The formula…

Day 392:

I woke up feeling like it was gonna be a good day. For it is payday and my day off. So like most days off, it started off with a visit to the gym and a nearby ramen shop. Nejishiki (ねじ式) in Hatagaya, just steps from Hototogisu, is a new shop barely even two months old.

The shop is run by Kenji Ota, but when it gets crazy he calls upon his army of little masked men.

There are 3 options: Ramen, Tsukemen, and a junk-style Mazesoba (hear that Brian). And with toppings like garlic butter or cheese mayo, things can get very interesting. I decided to keep it simple and opted for the 特Ramen.

Woah! Heavily marinated ground pork.

The noodles are fat and take long to cook, but it’s worth the wait.

If I had to describe it, I’d say it’s like a high-class-Jiro-kei-geared-for-the-country-clubs ramen. おしゃれでしょう？

Yup.

So I had this idea of putting all the ramen shops I’ve slurped at during year one into a photo book. Would you buy a copy? I originally wanted to have it finished by christmas, but we’ll see.

Then of course it was time for dinner at Bassanova.

Where some crazy (but awesome) regulars started buying me drinks.

And we had a blast just messing around.

Right Boom?

It was…a good day.

Routine…

Day 391:

It was back to my old routine. Pay a visit to gramps…

Eat some katsu curry…

Heed a few words of wisdom…

Chow down on a whopper from Boom (or hooper as mom would say)…

Slurp some noodles…

And play with one of the stray cats on my way home.

Just routine. Gramps says hello. He is doing just fine. I showed him the video of Bassanova on tv and he seemed proud. I ought to visit him more often.

Zoomin…

Day 390:

Another early morning. Perfect for some shoyu, egg, and rice with a fat piece of ham..I mean chashu.

So this is how the story goes. Brian was asked to do a TV show after some other well-known chef backed out. And of course, being that we’re good friends, he brought them to Bassanova. Thanks BMac!

And after they interviewed Brian, they even interviewed me.

I was hella nervous and really butchered my Japanese, but they were very interested in our stories. Regardless if I make the final cut or not, it was a fun experience.

The reporter even let us take a picture with her, which is very rare. Thank you Imanaka-san!

So if you’re in Japan on December 2nd and awake around 7am, tune into Nihon Terebi (channel 4) to watch Brian (and maybe me) on ズームイン!!SUPER. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a copy to show you guys, but no guarantees. Regardless, I’ll try to get a taping.

As promised…

Day 389:

Here’s a copy of Bassanova’s television debut (at least since I’ve been working here). I can’t say how I was able to obtain a copy, but thank you for getting me one (you know who you are).

I was working the lunch shift today and realized that I still had some Rokurinsha left in the fridge.

So moist and so tender.

I even had time to create a new ramen, but I’m keeping this one a secret.

After work I biked over to my bro’s to try and sneak some Thanksgiving leftovers. No turkey, but the green bean casserole hit the spot.

And then it was back to Bassanova to check in with our newest staff member. Please say hi to Yayo-chan!

Yayo!

UC preeminence…

Day 388:

The Fall colors have finally arrived, but to me it already feels like Winter.

Today is my day off, but I received an email from a fan who was visiting from New York saying that they dropped off a gift for me at the shop. Apparently, they’ve been paying attention. Thank you so much Russ!!

The new Ramen Walker magazine also arrived.

Yeah!

Then it was time to feed my ramen soul. I passed by Menya Kushu (麺屋 九秀) earlier today after my workout and it was closed, but I decided to go back when they opened.

So I could try their Agodashi (flying fish) Tsukemen.

Very fishylicious.

Then it was back to basa to meet up with the UC kids. What up!! They will soon be going back to cali, but not before packing the basa house!

Jordan and Calvin have been here the most and are probably responsible for spreading the basa word to their friends. (Mad props!)

But a very special thanks has to go out to Jaimie. She’s been following my blog for awhile now and she was the first to email me and get everyone to visit Bassanova in the first place. Thanks Jaimie!!

Study hard and let your dreams guide you through life. And if life gets too tough, there will always be a bowl of green curry soba awaiting your return. 頑張って！

See you in cali!!

Turkey Day 2010…

Day 387:

So…does eating a Turkish kebab qualify for having a turkey dinner?

I guess for me it does. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have so much to be thankful for that I often overlook the most important things in my life. So thank you…and I hope you all ate lots for me too.

