Archives for March 2016

Japan Travel – Visiting Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum

March 15, 2016 by Pechluck 4 Comments

Last week, I covered part one of our day trip to the Yokohama area, and visiting the Cup Noodles Ramen Museum and making our own custom Cup Noodles. Part two is when we headed to the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum. Shin Yokohama is located about 15 minutes from Yokohama, or about 45 minutes from Tokyo.

Just outside the doors fo the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum indicating you have reached the right place!

We didn’t stay to eat ramen at the Cup Noodles Ramen Museum during our visit because it isn’t vegetarian friendly – and by vegetarian I include not eating seafood. There are lots of places in Japan to eat delicious ramen, and you can even find several areas where there are many ramen joints close together so you can progressively enjoy multiple ramen shops at once – the famous areas particularly are Tokyo Ramen Street at Tokyo Station, and Kyoto Ramen Koji/Street. But, good luck again finding multiple vegetarian ramen.

The Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum, on the other hand, not only offers multiple ramen, including “mini” portions that are smaller intentionally to help you try multiple bowls of ramen. And, there are multiple vegetarian ramen choices if you combine all the 9 shop options. And, the vegetarian ones are clearly marked. If you don’t eat pork, these are also clearly marked.

Atmosphere

After purchasing your entrance admission (310 yen) to the Ramen Museum here, you have a day pass – so you could come for lunch and then leave and get your hand stamped and return for dinner. After going through the turnstile showing your ticket or handstamp, you enter a entrance hallway. Here, you can see boards listing the free wifi information as well as info about the different ramen shops you can dine at and what they specialize in. They have brochures too with a map in multiple languages.

I should warn now that although it is titled the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum, I would not really call this a museum. It really qualifies more as a food amusement park featuring ramen dishes from different regions of Japan. The museum is part of the gift shop and maybe has only 2 walls worth of information letting you know about the 26 prefectures and showing you some historical ramen items, but not much else in terms of content. The museum is the same size as the gift shop, which is smaller than the slot race track which I’m not quite sure why it’s also here.
The Shin-Yokahama Raumen Museum is more of a food park then a museum, since this is one of the few exhibits they have on ramen, and this museum is maybe the same size as the gift shop right next to it

To get to the food part, descend to the 2 floors of basement below – you can find small lockers on your way down here to leave your coats if you’d like. As you go down the stairs, the effect is as if you had just walked down the stairs from the train, and it’s also a jump back in time because the streetscape is like it’s almost dusk in 1958. Even though this area is really 2 floors of basement, the details of the sky, the 2nd floor windows with laundry and lights like they are apartments, and first floor windows are decorated like storefronts or movie theaters, really add to a cool atmosphere of old era Tokyo.
Inside the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, featuring a streetscape like it's 1958 and nine ramen shops from around Japan with different specialty ramen to eat

On the first floor of the basement, there are even sound effects on loundspeakers of monks chanting, or a cat meowing, or movies or radio music from the era, as you walk down the different “alleys” of a neighborhood of homes and bars that circle around the since the middle area is open to the second floor.
Inside the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, featuring a streetscape like it's 1958 there are even sound effects on loundspeakers of monks chanting, or a cat meowing, or movies or radio music from the era, as you walk down the fake alleys of a neighborhood of homes and bars

There are different food stands throughout the 2 floors including 8 ramen shops, 1 Okinawa Izakaya tavern, a bar, and a cafe and snack shop. There is also a fortune teller at a table you can visit, a old fashioned neighborhood sweets shop, and there seems to be a game for kids in Japanese where they help look for clues and solve a crime/Wanted Poster cases as we saw them turning their evidence into a “uniformed officer” during our visits. We also saw other performers, like a magician.

To order, like many ramen shops, there is a machine by the door where you put in money. After pushing buttons corresponding to your food, little slips of paper with the dish names print out. This is true of all the ramen shops, the Izakaya tavern, as well as the bar at Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum.
The Bar inside the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum where you also order by machine

As a plus though, here at the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum there are also several large laminated menus in multiple languages (Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and English) with corresponding numbers to match the machine buttons and with symbols standing for whether a dish has pork, is vegetarian, etc.
At Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum, similar to many ramen shops, at each place you order from a machine. Here luckily plastic laminated menus explain the dishes in Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and English with corresponding numbers to match the machine you will insert money and get your food ticket from.

