Oh My!

About six weeks ago I received an email from L.A. Weekly with the subject "Steaming burnt miso ramen."  Naturally I was curious and clicked to open when I saw that there was a review of restaurant called Ramen by Omae.  Now, I know of an Omae, but when I clicked on the link I was surprised to find out that it was the very Omae I was thinking of. Chef Omae is famous to the average American foodie for his role as sous chef to Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, but to true international food connoisseurs he is a twice-awarded Michelin starred chef.  So what's he doing in Sherman Oaks?

Serving the most amazing ramen I have ever had in my life.  I told my husband that I don't even think I can enjoy Pho after eating Omae's ramen.  We had actually eaten ramen twice before in this very same location under a different name, and the name is the only thing that changed about the place.  The old restraurant was dark with booths, and Chef Omae's has literally lightened up the joint and added crystal chandeliers above the table tops.  Its a better atmosphere to be dining in, to be quite frank.

First up my husband ordered some edamame.  Two things to note: 1) it comes cold, and 2) juice squirts out of it like nobody's business.   Other than that, its your basic edamame.

Edamame

In choosing your ramen, you only have a few choices: pork, chicken or veggie and then kogashi (burnt miso) or not.  Here's the description of what burnt miso ramen is according to the L.A. Weekly article. "Exactly what it sounds like. Order it and, behind the counter in the kitchen, cooks set explosive, leaping fire to the red fermented bean paste in a wok, before adding it to a tonkotsu broth that has been cooking for 40 hours. The milky, fatty, porky broth takes on a charred but sweet flavor, a lingering smoke almost like mesquite. It's absurdly seductive."  Yes, that's exactly what it is.  When selecting your ramen you also choose the type of noodle (yellow thick or white thin) and then how cooked your egg is (hard or soft boiled).  With no originality my husband and I both selected the pork kogashi ramen with yellow thick noodles and a soft boiled egg, and its probably a good thing we did as there was not going to be any sharing at the table.

After a few minutes one of the bowl of ramen appears and smells amazing.  I took my soup spoon and dipped it into the broth to take a sip, and was overwhelmed by the flavor coming from a broth.  I had died and gone to ramen heaven.  I then used my chopsticks to pull of a small bite of the pork, and in my mouth I tasted quite potentially the most flavorful pork ever.  My husband compared it to bacon, with its sweet and salty flavor, but it reminded me a little bit more of what Chinese barbecue pork should taste like.  Sadly the bowl only came with two slices.

Pork burnt kogashi miso ramen with yellow thick noodles and a soft boiled egg

My husband finished his bowl, but I brought half of mine home to enjoy later.  We immediately declared that we would be returning, and only half-joked that we would be back tonight for dinner.  There are many other ways to enjoy your ramen either with add-ons or their "make your own ramen" menu selection.  I can't imagine having anything except the kogashi again, but I should try to branch out and who knows, maybe I'll find that Omae has even more up his sleeve.

Other items should be noted.  The restaurant is honest about the hours its open.  For example, its open from noon to 3pm for lunch, but that means the last serving is at 3pm as they close the restaurant at 3:30pm.  Also, on the chalk board wall decoration they advertise that if you pay for your meal with cash that they will give you a 5% discount.  And as I explained to my husband when he noted by $1.20 savings, I can buy a cup of coffee at McDonald's with that.

So in summary: Go directly to Ramen by Omae.  Do not pass Go.  Do not collect $200.