egg resting on top of the chashu, menma opposite the egg for balance, finished with a couple of sprigs of negi right in the center. As an artist, looking at a bowl of ramen is like looking at a Monet Rembrandt or Vermeer. The chashu was heavenly, as always. This stuff is just so melt in your mouth you can't believe it. The hanjuku egg was a bit hard boiled for my liking, I like it a little runny, but the marinade more than makes up for it. Menma was a good supporting player, as was the negi. The noodles were their usual standard good, not great, but with everything this ramen has going for it, I'll take good noodles over bad happily. My favorite bit was being able to let the pickled ginger mingle with the other ingredients. This stuff takes an otherwise great ramen and send it into the stratosphere. This is ramen on steroids.
The chahan was good. I left some ginger behind in the rice bowl to eat with the rice, I now see why it comes with it.
Jan however had a much different experience. She ordered their #29, Katsudon. We should have known something was up when she ordered it, cause the first thing the waitress did when she said #29 was stopped to excuse herself, and went to the kitchen, presumably to ask it it was still on. When she returned she said it was OK, that there was katsu available. When it arrived I was so into my ramen I hadn't noticed anything was up. At some point Jan offered some of her dish for me to try, as she usually does, and I was stunned. How could a guy that gets ramen so right, get a simple Tonkatso so wrong. This pork was like rubber. Thankfully the rest of the dish was fine, so she decided to not bring it up to the waitress because of the kitchen staff problem, we might still be there waiting for a replacement. Prices here are very good. Nowhere else could you get as full as we did and be out of there for two people for under 20 bucks, tip and all.
So for the stellar ramen, weighed against the less than stellar katsudon, I give this visit to Gomen four chopsticks. Which may sound harsh, but to earn a six everyone at my table must get great food and service. Tonight, on balance, was a near miss.