mere days after our stop at ramen california, c and i found ourselves at ramen yamadaya, located in north torrance on 182nd street, just off crenshaw. this made stop #5 on our ramen tour. we both ended up ordering combos - you pay a few extra dollars on top of the price of the ramen you order. c got the tonkotsu ramen with gyoza and kimchi fried rice, while i got the kakuni (pork belly) tonkotsu ramen with chicken karaage and chashu bowl. it was also choices, choices, choices when we ordered. which side dish? which rice dish? do you want thin noodles or thick noodles? we both opted for the thin noodles.
the side dishes came out first. the gyoza here was forgettable in my book. pretty bland and the worst part? soggy. i mean, really soggy. one side of the gyoza has the nice burnt crust, but the rest of it was just mush. when i bit into it, it just released some water and soggy filling. blah. however, the chicken karaage was really tasty and probably one of the best things i ate that night. c liked it a lot, too.
c's kimchi fried rice and my chashu bowl were the next items to come out. the kimchi fried rice was ok - but i could do better on my own. the chashu bowl didn't leave a lasting impression either - as it was just seasoned pork on top of rice and wasn't anything special. between the two, i think i preferred c's kimchi fried rice, but again, i don't think i'd go back for that.
the ramens came out last. i ordered the ramen with the pork belly and while good, i think next time i'll just stick to the regular cha shu ramen. the tonkotsu broth was flavorful and had some depth to its taste. also, you might want to consume the ramen quickly - the fat on the broth starts to skim on the surface. we were sitting right by the door too so that might have had something to do with the broth cooling so quickly.
c and i managed to finish our ramens and our side dishes - the gyoza and the karaage. the rice dishes were leftover and i ended up taking the both home, and combined them with some ingredients i had at home to make my own fried rice for lunch the next day.
ramen yamadaya * 3118 w. 182nd street * torrance, ca 90504
Well, it sounds like the ramen wasn't too yucks so maybe if I'm in the Torrance area I'll check it out. Hopefully the cha shu ramen is yum because I think that's my favorite kind. Poor gyoza. Too sad to even think about trying it now.
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