Shin Yokohama Rāmen Museum

Took a trip to the Rāmen Museum, located in Yokohama!!!  This is a MUST GO place for all rāmen lovers, and for those who want to try authentic Japanese rāmen!  One-day admission price is only ￥300 per person (adult) and ￥100 for Children & Seniors.  You can also a 3-month pass for ￥500 or a 1-year pass for ￥800!!!

LOVED the design of the museum entrance...rāmen bowls lined up to greet you!!  The museum opened in 1994, March 3rd...almost 20 years!

Parking available!!  First 30 minutes is free if you show your admission ticket.

The official name of the museum is Shinyokohama Raumen Museum.  In the old days, 'u' would be used instead of a 'ー' in Romaji!

Swirly designs everywhere!  These swirls are supposed to represent the なると(naruto)'s on rāmen! They are the pink and white swirly fish cakes that are usually on top of noodles in Japan.

The museum has two floors.  This is the floor below the ground floor - it is designed to be old-age Japan!

Everything is designed exactly how they were in the old days.  There's even this police man (an actor) who walks around who keeps the city safe!!  He was super friendly and such a funny guy.

Japanese candy shops!!  Bought this 水あめ (mizu ame - water candy) for only ￥50.  Nostalgic flavour!

Here are the NINE famous rāmen shops from across Japan!  These rāmen branches from Kyūshu to Hokkaidō were specifically chosen to represent the distinctly different and authentic flavours across Japan.

Could not get all pictures due to the lines, but the nine rāmen shops are Toride, Ikemen, Kamome, Sumire, Ganja, Shinasoba-ya, Genkotsu-ya, Ryushanhai, and Komurasaki.  The shops do change from time to time, and they previously had Ide Shoten, Keyaki, Hachiyaand Fukuchan.

Japanese Arcade

Bakery!

Time to TRY THE NOODLES!!!  But wait - there are rules!  The most disappointing rule was that each person must order at lease one bowl of RAMEN to enter the shop.  It cannot be a small side dish, drink, or rice-dishes.  Which means that if you are traveling in a group and not everyone wants noodles at the same shop, you can't go in together and have to split up.

You will first need to purchase your rāmen from one of these vending machines.  Then there is usually a line, especially for the popular shops, and a shop staff will check your order tickets to confirm each person is ordering at least one bowl of rāmen.  We waited for about 20 minutes during lunch time.

Each shop is pretty small - fits no more than 20 people.

Mini-rāmen, ￥550

Ganja

Mini Miso Rāmen, ￥550

Komurasaki

Mini Chāshū Rāmen, ￥750

Komurasaki

Mini Tonkotsu Rāmen ￥550

Komurasaki

Ganja's soup is famous because instead of the usual pork-based broth, they use fish!!

Komurasaki is famous for their spices, using a pork bone based broth (tonkotsu) and a ton of garlic!!  Their chāshū was exceptionally delicious!

Though all the sizes above are called 'mini', the bowls are still pretty big.  It's a pity that one person's stomach can only fit around two mini rāmens!!  They should reduce the serving size & price so that visitors can try a wider variety in one visit!

On the ground floor, there is a souvenir shop!

Description of the museum's own special rāmen!

Rāmen history!

Types of regional rāmen from all over Japan!

The best part of the souvenir shop was that you get to CREATE YOUR OWN RAMEN!!!

There are five steps to creating your own rāmen, including choosing your own soup base, style of noodle, and toppings!

They are all pre-packaged (gourmet instant noodle style)!

Then here's the green room where you can dress up (yes - they have costumes!) and snap a shot for the cover of your rāmen package!

Final product will look like this!!  Makes such a funny + yummy gift!!

Lao Hu Dong Yi Ju...Best Annin Tofu!

Lau Hu Dong Yi Ju is a Chinese restaurant located in Roppongi Hills!! It is a pretty small restaurant, though it apparently seats 60, and has an open bar & kitchen.

Seasonal Vegetable

Cashew & Chicken

Pork Belly

Fried Rice

Almond Pudding

杏仁豆腐 (Annin Tofu) is a popular dessert in Japan! You can find it in almost any Chinese restaurant. Surprisingly, this yummy dessert does not actually contain any almonds, but is made from apricot kernels (杏仁)!! It is called "tofu" because of it's soft gelatin consistency, although it is also known as a jelly or pudding. It is always decorated with some goji berries.

Sadly, most Chinese restaurants in Japan use instant packs to make their Annin Tofu, which makes them all taste the same (bland artificial flavour, hard 寒天 (kanten) -like texture). HOWEVER...very rarely you will come across the authentic deal...just like in this restaurant, Lau Hu Dong Yi Ju!! The Annin Tofu here was THE BEST one I have ever eaten in my life (so far)!! It is more like pudding than jelly or tofu, and bursts with a creamy 杏仁 flavour!

If the restaurant promoted their dessert more, I'm sure it will be a popular item. It's a good thing I happened to order it that night! Can't wait to try their other desserts and see if it is exceptionally yummy!

SORRYYYYYYYYYYYY

Thanks for the e-mails (and comments) while I was away.

New post coming soon!!!

K town Korean BBQ

K town Korean BBQ is located on the top floor of Aberdeen Centre, Richmond!  The BBQ menu is popular during dinner time, but at lunch time I didn't really see many people choosing to cook their own food.

Promotion on the day!

Traditional Korean display!

View from my seat!

Take a look at the menu!!

Though surprisingly they didn't have a lunch menu, they have a "lite fare" selection, which is similar! 

So many choices for Korean BBQ!

Side dishes to share!

Hae-mul Doenjang Jigae (Spicy Seafood Soy-bean Soup) $10

Lots of seafood and lots of tofu!!  Comes with rice too.

Doenjang Jigae #1 (Soy-bean Soup with Vegetables) $9

There was actually a LOT of seafood in the regular Doejang Jigae...not just the huge shrimp you see, but clams, mussels, and squid too!  That would have been a good thing usually...except that the one who ordered this dish doesn't eat seafood!  

So my friend asked the server to make one that's ONLY vegetables...like it says on the menu.

Doenjang Jigae #2

No seafood this time!  However, unlike the first one...this Doenjang Jigae came out to to be sooo spicy!!  Were the possibly-frustrated chefs trying to kill us?

Many Oriental Asian restaurants aren't clear when it comes to describing their dishes on menus!  For example, if you order a "Vegetable Fried Rice" at a Chinese restaurant, you may find shrimp or even slices of ham cooked together.  In Japan, when I order a "yasai itame" (vegetable dish), most of the time there is ham or scallop cooked with it.  Whereas if you ordered a "Vegetable Stew" at a Western Restaurant, or a "Vegetable Curry" at an Indian Restaurant...there would never be traces of meat in it!  I guess it's because it's pretty rare to find Oriental Asian vegetarians (only recently have there been more maybe because of the healthy lifestyle hype)...so they aren't so strict about making the dishes completely vegetarian.  In fact, they might even be adding little meat to vegetable dishes to please customers!

What do you think the reason is?

Oh, and I know Halloween is way over right now...but Aberdeen Centre had a fun Halloween display going on that day!

So cute!  They also moved too!!

& I didn't know there was such a thing as Pumpkin Arranging!