Agu Ramen – Moilili, HI

Okay I have seriously done too many posts of Agu Ramen. I now have to direct you to use the search function to find all my previous posts…lol. This time I am sharing something different though! I tried their Jidori ramen which is their chicken based stock, the lightest and healthiest broth they carry. I enjoyed it. A lot. I would definitely recommend it!

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150203-03Can’t have ramen without the gyoza. I need to get myself back to here again. I am sad to report that they made a few adjustments to their menu and no longer carry the Hiyashi Ramen which I am sad about because it was SO good!

Salmon Ikura Bowl – Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

Just a quick post today. This is one of my favorites from Hokkaido Ramen Santouka! If I wasn’t such a glutton for noodles, I would get this by itself and just gobble it down. The rice is perfectly cooked, the salmon is freshly flaked and the ikura. How do I explain ikura? An explosion of flavor. Mmm…soo good…

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Hokkaido Ramen Santouka Post 1
Hokkaido Ramen Santouka Post 2

Hiyashi Ramen – Agu Ramen

Hey folks! Hope you are all doing well. I had a rough day today. Been a rough month! But August starts us up new, new month new attitude. I was so tired today. Like just drained. I pulled myself together and went to work. Anyway, I’ll try to update more often! I am so behind in pictures! Let me share a quick update from yet another visit to Agu Ramen. If you read my blog, you know I’ve been there many times. This particular visit, it was all hot outside so I didn’t feel like eating a brothy dish so I went for the Hiyashi Ramen. It was so good! Check it out.

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140804-02It was so refreshing and delicious. A lot of different ingredients but the dressing really made the dish. It inspired me to make my own cold ramen salad the week after. It didn’t work at all. Hehe..

140804-03Kicked Up Fries – meh. Not worth it. They are supposed to be cajun fries, not sure what’s cajun about it. The fries were just salty.

140804-04My friend had the Shio Jidori. This is a great alternative to their thick and rich kotteri/tonkotsu options. I like that they offer a lighter chicken broth, it’s definitely something I would try the next time I go!

Agu Ramen – Honolulu, HI

Yes, another Agu Ramen post! Sorry, I do really like what they serve! Here’s a link to my previous post that refers to the even more previous posts before this one. This visit was a bit different, I was in the mood for some cold noodles because of the hot weather. Oh, it was DELICIOUS.

140521-01Shio Jidori – $11.75
Not my dish, my friend got this. She likes it a lot because of the light chicken broth. As I’ve shared before, their kotteri is much too oily.

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Kicked Up Fries – $5.75

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Chili Cream dipping sauce for the fries. Meh for the entire dish. I wouldn’t recommend it.

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Hiyashi Ramen – $10.75

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Oh my god. This dish totally hit the spot. You know what makes or breaks a hiyashi ramen? The dressing. They have a great dressing here. I was so in love that I made my own. Um, it didn’t come close to this one. No shame, I’ll still share the pic.

140521-06Whoop there it is. Yeah it wasn’t great. I also started putting any kine toppings like my super fast pickled daikon. The crab sticks were junk. The dressing was store bought and no good. Ah…I can always remember the hiyashi ramen I had at Agu to be happy.

Japanese Ramen Kai – Ala Moana, HI

I’ve talked about Agu Ramen and Hokkaido Santouka Ramen in previous posts: here and here. Japanese Ramen Kai came on the scene around the same time as the other two and I finally got to try it! I gotta say, out of the three, Japanese Ramen Kai is currently my favorite! Let me share some pictures to show you why…

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140419-02Miso Ramen – $9.00

140419-03Look at that char siu…drool…

140419-04Goma Tan Tan Ramen – $9.00 plus Aji-tama (shoyu egg) – $1.50

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140419-07I got the tan tan ramen and I LOVED it. It was delicious. See how thick the broth is? How does it compare to Goma Tei? I definitely think Japanese Ramen Kai is better. You can tell they grind the sesame seeds fresh because there is a bit of grittyness (not in a bad way) in the broth. While the broth looks heavy and thick – I don’t think it plays off that way when you eat it. I would definitely recommend it! The egg was good, not great. Not soft boiled but at least it wasn’t overcooked.

140419-08Gyoza – $5.00

140419-09Gyoza innard shot. It’s your typical gyoza, nothing special or bad about it.

Nishi Mon Cho Ramen – Manoa, HI

The weather was nice one day and my co-worker and myself decided to walk to Manoa Marketplace. I’ve walked there a few times and it’s a nice walk, definitely not as far as you would think. She decided to get her lunch from Andy’s (always a good choice!) but I didn’t feel like sandwiches so I tried the ramen shop in the marketplace. Nishi Mon Cho Ramen is one of those ramen joints that is run by Chinese, there’s nothing wrong with that (I’m Chinese!) but I just don’t go in expecting authentic you know? Also, Chinese run ramen shops usually incorporate other dishes. I got the Seafood Chow Mein which is obviously not Japanese…lol. I thought they did a pretty good job! It definitely was not one of the best I have ever had but it wasn’t bad either. Just wanted to share how it looks when you go for take out.

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Crispy Noodles waiting to be drenched…

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Lots of veggies. At first I thought they would be stingy with the seafood but it wasn’t as bad as I thought! Not bad, not great. I enjoy when the crispy noodles get soggy but still maintain a bit of crunch. I also appreciated them packing the gravy separate from the noodles! No leaky package again!

