Over Labor Day weekend, we popped up in the very hot and sunny city of Los Angeles, inside the Ace Hotel. Located downtown, it was a four day extravaganza of Umami Mart wares and events. We could not have had more fun meeting our customers, followers,...
I am a junkie - a noodle junkie. It is my favorite food and carb of choice. I could probably give up bread, and maybe even rice, but never noodles. This month, I took over for Yoko for our monthly club Sake Gumi, and decided on the theme of Sake...
In honor of Hiroshima month here at Umami Mart, I visited Chinchikurin in LA a few weeks ago, where they specialize in its regional cuisine. Namely they serve Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. A popular chain in Hiroshima proper, this is Chinchikurin's first American outpost, that just opened in the...
Our newest plant "pothead" from Sunny Side Up Studios, designed by LA-based Japanese artist Yoskay Yamamoto comes in a serene Glossy Ocean Mist hue.
Shortribs, potatoes and dduk (rice cakes). Savory, comforting and down right delicious. The oils bubbled on the sizzling hot stone platter throughout the entire meal. This feast felt like celebration for kings and queens, family and the closest of friends. Sun Nong Dan 3470 W. 6th Street...
Two years ago, bored at work with nothing better to do but read through American ex-pat ramen journals, I decided to start my own ramen blog. I didn't tell anyone about it for a year because I was only using it to learn more...
Everytime I go to LA, I like it more than the last time. I didn't really like LA as a teenager... maybe it was because I would have rather been blasting Head Like A Hole in my bedroom with the curtains drawn all day....
We're going to LA! That's right, we'll be spending a few days in sunny Los Angeles, driving down Sunset Boulevard with the top down searching for the Walsh residence in Beverly Hills. Then, poolside sunbathing in our bikinis, sipping on Mai-Tais with little...
I’ve written plenty about Tsujita. It is easily the best ramen shop in LA (both their hakata-style tonkotsu and tsukemen dipping ramen) and is, in my opinion, the best shop in America. But since opening in the fall of 2011 there has been...
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a man embarked on a quest was to eat at every ramen shop in Los Angeles. Mr. Ramen was on the list from Day One, but the man never visited. You see, Mr. Ramen has...
Men Oh hails from Tokushima prefecture on Shikoku Island, the smallest and least populated of Japans’s four main islands. Until the completion of the first of several bridge systems in 1988 the island was only accessible by ferry or plane, and...
This post is so delayed, but better late than never for such an epic guide to tacos in California. After being open seven days a week during the holiday season, Yoko and I took a much needed 10-day break. Hooray! Yoko traveled to Tokyo,...
We finally made it into Tsujita for lunch during our trip down to LA over the summer. You know, when they actually serve ramen... Yoko and I had ignorantly gone there for dinner once, all excited to try their tsukemen (dipping ramen). But...
We drove a long way from Los Angeles proper to try the soba at Otafuku in Torrance. The shop donned no sign, except a neon "Open" sign that flashed in the window. The place was packed with hungry folks for lunch,...
Ah, the joy of roommates. The Ramen Shaman lives with three other dudes in a house in Los Angeles, meaning our fridge is war zone of groceries for four people each cooking for one. But to be honest there’s not a whole lot of cooking...
If you know anything about ramen in Los Angeles you’ve heard of Daikokuya, the original LA noodle institution. There are throngs of people waiting outside its bright yellow awning at almost any hour of the day, despite several other shops within viewing distance. It was...
It's been just over a year since I started my ramen blog. At least six new ramen shops have opened in LA since then (a far cry from the one-a-day that are said to open in Tokyo, but still). I've learned more about...
In the spring of 2012 I suddenly felt the urge to not spend a depressing summer in Copenhagen. Previous years had been a mixed pleasure of monsoon rain, heavy floods, grey skies and Antarctica beach temperatures. I seriously needed a shot of California. Coincidentally the...
I spent my summer of 2012 in California, my favourite place in the world -- after my couch (ok, maybe Japan comes in as a close second). It was a pure blast, from the moment I landed, designed and help build out the Umami...
Two weeks ago, I picked up Anders aka Mr. Skankynavia from LAX. It was a bit of a drive from the Bay Area, but a little vacay for both of us before we began the crazy build-out of our Oakland shop. We both...
