They were both (newly) on the menu! I sat next to somebody who knew their sake, and they helped with the ordering 
.
Also, that Kokuryu Shizuku was something Iâd been wanting to try ever since a Kokuryu 88 blew my mind last year.
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Awesome, thanks! @butteredwaffles take note of the sake selection above at Mori! Try to integrate both Tokoâs into your dinner, great stuffâŚditto for that Kokuryu ShizukuâŚsmooth AF!
Yeah Iâve had 88, Shizuku, and IshidayaâŚjust missing being able to taste Nizaemon. Shizuku is the most approachable of the lotâŚwith Ishidaya being very expensiveâŚbut less expensive than Dassai Beyond.
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Sharkyâs in Northridge.
Late dinner, got grande nachos with steak. Not bad, but not what it used to be. A bit plain and skimpy with the steak and the sour cream. Added more salsa and was much better.
Fox and Hound in NoHo
Chicken and waffles and Thai sausage breakfast burrito. Chicken was super crispy and crunchy, seasoned decently. Dark meat was juicy and delicious. White meat was dryish but I almost always find white meat dry. Too bad they donât do substitutions. Waffle is very crispy and light, almost like a deep fried waffle, mmm.
Donât recommend the burrito, it was 80% undercooked and underseasoned potatoes. Not enough egg or Thai sausage. I liked the sausage, but boyfriend felt the galangal was overpowering.
DâNew Aristocrat in Panorama City
For dessert, some really good turon, only 80 cents each. Crispy and crunchy sugar glazed outside with nice sweet banana filling. Thereâs also a tiny bit of jackfruit in it. It was freezing and raining so we ate this inside the car and it took a while to clean all the flaky crumbs. Eat it outside. Also saw a family leave with a tray of lumpia, want to try that.
Cebuchon Sa Barrio in West Hills.
Really good portions and awesome QPR here. $9.75 for two item combo with garlic rice. We waited for fresh cebuchon. It was well cooked, nice and juicy. Boyfriend thought it tasted like plain pork, while I thought it was full of the flavors of lemongrass and whatever else they season it with. Then we switched plates, his was plain. It came off the same roll, not sure how that happens. Liver sauce was just ok, I like it with more liver. This was mostly sweet, reminded me of American BBQ sauce.
Compared to the cebuchon at Hopia Like It, this is cheaper with a lower quality of meat, but I prefer the flavors more. But not enough to drive an extra 20 minutes. Boyfriend likes the flavor profile at Hopia a lot more. Will certainly return when Iâm in the area.
Chicken adobo was lacking much of any flavor. Beef steak was just ok. It was salty and savory but lacking the complexity that good beef steak has. Garlic rice was alright, a little mushy. We came at an off hour though, not sure if it would be better fresh.
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Thank you @beefnoguy! Yes I have definitely been paying attention.
That shizuku process fascinates me so the kokuryu skizuku is on my radar. I will investigate Toko tomorrow. I finished a whole mess of work the last few days and now I have time to do some research!
Finally got to try the Serving Spoon for breakfast this morning. I ordered the catfish and waffle combo. The fried catfish was quite flavorful, with lots of black pepper in the batter. The fish was perfectly cooked. Tasty waffle (and a nice change from the ubiquitous Belgian waffle), topped with cinnamon on request and served with warm syrup on the side.
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Ramen & Tsukemen TAO (Buena Park)
Back this week to finally try their Tsukemen ramen. Chef had stepped out tonight and there seemed to have been some execution issues. The noodles were coolâŚand not even lukewarm. The spicy miso broth was hot enough to continue cooking my soft-boiled egg, but not hot enough to thoroughly warm the noodles. But the chew and texture of the noodles was fantastic. I think this is my new favorite way of eating ramen. The spicy broth was amazingâŚprobably not enough heat for some folks, but just right for me to enjoy without blowing out my palate while I was dipping. It was great after adding the noodle water, but I added more spicy TAO to bring the heat up. Still leagues better than that HiroNori nonsense.
The holidays have slowed this place down someâŚcame in at 8:30PM and there wasnât a waitâŚrestaurant got full by the time we left. Staff is super attentive.
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Made it out to Iki Ramen today. Lunch special (chashu don + kaisen don), blue crab cut roll, tender octopus, langostino mazemen, black sesame creme brulee (of course).