I did get to try something very special today though. Remember Kenta? Well I picked up some jerk chicken at Good Wood on my way to work and managed to put together a Jerk Chicken Green Curry Ramen.

Oh my god! (yes I spelled it out.) I think we HAVE to do a collabo. The spices from the jerk chicken mixed in with the green curry was absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing!! It was like Thai meets Japan meets Jamaica. And then some.

Happy jerk chicken day!

Recovery…

Day 386:

I don’t remember exactly what time I got home, but the first thing on my mind when I woke up was Eifukucho Taishoken. I needed a bowl bad. For the first time, I got the window seat with a direct view of the soup. Woah!

I love this bowl. It’s like the nurturing grandmother of ramen.

Naruto!

So Shuga bought some apple vinegar to try in our tsukemen. He swears it’s really good. Sorry Shuga, I like the normal version better.

Okay, I’m good…I think.

There’s the beef…

Day 385: Part Two

This month, we, at Bassanova, started opening for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays. So in return, we also created a day off for all of us to enjoy every fourth Tuesday of every month–a day for all of us to get together and go crazy. Actually, we’ve been looking forward to this day for a couple months now. Coincidentally, every fourth Tuesday Menya Shichisai gets with the trend and transforms into Gyumaou (牛魔王), which serves only 100 bowls of a special beef-based ramen. As expected, there was already a line forming when we got there. So we waited…

And we waited…

And even when we got to the door…

We still waited.

Once we got in, of course we waited some more, but we realized that not only was there a beef-based ramen but also a beef-based tsukemen piled with a mound of sauteed mouthwatering beef.

First up was the ramen.

Lovely, don’t you think?

Although the ramen broth did taste like beef, it wasn’t immensely noticeable. But I would still eat it any day of the month.

The tsukemen on the other hand was in your face BEEF!

Pow!

Accompanied by some miso, it was perfect for dipping the beef in or melting it in the soup.

Beautiful.

The broth was a bit sweet with several hints of beef, but I think the noodles without a doubt stole the show.

Getting soup-wari at the end really soothed the beefy soul.

Alright, time to hit the izakaya.

With Reverend Shuga presiding.

And the freak show sitting next to us.

We began to see the world in a new light.

Where evil robots began forcing us to drink.

Haha caught ya!

Time to relax.

With our McD’s special pass.

Oh what a night. Bmac, you owe me! lol.

A lesson from Ryu-chan…

Day 385: Part One

I think this might be my new local hangout. I mean the shop is super close to my apt and Jake-san is open to showing me anything I ask. He’s a real classy guy. Just don’t mess with him when he’s got that torch in his hands.

The chashu kabayaki-don is always a must order.

Today I asked to try his shio ramen. And since Jake-san knows that I like to spice things up every once in a while, he started crushing some shima-togarashi into my bowl (after all we are in Okinawa Town).

To make things even more interesting, he started to make konekuri-men out of his normally thin noodles to make them flat and wavy.

You may have seen me do this with thick noodles before, but this was the first time I’ve seen it done with thin noodles.

As for the ramen, overall it’s probably close to being one of the purest and best-tasting shio ramen I’ve had in a while.

The konekuri noodles really added an extra flair to the bowl too. This guy really knows what he’s doing. Jake-san, ご馳走様でした！

Okay, this day is not over yet. Part Two is on its way…

Sweet poetry…

Day 384:

I missed my nieces. I miss them being two minutes away from me. But so is life and I’ve become accustomed to change. Anyway, I went to go visit them today and at the same time scoped out the ramen shops in their new hood. Another Taishoken (大勝軒 代々木上原店) lies nearby and like all the others there’s nothing similar except for the name.

This Taishoken was more like a Chinese restaurant. In all there were about 30 different types of ramen on the menu as well as several non-ramen dishes. (For the record, there will not be a Taishoken Challenge.) The picture of Gomoku Ramen had a star on it, so that’s what I went with.

Not bad. Someday I’d like to uncover the mystery and hidden relationships (if there are any) of the all the Taishoken shops.

Time for some sweets!

Cake…

And cream puffs.

Chomp!

My sis made some delicious chicken gratin, but I could only have a bite.

For I was meeting a poet…

For dinner…

And a few drinks.

Then meeting up with THE rameniac…

For a midnight snack.

Happy birthday Stan!