Lest you think that I can survive on nothing more than bread and pastries alone, I�ll let you know that, every once in a while I do engage in real food. Haha. Right before I had the mochi bun (from the last post), I went with my roommate to Tampopo Ramen in Diamond Plaza.

My Tampopo Special ($7.75) was massive! The broth, so rich and velvety, and even though it was nearly 80 degrees outside, you would have thought it was snowing from the way I downed that entire bowl, soup and all. There was plenty of pork, sweet but not nearly as tender with that buttery mouth feel like that from Yotteko-Ya in Hawaii. The ramen, a bit on the softer side, came with an abundance of bean sprouts and bamboo shoots buried under the noodles. I�m not so good at reviewing ramen, but I know what I like when I eat it, and this I liked :)

Meg finished her Miso Ramen ($6.85) twice as fast as I did. But then again, she didn�t drink all the soup�and soup drinking, especially from such a big bowl takes a long time! Meg�s from Tokyo and so her applause for this bowl of miso ramen must mean something. I sampled some of her broth and like the slight nuttiness that came from all the sesame seeds, the broth was also a bit creamier�if you can use such a word to describe it, like more full...or...sigh. I am at a loss for words here. I seem to fair better with bread, pastries and dessert.

The gyozas ($3.75) were a too loosely packed, but well seasoned with a fair balance between pork and veggies. Thin skin with a nicely charred bottom and hardly any oil. Strangely enough, I wasn�t very enthusiastic about them�it could be that I�m still trying to recover from a gyoza overload. My grandma packed me over 100 of her own gyozas, divided into plastic bags of 10 when I came back after spring break. Last week I realized I only had two weeks of school left with half of my gyoza stash untouched. So then I had gyoza for dinner every night�and as much as I love them, I am out-gyozed. For now at least!

Tampopo Ramen
1388 Fullerton Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 965-9038