Not only are main dishes like ramen on the machine, but so are extra accompaniments you might want to eat such as extra meat, noodles, rice, or side dishes, or beverages. For instance at the shop Nidai-me Genkotsu-ya they offer jumbo gyoza – just look how big they are compared to my chopsticks!
At Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, you can get more than ramen- for instance Nidai-me Genkotsu-ya offers jumbo gyoza

They were super juicy too…
At Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, you can get more than ramen- for instance Nidai-me Genkotsu-ya offers jumbo gyoza

When there are seats available you hand it to the attendant at the front and they will bring you your food when it’s ready. On the menu, there are always a few “mini” smaller portions so you can try a couple different ramen from different places. Every person who sits down is expected to order ramen if they are an adult.

Ramen Recap

The first ramen place we decide to try at Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum is at the shop Ryu Shanghai Honten, whose trademark is in its super-fat noodles folded over 32 times and that their spicy miso ramen is topped off with a scoop of the raw, spicy-hot miso. They had a mini version of this specialty spicy miso ramen that I ordered, while F got a full portion of his first vegetarian ramen.
The first ramen place we decide to try at Shin Yokohama Eamen Museum is at the shop Ryu Shanghai Honten, whose trademark is in its super-fat noodles folded over 32 times and that their spicy miso ramen is topped off with a scoop of the raw, spicy-hot miso

The second ramen place we decide to try is an Italian ramen restaurant called Casa Luca featuring Milano Tonkotsu that is advertised as having Italian flavor, plus you can order it with Peperoncino or with Parmesan, though I did neither. The pork bone broth (tonkotsu) has olive oil added to it, the chashu is grilled after being massaged with Italian rock salt that gives a hint of pancetta, and the noodles use a blend of Japanese flour and Italian flour of Durum Semorena, a flour often used for Italian pasta and bread. This time the vegetarian shoyu ramen version looked different enough to get a photo. You can also order Italian sodas and wine if you’d like at this shop.
The second ramen place we decide to try at Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum is Casa Luca featuring Milano Tonkotsu that has Italian flavor (you can order it with Peperoncino or with Parmesan) The vegetarian ramen at the second ramen place we decide to try at Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, Casa Luca Milano

Next for the third ramen he and I separated- him to Komurasaki known for their specially-flavored oil, and roasted, crumbled garlic chips on their ramen to get the vegetarian ramen there, while I headed to the famous Sumire which didn’t offer vegetarian ramen. Here’s a look at their shoyu broth ramen and then their famous miso ramen where the meat is minced and distributed throughout the bowl so some people order a bowl of rice to go with their miso ramen. Of all the noodles I had these were my favorite of all the shops, they are Hokkaido-style noodles that are medium-thick, slightly hard and curvy.
Sumire which didn't offer vegetarian ramen. They are famous for their Miso Ramen, but I hit the wrong button and got the shoyu and didn't realize it until the ramen got served... oh well! This shoyu broth was still super delicious, and these were my favorite noodles Visiting the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum - My mini-ramen here from Sumire. They have Hokkaido-style noodles that are medium-thick, slightly hard and curvy and were my favorite among the ramen I tried. I'm getting the famous miso one. The meat is minced so is throughout the bowl - some people order a bowl of rice to go with this Visiting the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum - My mini-ramen here from Sumire. They have Hokkaido-style noodles that are medium-thick, slightly hard and curvy and were my favorite among the ramen I tried. I'm getting the famous miso one. The meat is minced so is throughout the bowl - some people order a bowl of rice to go with this

F’s vegetarian ramen from Muku Zweite and then my mini ramen with meat. The ingredients for the ramen noodles uses durum flour for pasta and flour for pizza which is unique for this ramen shop with origins from Frankfurt, Germany. For my ramen broth, the soup is boiled for 3 days with pork bone and chicken. You can also order German beer and currywurst sausage here in the shop and include as one of your toppings for the ramen sauerkraut (!? Which I didn’t do).
Visiting the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum - Fred's vegetarian ramen from Muku Zweite. The ingredients for the ramen noodles uses durum flour for pasta and flour for pizza which is unique for this ramen shop from Frankfurt, Germany

Finally, the Okinawa “Ryukyu new noodles Tondo” by tavern Ryo Next / Izakaya Ryouji with their scorched black shoyu ramen.
My mini bowl of scorched black shoyu ramen, my last bowl at the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum

Dessert at the bar included shochu and sweet potato ice cream, and beer.
A beer at the bar of Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum Dessert at the bar of Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum included shochu and sweet potato ice cream

I know some online reviews complained about having to pay an admission to then pay for food and drink at shops to eat, but 310 yen is so little for the clean access to restrooms and the wi fi and the English translations I think it’s totally worth it – and even more so if you have a vegetarian with you, or someone who doesn’t eat pork, since both those are labeled on all the menus here. As a vegetarian, F loved that he has multiple options here and so I definitely recommend if you are vegetarian and in Tokyo you come and visit.

