A Noodle Whoring Weekend: Pho Ga Houng Que Cafe and Santouka Ramen

A preview of coming attractions - oodles and oodles of rice stick noodles:



I'm continuing my quest to find insanely good noodles in the Bay Area. Recently I partook in a noodle centric weekend, and went to one new restaurant and one favorite noodle joint from Los Angeles that just opened in San Jose. Both places did not disappoint.

So far the only pho place that I had been to previous to Pho Ga Huong Que Cafe was Turtle Tower which has been hailed as the best pho in the region. Although it wasn't bad, it wasn't as good as what I was used to getting in LA. Pho Ga Huong Que Cafe has been on my radar for quite a while and it was time to check it out.

Below, the incredible (and I mean incredible) green onion ginger dipping sauce for the pho ga:


I had heard that Pho Ga Huong Que Cafe was better than Turtle Tower simply because of this sauce but overall I thought that the broth and noodles were far superior to Turtle Tower's. Also a plus is the rather varied choice of pho ga with different types of noodles and different cuts of chicken (boned or with bone, all white meat or a mix of white and dark, etc.)

I almost ordered this wonton soup with ho fun:


But instead I ordered boneless chicken (yes, yes, I know, I'm normally a bone person but I didn't want anything to interfere with my ability to get as much dipping sauce as possible; however, someone next to me ordered her chicken with bones and her dish looked really good) with ho fun. Next time though I'm going to try the pho ga with rice stick noodles.


Not only was the pho ga insanely good, but we averaged just over $7 person all inclusive (my iced Vietnamese coffee to-go almost cost half that amount). Pho Ga Huong Que Cafe is a noodle whore's paradise!

Those who know me know that I will whore for a big bowl of shio ramen from Santouka Ramen. The gods were watching over Bon V. when Santouka finally opened a store in the Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Jose.

Gratuitous photos of shio ramen with "special" pork (jowl meat):






Was the shio ramen as good as I remember? Yes, but the broth was slightly different, just a tad less rich. Also, the pork was sliced thinner in San Jose than in LA and the noodles seemed a bit thinner as well. Still, these differences did not hinder my enjoyment of my shio ramen. I was worried about what my fellow noodle whore, Noah, would think of the ramen since I had built it up so much, but by his exclamation (censored) when he first tasted it, I knew that he really liked it. Now, if only my other favorite, Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen, would come up here...

A sampling of yummy sides - rice bowl with salmon roe and chopped stewed pork, respectively - that you can get along with your ramen:




With the good sometimes you have to take the bad. Case in point: a spaghetti bun that I bought at a bakery in the same mall. Don't ask, I couldn't even bring myself to eat it.



Pho Ga Houng Que Cafe
1228 7th Avenue
Oakland, CA 94606

Santouka Ramen
Mitsuwa Marketplace
675 Saratoga Avenue
San Jose, CA 95129

Santouka Ramen - I would kill for a bowl of shio ramen right about now

The weather has been perfect in Napa and the pool has stayed blue. It takes me about 30 minutes to get to my favorite food stores in Berkeley. The best Ranch 99 is in Albany. I have finally found a way to avoid driving through American Canyon to and fro Napa. Could anything lure me back to LA now? Perhaps there is one thing, something that I cannot find even up here: a steaming bowl of Santouka’s shio ramen with special pork.

Surely, Dear Reader, you’ve this experience: you taste a dish for the first time and it’s so brilliant that you remember it forever. I had this experience when I tasted the miso ramen with special pork:


And the spicy miso ramen:


However, both miso ramens pale in comparison to the shio ramen:


How can I describe the taste? To paraphrase my good friend, Monsieur De…, it’s just so fucking sexy. Now, with very few exceptions, other ramen broths just taste like salted water to me. You take one sip of the shio broth and you say, “wow!” – it’s just so rich and deep in flavor. Is this what umami tastes like?

Let’s get a closeup this luscious pork:





Now, I’ve felt this way about ramen before. The meal that I had at Momofuku Noodle Bar in October ’05 was one of the best in my life (and I went to Per Se during that trip as well).

How did the miso ramen at Santouka Ramen compare to glorious Momofuku Ramen last year?



And which is the favorite between the two this year? Let's hear the verdict:



If you are really hungry, you can get ramen sets with various rice bowls like salmon roe and more pork!




I’ve recently discovered that there is a Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Jose but unfortunately, no Santouka Ramen (it appears that along with Downtown LA and San Gabriel, San Jose is the only other store in the country without a Santouka.)

Santouka Ramen
Mitsuwa Marketplace
3760 Centinela Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90066
http://www.mitsuwa.com/