Ajisen Ramen

We went to dinner at Ajisen Ramen in San Gabriel on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 to celebrate Mom's (my mother-in-law's) bonus.  She received a bonus even though she's retired because she worked during the first quarter of last year.  Mom and Dad (my in-laws) discovered Ajisen Ramen when they were on vacation in Singapore last year.  They were in a mall there, decided to try it because it was close and enjoyed it.  Later, Mom found out there was one in San Gabriel.

The restaurant is located in a modern outdoor mini-mall just past the Hilton on Valley Blvd in San Gabriel.  There is underground parking and many other small Asian restaurants in the mall including a bakery where mom says they make very good pineapple bread.  We sat down and then looked at the menu.  It has two large pages describing all the different types of ramen noodles.  Their most popular dishes are the tender pork ribs ramen and the tender pork ramen.  They also have seafood, pork curry, beef curry, pork cutlets, and many others.  More pages of the menu have many different appetizers such as rice, meat, seafood, but Mom said the ramen is their specialty and one bowl is plenty of food.  On the back of the menu they stated that they have 300 restaurants around the world including the Philippines.  It also had instructions on how to eat ramen stating you must first try the rich broth.  Slurping the noodles is not considered bad manners and you should finish eating the bowl in 10 minutes.  I don't know about eating the whole bowl in 10 minutes.

We placed our orders.  I ordered the beef with tomato ramen, a new ramen that looked good with beef, tomatoes, and green pepper.  I also know that my younger brother likes to eat ramen and chili (mostly store-bought) and this choice seemed the most similar.  My wife ordered the beef curry ramen.  They brought out our orders very quickly in large black bowls.  Utensils consisted of chopsticks and a long-handled wooden spoon with the "bowl" at a right angle to the handle.  Following the instructions I tried the broth first.  I expected it to be diluted like other Asian soups I've had but it was actually very flavorful and filling.  I could taste the tomato, beef, and spices in it and it by itself would be perfectly satisfying as a meal.  The beef was very tender and delicious like pot roast.  The tomatoes and peppers were cooked just right as was the ramen that was neither undercooked and al dente nor overcooked and sticky.  I was afraid eating it would be very messy but I had very little trouble.  My wife enjoyed her beef curry ramen and said it tasted just like curry powder.  Our server actually said she preferred the curry ramens because they had more flavor.  We all finished our bowls, though I took considerably longer than 10 minutes. 

I'm glad Mom and Dad found the place even though they had to go all the way to Singapore to do so.  We'll have to find other reasons to come back so we can try the other types of ramen.  Maybe I'll bring my brother there the next time he visits us.