Perhaps I could have gotten better ramen at specific shops in Tokyo, but the ones here were pretty good and all conveniently located. I did try to go to Tokyo Street later during the trip, but the lines were so long we ended up coming back to Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum a second time to get ramen we missed during our first visit. I would be impressed if you can fit more than 3 mini ramen portions in a visit – because that’s all I could handle.

Check out the Shin Yokohama Museum website for which ramen shops are here (they may rotate) – they have the menus of each of the shops, and also an approximate waiting time if any, but only on the Japanese version of the website so you’ll need to translate. They also have videos with subtitles of visits to each shop to give you an idea of the various shop specialties before you visit available on both the Japanese and English versions of the site.

For me, my favorite style of Japanese Ramen is the intense Sapporo style ramen which has the depth of a fermented miso base, especially with the additional topping of corn and a pat of butter, and Hokkaido noodles which are thicker and wavy instead of straight, which makes a different in that they are more firm and I like the texture of the slight folds even though it means more likely splatter when slurping. The soup is so super rich that you can order an additional plate of noodles after your first bowl (kaedama) to add to your soup and still be really happy. At least that’s me.

What do you think of the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum – would you call it a food amusement park? Would you ever visit a food amusement park – and what of food would you want to see featured?

Next time on my Japan Travel post, I’m finally going to take you out of the Tokyo area and show you our explorations in Kyoto! And if you are getting a craving for ramen after this post, come back on Friday when I talk about where you can get authentic Tokyo ramen in Portland.

Here’s a summary of my Japan Travel post series:

Guide to Planning a Trip: Research
Guide to Planning a Trip: Mapping
Hagoita Ichi Winter Festival at Sensoji Temple, Japan
Japanese Treats at Temples and Shrines
Winter Illuminations in Tokyo (Winter Season – November – February!)
Snow Monkeys in Hot Springs
Onsen by Mount Fuji covers Onsen 101 and how we loved our stay at Lake Kawaguchiko
Dining at a Ryokan a look at what a traditional dinner and breakfast might be during a ryokan stay
Visiting Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama (just outside Tokyo)
Visiting Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum
Kyoto Temples and Shrines (walking tour starting in Higashimaya with stops especially at Kiyomizudera Temple, Kodaji Temple, Heian Shrine)
Kyoto Temples in Arashiyama
Kyoto Tofu
Kyoto Famous Sights of the Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion) and Fushimi Inari (Red Torii Gates)
Famous Signs of Osaka and eating Osaka Food specialities like okonomiyaki, takoyaki and kushikatsu
Visiting Himeji Castle, the famous white castle in Japan
Fun at Japanese Cafes and More including Maid Cafe, Cat Cafe; theme parks of J World and Namja Town, a geeky stop at Kanda Myojin, and Ghibli Museum
Japan Eating Checklist is my top 25 list of things to try to include as an eating experience when visiting Japan
New Year’s in Japan: Oji Fox Parade, and some photos of a Meiji Shrine visit on New Year’s Day

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Travel Tagged With: #japantravel, #pechandfredjapan2015, #traveltuesday, Japan travel, Japanese ramen, ramen, Ramen Amusement Park, ramen food park, Ramen in English, Ramen Museum, Ramen Park, Ramen Tourism, Ramen Tourist, Recap of Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum, Shin Yokohama Ramen, Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum, Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum Review, Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, Tokyo ramen, Tokyo Ramen Museum, Tokyo vegetarian ramen, travel Japan, vegetarian ramen, vegetarian ramen in Tokyo, Visiting Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum, Yokohama Ramen Museum

Cabbage Casserole with Leeks, Ricotta, and Nuts

March 14, 2016 by Pechluck 6 Comments

It’s March, so besides Portland Dining Month as I wrote about earlier, I was also inspired to look forward to St Patrick’s Day. Though I’m not a fan of green beer or over-drinking, or food with green dye (in fact I intentionally wrote a post last year promoting recipes for food that is naturally green).

