Gardena, CA: Umemura Home Made Ramen Noodle
Woke up late and missed breakfast…AGAIN, so I was starving! What better way to satiate ones hunger than with home made ramen noodles? I’m not sure why it was so hard finding this place, maybe it was the growling stomach that distracted our focus. When we finally arrived, I was happy to see that 98% of the customers were speaking Japanese…good sign. Scanned the menu and the umani ramen caught my eye….and thought to myself…”so that’s what that was!” The crab omelette ramen at Gyoza No Osho in Hawaii with the gravy on top is umani style. I love learning new noodle facts on my noodle adventures.
This is the umani ramen, topped with an oyster sauce gravy and stir fried vegetables. When the waitress set the bowl in front of me, I got a big whiff of bamboo and was a little fearful that I had made a bad choice. But to my relief, the broth did not have a strong bamboo taste. Overall, the umani ramen was reminiscent of chinese chow mein, it has the same toasty wok flavor. The noodles were delicious! If you look closely, you can see the inconsistency of the fresh noodles. Umemura gets extra kudos for cooking a perfect egg! A first for me.
In contrast, the soup of the cha siu ramen didn’t smell like bamboo but it tasted like bamboo. Besides the mild bamboo flavor, the shoyu broth was pretty darn good. Overall, both broths had a very clean and wholesome taste. You can tell from the richness and complexity of the soup that the ingredients they use are fresh.
To top it all off, the gyoza was fantastic! The skin was thin and the filling was not processed beyond recognition. You could see bits of cabbage and meat and the slight imperfections were a clear indication that these were homemade.
Umemura
1724 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247
(310) 217-0970
Garden Grove, CA: Brodard Chateau
Los Angeles is the best city to experience great Vietnamese cuisine. This past weekend we were in L.A. and couldn’t leave without stopping by our favorite Vietnamese restaurant Bordard’s. We’ve only been to the Westminster location (the one behind the 99 cent store). The food is awesome but the service sort of sucks and you feel like you’re eating in a cafeteria. On this trip, we accidently stumbled upon their newest location in Garden Grove. Turns out that this is their more upscale restaurant. The restaurant had a nice warm ambiance with modern touches. The first thing that struck us as odd was their incredible service! Not only was our waiter helpful and attentive, the entire staff was amazing. I have to admit that we were a little concerned that the food wasn’t going to be as good as their Westminster location but to our relief, it was! I’m not sure if the prices are more expensive here but we are willing to pay extra for the ambiance and the service.
Nem Noung Coun – Roasted Pork Spring Rolls
Droool. These are the best spring rolls ever with the best dipping sauce ever. Rice paper filled with nem noung which is Vietnamese grilled sweet pork patty, mint, lettuce, carrots, cucumber and a fried roll of egg roll wrapper for a nice crunch. And the sauce is incredible, I’ve never experienced sauce like this, it’s so good you can drink it. It’s a complex eggy gravy sauce with so many layers of flavors. It’s a little fishy, garlicky, spicy and sweet. I think there’s even bits of meat in there.
Bun Ca – Fish Noodle Soup
You don’t see this dish often on Vietnamese menus so any time it’s offered, I order it. However, not every place that makes this dish make it well. Brodard’s makes the tastiest fish noodle soup.
Vit Xao Mang – Fresh Duck Noodle Soup
Brodard Chateau
9100 Trask Avenue
Garden Grove, California 92844
Telephone 714.899.8273