Ramen Fair

A good addition to the Marukai’s food court. The pork broth ramen is actually pretty good — maybe not up to the specialty places — but it will satisfy.

Didn’t even know there was a ramen fair! There are different ramen stores that come from all over Japan. It switches out roughy every 1 – 2 weeks. For this week it was a white chicken broth seafood ramen and a curry seafood ramen. Both were really good and the noodles were perfect but I would have to say the curry one is better. Hopefully I can try the next one in a week.

Ramen Fair Continues — 2015!!! Five star concept — Ramen may vary week to week!
I had the pleasure of making my way to the market for Junk Story — a rich, but uncomplicated jiro style tori shio ramen.
The broth was rich, but not to salty — featuring white freckles of kottori fatty goodness throught.
The pork was well prepared and cut thick — which took the bulk of the slurp time for the broth to sufficiently heat it up to my taste.
the noodles were divine thick rectangles of springing al dente perfection.
It was a heavy on cabbage/​sprouts — and garlic for my taste — but all could be removed to taste before you mix your broth.
Keep the shops coming Marukai, Each Week A new Bowl of noodles!!!
¹⁄₂₂ ~ 26 Toyama Mattou Seimen
¹⁄₂₈ ~ ²⁄₃ Tsujita ANNEX From Los Angeles
²⁄₄ ~ ²⁄₉ Tsujita Tokyo From Tokyo Japan
²⁄₁₁ ~ ²⁄₁₆ Mensyokudou Kaido From Toyama
²⁄₁₇ ~ ²⁄₂₃ Menya Hiromaru From Toyama
²⁄₂₅ ~ ³⁄₂ Gyukotsu Ramen Ouendan From Tottori
¾ ~ ³⁄₁₆ Nakazaki shoten kai with BIkkuri Gam
Champon
³⁄₁₇ ~ ³⁄₂₅ Junk Story From Osaka
³⁄₂₇ ~ ⁴⁄₆ Fukushima Ramen Gumi! Wakamusha
After ⁴⁄₇ Many Ramen shop coming !!
and beyond…

Another round of ramen fair is up at Marukai. This one runs ¹⁄₂₂ through April. You still earn stamps, but this time you collect them to be entered into a lottery for Marukai gift cards.

10÷22−27÷14: Norio Ramen, Namba, Osaka-​Tonkotsu Ramen with Pork and Chicken broth: This time only one choice, again! What? Anyway makes ordering easy, decide how many bowls, pay, stamp card, then sit down. After getting my bowl I was not very impressed to see Hakata style noodles, but it was okay. They did have an extra cha shu option for $ 2 but nothing else. Eating was standard, uneventful, and left me wondering what the essence of Norio Ramen was?
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Had my big culmination of Ramen Fair on Thursday evening, 10−23−14. On my self guided tour of Ramen Fair 2014(Marukai, Gardena) it was a fun experience. Fun having a purpose and mission to eat and enjoy Food. While exploration and information was limited I still felt a little connection to these regions of Ramen.
I religiously drove to Marukai «Mecca» for the past 8 ramen tastings and was glad I did. I got very familiar with Marukai Store and the Food Court/​inside seating area.
Sad to see it end, but it never really does is my feeling. I enjoyed being surrounded by four restaurants in that cozy, inside seating area. Watching some Japanese TV program was always a given there.
My most memorable for their «Human factor», was Shoki ramen from Sacramento. They drove down and served up their philosophy as a family. Their young son was an amazing customer service agent.
My most stunning bowl (for this event only) was an unforgettable «Black Roasted Garlic Tonkotsu ramen» from «Menya Hiromaru» now in Las Vegas. He is known for his «Fusion» style.
Overall, I felt a little let down in the end as far as ramen shops but I guess we’re a little spoiled in the L.A./Vegas area.

I went to the Ramen Fair, it’s a «pop up» event in 2014
Date: 9÷4÷14 ~ 10÷27÷14
Location: MARUKAI GARDENA STORE — INSIDE FOOD COURT @ 1740 W ARTESIA BLVD. GARDENA, CA 90 248
There are 8 Specialty Ramen Shops.
⁹⁄₄ ~ 7 Menya Hiromaru From Toyama Japan
9/10~15 Shoki Ramen House From Sacramento CA
9/17~24 Tsujita Tokyo From Tokyo Japan
9/26~29 Tatsunoya From Kurume Fukuoka Japan
10/1~6 Hakata Hide Chan From From Fukuoka Japan
10/8~13 Chanpontei From Omi, Shiga Japan
10/15~20 Kamitoku From Ginza Tokyo Japan
10/22~27 Taishoken From Ikebukuro Tokyo Japan
This Review is on HAKATA HIDE CHAN which a bowl of ramen cost $ 9.00 (I’d recommend you pay the extra $ 1.50 for additional noodles too!)
The apparently are known for their soup base which cooks for nearly a day, I think over 20 hours as they tout.
I’d say this is a better option to go to than those local Ramen Festivals where you have to pay for parking, pay for admission, stand in long lines and drive a distance to get to.
The HAKATA HIDE CHAN ramen was quite good, not necessarily better or the best ramen I’ve ever had, but it’s of course most certainly not Top Ramen or Cup O’ Noodles.
I’d still rank SANTOUKA (located in Torrance @ Mitsuwa, as well as Culver City and Costa Mesa) as my local favorite RAMEN place.
But, if you like to experiment and try different tasty flavors and are seduced by the fact that these chefs are imported as visitors from Japan and it’s a unique opportunity, I’d say this is a good if not great opportunity to mix it up and try something different.
I’m not sure what’s going to happen to this location after October 2014 when the event is over.