Cha-shu ramen at Kanpai in Los Angeles, CA
We decided to take a last minute trip to LA to see some friends and to complete my Radisson stay to collect my 50K point bonus through the Club Carlson Big Night Giveaway.
Our flight to LA actually arrived early and we immediately headed over to Kanpai, our favorite LA sushi restaurant for some late night sushi and ramen. While the sushi at Kanpai is amazing, I had never had their ramen because they only serve it at off peak times…in this case only after 10:00 pm. In fact, they have a stipulation on their menu stating that you must eat the ramen in the restaurant (no take out) and you can’t even take your unfinished portion home. Personally I think this is excessive, but I must admit the restrictions did pique my interest in trying it.
I ordered the cha-shu ramen, which at $13 seemed a bit steep for noodles, but after trying it, I was sold. The noodles were a very traditional style, unlike Orochon in downtown LA, which seemed more like spaghetti noodles than ramen. The miso broth was wonderful and served at the perfect temperature. It was not watery at all, but had plenty of flavor with limited saltiness. What I really loved about the dish was the cha-shu pork, which was so tender it was falling off my chopsticks! The pieces were nice, thick cuts of pork with a nice blend of fattiness and meat. If I hadn’t known better I could have easily mistaken this for pork belly, but the meat portion was too lean to be pork belly. In any case the ramen was outstanding and went perfectly with a cold glass of Kirin!
On Saturday we checked into the Radisson LAX on a pre-paid rate of $79, which I am hoping that it will qualify for the Big Night Giveaway and net me 50K+ points, which will set me up nicely for another trip out to Europe, hopefully soon.