You could smell the chashu as you brought the bowl up to your nose, and the rice was good (no clumps). Delish. Blue crab roll was good, but the crab-avocado proportion is a bit off (meaning that the texture of the avocado overwhelmed the crab). Langostino mazemen was delish, but I do have to admit I was a bit confused by the truffle oil (fortunately, I had read @PorkyBellyâs review first). Thankfully, there wasnât much truffle oil, and you still got a hit of langostino sweetness on the finish. Wouldâve liked bigger pieces of langostino meat (which was seriously microscopic). Noodles are also VERY firm. Tender octopus was very tasty, but I wouldnât have minded more char. Creme brulee had strong black sesame flavor (yes!), but the texture was a bit odd (and it was a bit too sweet overall). Only had a bit of the kaisen don, and the little I had was very tasty.
Overall, itâs very good, and thereâs quite a bit of refinement in the cooking. I would say that this and Mogu Mogu are totally different animals, though, and so Iâm glad we have both. 
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itâs normal to serve the noodz cold for tsukemen
AhâŚthanks for sharing your knowledge! I was super confused since I had never had it before. So should the broth be super duper hot to balance out the cold noodles? Dipping the cold noodles in the broth didnât bring it up to my ideal of having ramen on a cold nightâŚor is tsukemen designed more for summer eating?
IME, the noodles are roughly room temperature, and the broth is warm, though not necessarily scalding. The problem is that as you get through the bowl, the noodles will cool down the broth, so you are dealing with lukewarm ingredients halfway through. There is this place in Tokyo, Tetsu, that gives you a hot stone halfway through to reheat the broth. It didnât work that well.
At some places (eg Tsujita), you can order the noodles âatsumoriâ so that they come out warm. Practically, what this means is that the noodles are less al dente, and at Tsujita, they also leave some warm noodle water in the bowl, but the noodles are steaming when served to you. The draw back to this is that the noodles are softer, and the extra noodle water dilutes your broth while you are eating it. Iâve stopped ordering âatsumoriâ as a result.
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Both of you can come try our overseas branch of Taishoken in San Mateo (within 5 mins walk from Sushi Yoshizumi) next time youâre in town, warm (not too warm) wheat noodles for tsukemen that keep their texture chew and mouthfeel throughout the meal, same for mazemen, and abura soba. Theyâve thought this out so the dipping broth doesnât turn cold as quickly, also depends on how fast you eat.
Seems counter intuitive overall to serve cold noodles when that will make the tsukemen dipping broth cold a lot quicker (and watching that layer of grease on the broth congeal if it is a kotteri style dip and / or infused with tonkotsu⌠is a bit stressful on the appetite, like a race against time 
).
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yes but if youâre a slow eater or if thereâs too much noodles, the broth will turn lukewarm toward the end
thatâs nice since i have tried asking places to warm up my noodz before but the noodles turned a little softer toward the endâŚ
is it worth the trip? 
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I would say go visit if you are in the area for lunch, or save it for a future visit. Avoid the weekends though if you can, itâs a zoo. They do have yelp waitlist kick in after the first seating is filled, so thatâs a good thing. Interestingly though, my most favorite is Tokyo style abura soba there, then mazemen, then their signature tsukemen. Abura soba and mazemen are dinner only.
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Agreed. Thereâs probably a way to keep the noodles partially warm? My broth last night was not super duper hot and at some point, the cold noodles took its toll on it. It got too cool too fastâŚand I tried to work fast last night.
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For a small fee you can request a portion of dashi at Taishoken in case the dipping broth becomes too thick or salty, then makes it warmer and the broth more drinkable if you pour in a lot of dashi (in theory one can taste but shouldnât really drink it). In Tokyo asking for dashi to cut the dipping broth should not incur extra charge (at least thatâs what some expats say).
As for Taishokenâs Mazesoba and abura soba, the toppings are a bit more than warm so even after tossing and mixing it stays hot/warm for a bit.
I donât know if this is a) common or b) to keep the noodles warm but Tsujita Annex and The Tsujita at least used to top off tsukamen broth. At the Annex it was noted on the menu by request (but I was the only one Iâd ever seen do it) and when the The Tsujita first opened they would go around and offer it as a matter of course. However, last time I was at The Tsujita I didnât see the thermoses they kept around for that purpose and I was eating something else so I canât say if thatâs still an option.
Even if it is still on offer, they top up with broth only so you have to add more tare (which was on the table at the Annex) to at least approximate what was initially served.
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Went to Pannâs again. Dreemburger and tuna melt. Dreemburger was a good version of a very old fashioned burger which I donât find too often these days. It was fun but I donât think Iâd get it again. Loved the tuna melt, anyone have any idea on how to make one like it at home?
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donât know why but that burger reminds me a bit of the old bobâs big boys burger
Gotta say, youâve been on a serious tear lately. Really enjoying your quick reports on your adventures.
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