Agu Ramen Part 3

Yes, another visit to Agu Ramen! This is going to be my last visit for a while. Oh wait, I may have to take that back. I heard they started serving a extended appetizer menu! I don’t know if it’s worth another visit for a while still…

140307-01Kotteri Tonkotsu – you see all that black liquid? That’s all oil. Yeah…it’s covered in oil. It was too much. The flavor was all right and I still like the noodles they serve but I wasn’t a fan of this bowl. I think if I do return, I’ll have to try their Jidori version since it’s supposed to be healthier for you.

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Part 2

Agu Ramen Part 2 – Honolulu, HI

Here’s to second chances!  And here’s proof that second chances work! For my first post on Agu, please go here. For my second visit, I wanted to raise the stakes…and boy did I ever.

140211-01Side Order Gyoza – always necessary. They make these fresh daily, delicious!

140211-02Kotteri Tonkatsu – $11.75

140211-03Spicy Kotteri Tonktasu – Level 5! It is definitely spicy. Not so much when you slurp the noodles but when you drink the soup…watch out!

140211-04Soft boiled egg. Actual soft boiled egg. Thank you Agu for making your eggs RIGHT. Other places are always overcooked.

140211-05So after my second refill of water in my regular cup, our waiter brings me this huge cup. And yes, it was initially full so I was drinking my way through that too…haha, sad yeah?

140211-06I like what they did with the design of the interior! Very different from Da Kitchen, like it a lot!

So what did I think? I LOVED the Kotteri Tonkatsu. My friend let me try her broth and it was SO good. I definitely want to get that the next time I go. The spicy one?  Yup, it was spicy. But I didn’t feel too bad afterwards. But later that night…I paid for it. Horribly. And it’s not the TMI thing you think…I just had major stomach cramps for 2 hours. I do not wish this on anyone. So while I could handle the heat, my body couldn’t afterwards. There’s even an Epic spicy level, I don’t even wanna know how spicy that one is! Give Agu a try! It’s definitely worth it. Our waiter mentioned they plan to extend hours soon so folks can get their late night fix. 🙂

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka – Honolulu, HI

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka is a fairly new ramen restaurant that opened in the Kaheka Don Quijote shopping center.  I was surprised when I heard it was a full on sit-in restaurant – if you folks know Don Q well enough, you know the aisle of shops are all take-out places.  I was pretty excited to give this ramen shop a try!  I did get to give it a try but before I share the pictures, I gotta vent about what happened!  You can skip the next paragraph if you don’t enjoy angry vents.  🙂

So my friend and I came here on a lunch break the other day at about 2 something in the afternoon.  Both of us were starving at that point and had a very limited time frame to eat.  We figured 2 something on a weekday would be slow…I guess for this place – they are never slow.  But it wasn’t crazy busy, there were two people in front of us on the sign in sheet so we signed in and waited patiently outside.  Well you can see into the small restaurant so I was constantly glancing in (ha!  Sorry diners).  Anyhow, as we were waiting, a few others came by and put their name on the list.  I wasn’t paying much attention only knowing that we were at this point the next to go in.  So we’re standing there and these two girls who I KNOW was waiting with the rest of us (and behind me and my friend) decides to just walk into the restaurant and ask for a table.  There were a few tables free but I think the wait staff hadn’t caught up yet.  So the clueless waitress inside seats them right away.  My friend and I walk in and inform them that we were next and asked why they were seated first.  The waitress goes to talk to them but then comes back and leaves them in their seats.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  At that point though, we get seated and it’s like really close to them and they can see us.  What a comfortable dining experience (not!).  Not once did the waitress apologize and those girls probably gave us stink eye the whole meal.  Those girls are evil.  You know why?  They knew we were all waiting and they had signed in after us and still decided to walk  into the restaurant to forcefully get a table.  It’s was so incredibly rude and calculating – sounds silly for me to get mad but I hate when people ignore morals and common decency.  We all have to wait – wait your damn turn.  The waitress did not apologize once and I think she handled the whole situation so poorly.  Not once did she communicate why she did what she did even though we called her on it.  I mean, if there were tables opening up she could have told us all – I’m sorry I mistakingly seated them but we do have tables opening up so I will be seating you all very shortly.  Something simple like that I would totally be okay.  Mistakes happen.  And no give me that she’s new and don’t know their waiting list – that restaurant runs on that sign-in sheet.  Okay rant over.  When we got into the restaurant, we were served by another woman who seemed like she was either an owner/manager.  She was very good.

131216-01Ahhh…was so worth it.  Yes I got a side of salmon and ikura rice.  No regrets!  

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Agu Ramen – Honolulu, HI

Agu Ramen opened up in the old Da Kitchen location on Isenberg a few weeks ago.  Lately, there’s been a trend of opening up ramen shops and I couldn’t be happier!  I love noodles.  So the latest shops include Agu, Hokkaido Ramen Santouku and the revamped Kiwami.  I’ll have posts on all three!  Anyhow, I was excited to try Agu because they specialize in tonkotsu ramen.  Stop the yapping and start the viewing…

131210-01Look hot yeah?  Yeah the noodles are hot too.  Haha!

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