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Monday, November 27, 2006

Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen - Rosemead

Rainy weather makes the thought of a hot bowl of soup so comforting. I was a regular at the Fountain Valley location for their udon set lunches. And the robata at night was always a lively after-work place to hang out with friends. I've also tried the Gardena and Rosemead locations. But I'd have to say the Fountain Valley location is still my favorite for overall atmosphere and because the ramen, udon, and robata are all in one place. The Rosemead Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen has a few tables set on a raised platform where you sit on mats with low tables. I love alternative seating so, of course, I opted for this. My cousins, however, complained of backaches. The lunch menu includes set meals of ramen with gyoza, ground chicken bowl, salad, etc. A half order of ramen is $4.75. A regular bowl is $6.95. For only 30 cents more, I got the ramen with gyoza for $7.25. You can also get extra noodles for 95 cents. I must be a pig because I kinda wanted more noodles even after I ate my bowl. My cousins split a bowl of ramen and a ground chicken between the two of them. And my brother had a half bowl of ramen. The gyozas were nicely fried and golden. They were about the size of my thumb. I don't know if this is a new chain-wide improvement or just specific to the Rosemead location. I ordered the gyozas before from the Gardena location, where they were literally about 1-inch long. They were tiny! I was so dismayed. Luckily, these were a decent size. Shin-sen-gumi does ramen hakata-style in which the broth is made from pork bones that have simmered until it is thick and flavorful. You can choose your broth to be heavy, normal, or light. Same option for oil. You can also choose your ramen noodles to be hard, normal, or soft. The ramen is served with thin slices of pork, scallions, and ginger. Mmm. A word of caution about the Rosemead location: parking is a pain on weekends. Crowds going to 888 Seafood for dim sum will fill both sides of the parking lot and then some. And a Banh Mi & Che Cali just opened too, creating more parking hassles. Other ramen posts: Aji Man Japanese Restaurant - San Gabriel Daikokuya Original Noodle & Rice-Bowl - Los Angeles (Little Tokyo) Daikokuya Original Noodle & Rice-Bowl - Monterey Park Foo Foo Tei Noodle House - Monterey Park Santouka - Costa Mesa Santouka - Los Angeles Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen - Gardena Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen (various locations) 8450 E. Valley Blvd., #103 Rosemead, CA 91770 626 572-8646

11 comments:

  1. Hey WC - You don't know how much
    I miss the Ramen in LA.....

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  2. hi wc, do you know if they have the eating challenge here: finish seven refills of noodle and the thing is free...

    http://biggestmenu.com/rdr/CA/Fountain-Valley/Shin-Sen-Gumi-1590465/Hakata-Ramen-10373?rssk=2

    how does this ramen compare to daikokuya? or foo foo tei?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Kirk,

    The FV location isn't too far for you to drive from SD.

    Hi Henry,

    I'm not sure if the Rosemead location has the challenge yet. They did have $3 specials for their one year anniversary but that passed. I remember the FV location didn't have the challenge for a while and only the Gardena one did. So I think it just varies by location. I sort of remember it happening around the lunar new year? You know, long noodles, long life and all that?

    I've never tried Foo Foo Tei. My brother and cousin think Daikokuya is better. I haven't eaten there so I can't say. I'm not sure if Shinsengumi makes their own noodles though. I know they're known for their broth but not necessarily the noodles themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  4. i just recently went to the one on brookhurst. my hubbie loves it. we wanted to try this one in rosemead and bring my mother in law. ack.. weekends are crowed? thanks for the tip. but we only vist her on weekends ? :(

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  5. Hi Budding Cook,
    Weekends are crowded parking-wise. The restaurant isn't. You just have to be a little more diligent about finding a parking spot.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wandering chopsticks,
    I went to the FV location for the 1st time and asked the waitress for recommendation and the recommended the bento boxes. I wasn't impressed with the bento which had mainly rice and fish and it was pricy I thought. May be I'll try the ramen next time.
    What type of Ramen would you recommend?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Sam,

    Welcome!

    For the first time? If you're going at lunch, I'd order the set lunch of ramen and gyoza. And maybe a normal amount of broth, light oil, and soft noodles? So even if you aren't too impressed with the ramen, the gyozas should make you happy. Well, dumplings always make me happy anyway. Dinner sets are more expensive.

    If you're looking for a better deal, go to the other side of the restaurant for the udon set lunches. I like sansei udon, that's fiddlehead fern and Japanese mountain vegetables. I would suggest the udon set with a rice bowl and chicken meat balls. Udon is only served at lunchtime. At night, that side turns into a robata grill and each skewer is around $2, so even more pricey if you're looking to fill up.

    Let me know if those work out for you.

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  8. I'm eager to try this place out for a while. Thx for posting this up :) I need to know bout their portion size especially the pork cha shu ramen hehe..been to FFTT in Rowland Heights. Although the ramen bowl is huge, everything else is great, from the broth to the meats, for the cha shu ramen, I only got like 3 "thinned" slice :( Love their fried chicken drumettes and the breaded livers. I like cutting them up and dump them into the soup hehe. Gosh, I'm torn btw this place and Mei Long Village, haven't tried that out either.

    ReplyDelete
  9. MW,
    Well, this was written before I tried Daikokuya in Little Tokyo. That's much better if you want ramen. :)

    The portions here are pretty small if you're eating only ramen. But not too bad if you're ordering other stuff.

    At both places though, you'll only get a few slices of pork. I think that's pretty standard.

    You mean compared to Foo Foo Tei? I haven't tried it myself but I hear it's pretty good. There's one in Monterey Park too.

    Mei Long Village too huh? Is that b/c of my post? :) There's so many restaurants to try!

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  10. everytime i've been, the gyoza at the gardena hakata have been thumb-sized.

    man, i miss this place!

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  11. Jenny,
    I just went back to the Gardena Hakata Ramen and I must say, it was much better than memory. But perhaps that's because I've started to eat more ramen? I didn't order any gyozas though.

    ReplyDelete

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