Chabuya Ramen, Sawtelle in West LA

Tampopo is one of my all-time favorite movies. The main character, Tampopo, strives to perfect ramen by all means possible. In this hilarious comedy about one of my favorite foods, you watch her trials and success with a not so surprisingly monster craving for a good bowl of ramen.

So when Dylan reviewed the newest ramen-ya on Sawtelle and raved about it, I knew we'd have to check it out sooner as opposed to later. Lucky for MS and me, Dylan planned a small dinner outing with a couple local foodblogger friends the other night, and off we were - to try the Classic Cha Shu Ramen at Chabuya Ramen. The upscale restaurant had a very modern, urban feel to it, with its hard lines and muted color scheme. And there was always a steady stream of anxiously hungry patrons waiting for their bowls of ramen - even for a cool Tuesday night. Unfortunately for me, I wore a heavy cable knit sweater to combat the cold outside, and felt the heat from the kitchen right when we entered the restaurant. I knew I was in for a warm evening with my order.

And Dylan was absolutely right on the money. It was pricey for a bowl of not instant noodles. I also agreed with Dylan that the bowl's presentation had an artistic flair to it, with the rich light brown broth, bright green onions, light colored thin noodles, and browned shallots. At first sip, it was exquisitely delicious with a mix of so many flavors. The noodles were thin without much substance and filled with starch. The cha shu was fatty and tasty, but also looked like bunched up slices of slightly cooked store bought bacon. Nothing too fancy there. And personally, I like the kind of pork that just shreds apart when you stir your bowl with chopsticks and then melts in your mouth when you eat some with a bit of egg, soup, onion, and noodles.

BUT after finishing most of the entire bowl, the MSG (as Dylan says) infused broth left my tongue tingly with remnants of salt in my mouth. I drank about three or four glasses of water that evening, and wanted something sweet to balance out the flavors. We walked down the street to Catch-22 for some late night boba.

Overall, I wasn't sold on this new trendy ramen-ya. It was definitely different than all the others. In the end, I still prefer my favorite noodle shop down the street on Olympic, a true Ramenya on the west side of the city.