Comments on: Waikiki Eats: Kiwami Ramen

By: milo

milo — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:15:45 +0000

I’m only put off by Ume Shio Tsukemen because I think about Japanese food as being pure and traditional. Clearly umeboshi and tsukemen are apples and oranges in the ramen world then to pair them together seems maddening to me. While it’s true that sometimes one has to think outside of the box to move forward then I’ll make this comparison. “Would you put ketchup on a hot dog, on prime rib (like my cousin did) or worse yet in a Katz’s or Canter’s pastrami sandwich? We can stretch boundaries and sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s just not a good idea. To me ramen is ramen and it should stay within boundaries. Maybe I’m missing out but if something is tasty then why push the limits?

By: pomai

pomai — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:06:37 +0000

Milo, I’m surprised how off-put your are about the Ume Shio Tsukemen, which makes me even more anxious to try it! I agree about price. I can’t see paying more than $15 for Ramen and Gyoza. Preferably less than that. Just like with a burger and fries; no matter how good it is, instinctively, we expect it to be cheap because of the competition. Yet, now we must deal with
” boutique” eateries.

Michael and Betty, I’ll have to search around for more info on that ‘Buddha Jumps over the Wall’ dish. Sounds interesting and good! I heard one ramen chef revealed their secret in their broth was scallops.

Wasabi Prime, while I can eat a Thankgiving Day feast maybe 3 times a year max’, I can probably eat Japanese Ramen at least once a week and always enjoy it. In fact, I live that with nama ramen.

Amy and Betty, sounds like I’ll have to check out ‘God of Cookery’. Thanks for the tip!

Molly, I’m sure you wanted to tell the server, “O.K. if Gyoza is considered Chinese, where do you think ramen originally came from?”

By: milo

milo — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:22:39 +0000

Looks good I’ll have to try this place. I was a little apprehensive from the picture of your bowl because the noodles looked too thick to my liking then I read you specifically ordered ‘thick noodles.’ When I commented in your “Ramen Girl” post you asked me what ramen places that I’ve tried. I’ve been to about eight places the names I can remember are Tenkaippin, Goma Ichi, Ramen Nakamura, there’s a place one down the street from Ramen Nakamura owned by a Japanese celebrity and others down Kalakua. My friends from Japan often want to go to the place owned by the Japanese celebrity just because it’s on TV all the time and they want to take pictures not to eat. Personally I prefer tonkotsu (Kyushu based pork broth) ramen probably I spent a lot of time in Fukuoka. In Hawaii it seems miso, shoyu and other weird concoctions like the picture here of ume shio dip (WTF???) noodles are more popular. The other issue I have is price. $8.50 or more for a bowl of ramen? Japan is expensive but my standard was at least a bowl of charshu ramen, gyoza and / or a beer for about $10. At my friends yatai a bowl of ramen was $4.50 and his tonkotsu soup was cooked a minimum of 36 hours. I’m not cheap but to me ramen should be tasty and cheap. After all ramen is Japanese comfort food. I’m sure there are good places in Honolulu. I’ll try Kiwami. Maybe I am too picky. I just know what I like and after some places I just got frustrated and gave up.

On a side note “I really enjoy reading your blog.” It’s informative and entertaining. I discovered it of course online but when I was living in Japan. I was researching places I wanted to eat at when I visited my parents here in Honolulu. I’ve found your reviews to be spot on. I like the fact that you find little places, do product reviews and the occasional recipe. Keep up the good work.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:25:30 +0000

I heard of this dish Buddha Jump Over The Wall in Singapore and it costly dish due to scallops and abalone and other ingredients use it. It is like Buddha AOW since it broke away from vegetable eating. I seen God of Cookery on dramacrazy or dramafreak it great on Chinese food.

There something about ramen and when someone talk about it or see someone eating it I really want some too .

By: wasabi prime

wasabi prime — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:31:26 +0000

It’s the eve of Thanksgiving and now I want to just forget cooking all that food and run out and have ramen. It really is a perfect dish with so many flavors and textures. Fantastic and delicious post — oishii, yo! lol

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:06:43 +0000

When I was in San Francisco Japantown and Chinatown there not easy in finding ramen people buy in Hawaii. Sometime making own broth is better too. S&S is what I saw too in Japantown not sure at Ninjiya there.

God of Cookery I saw at library and it was a funny and entertaining film. The serial on video4aisan is not bad also. Kung Fu Cookery. Now I want S&S Saimin and try to get some today.

By: Betty

Betty — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:08:54 +0000

Pomai, I enjoy all kind of ramens. If some on hand S&S . Not of the other brands it been a while. Mostly get mine at Japantown in San Francisco. I watch Stephen Chow God of Cookery and it funny food film too. They have on video4asian the serial God of Cookery. Most well known dish from film was Buddha Jump Over the Wall. ( Buddha AOW) this dish have animals ingredients in it. A Northern China Dish.

By: Molly

Molly — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:48:13 +0000

I ate at Kiwami when it first opened and I innocently asked why they didn’t have gyoza like most (in my uneducated mind) ramen places. The waiter replied that the owner-chef wanted to present an authentic Japanese ramen experience and gyoza was a Chinese item in his mind.