Last year I also made Reuben Sliders

This year I was inspired by the Vegetarian Times recipe for Cabbage Casserole with Leeks, Ricotta, and Pine Nuts. It is completely vegetarian, and ok, maybe doesn’t really have anything green in it either that stands out except for the parsley – but hey it uses cabbage for those of us who don’t want the corned beef. With the red and green colors, I would consider making this for Christmas too.
Cabbage Casserole with Leeks, Ricotta, and Pine Nuts

Cabbage Casserole with Leeks, Ricotta, and Pine Nuts with Butter Tomato Sauce

Serves 4-6. It’s important to remove as much liquid as you can from every part of the dish before you assemble them in the casserole. My trick to doing this is by baking it in a foil lined 8″ by 8″ pan. Then after baking, I can pour any extra liquid out and since it’s on foil easily lift and transfer the casserole onto a serving platter.
Cabbage Casserole with Leeks, Ricotta, and Pine Nuts

In many ways, this is essentially a kind of eggless lasagna that uses cabbage instead of pasta for the layering.
Cabbage Casserole with Leeks, Ricotta, and Pine Nuts

The original recipe makes a tomato sauce using just chopped tomatoes, minced garlic, and parsley. However, I made my own version with a butter tomato sauce that utilizes just tomatoes. To keep this vegan follow the original recipe instead, and then swap the low fat ricotta with a cashew ricotta or tofu ricotta. By using my version with the butter tomato sauce I was trying to add a little extra flavor then their simple tomato sauce, but the original version, I admit, is healthier.

Ingredients:

1 can crushed tomatoes in its own juice (28 ounces)
1 whole onion, peeled and cut in half
5 tablespoons of butter
12 large leaves of savoy cabbage
3 teaspoons of olive oil, divided
1 cup of chopped leeks (about 1 leek)
½ cup low-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 of a lemon, cut into slices
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 cup of low-fat ricotta cheese, drained of liquid
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

Directions:

In a small pot, simmer the can of crushed tomatoes with the peeled onion halves (cut it lengthwise so it will stay intact) and 5 tablespoons of butter for about 30 minutes, stirring once a while to distribute the flavor.
Meanwhile, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons of oil in a small skillet. Add the 1 cup of chopped leeks and saute until they are bright green. Now pour in the 1/2 cup of low sodium vegetable broth, add lemon slices on top and let everything simmer until there is essentially no broth left, probably about 30 minutes. Remove lemon and set aside the lemon and broth flavored leeks – again, keep in mind there should be no liquid.
While those two pots are reducing, boil some salted water and blanch the 12 large savoy cabbage leaves by letting them soften in the boiling water for about 5 minutes or so and then immediately plunge each leaf in iced cold water. Remove each leaf from the cold water and pat dry on both sides and set aside for layering your casserole shortly.
By this point, your tomatoes should have absorbed most of the flavors from the onion and butter. Discard the onion, or set aside for another dish. In a medium sized skillet over high heat, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of oil. Saute the minced garlic for about a minute and then add about 1 cup of the crushed tomato only using a slotted spoon to use up the chunky tomato flesh parts – you can use the leftover of your sauce for spaghetti that is left in the other pot. For now, after adding the 1 cup of tomato to the minced garlic in the skillet, stir for a few minutes and then stir in the 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley, and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Now it’s time to assemble the cabbage casserole. Coat an 8 inch square baking dish with cooking spray – or do what I did which is I used a foil layer inside the baking dish, and then sprayed that with cooking spray so that I could easily lift the casserole out later and serve it on a platter.
Place 3 of the large blanched cabbage leaves on bottom to start the layers.
Spread 1/4 cup of your tomato garlic parsley mix over the cabbage leaves layer.
Top with 1/3 portion of your lemon vegetable broth flavored leeks (1/3 because you will need to do 3 layers of this in assembling the cabbage casserole).
Now spread 6 generous tablespoons of the low fat ricotta, and sprinkle 1 tablespoons of the toasted pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper.
Now repeat these steps, adding 2 more layers. At the end, top with your fourth layer of 3 cabbage leaves and last of the tomatoes mixture.
Bake in the oven 30 minutes.

If there is a lot of liquid that comes out of the casserole, drain the liquid.
Cabbage Casserole with Leeks, Ricotta, and Pine Nuts

Then serve in slices, just like you would any lasagna or casserole!
Cabbage Casserole with Leeks, Ricotta, and Pine Nuts

Are you doing anything for St Patrick’s day, or making any special green or Irish inspired food? Are you too looking forward to the evenings when you come home and there is still some sunlight / natural light to enjoy now that we’ve gone through Daylight Savings time change and leapt forward?

Filed Under: Cooking, Food and Drink Tagged With: #MeatlessMonday, Cabbage Casserole, Cabbage Casserole with Leeks Ricotta and Nuts, Cabbage Lasagna, Christmas casserole, Foodie Friday, Green food, holiday vegetarian, holiday vegetarian recipe, meatless monday, red and green casserole, St Patrick's Day food, St Patricks day recipe, vegan lasagna, vegetarian, vegetarian casserole, vegetarian cooking, vegetarian dish, vegetarian entree, vegetarian recipe

Portland Dining Month 2016 Review

March 10, 2016 by Pechluck 4 Comments

Here’s a look at some of the $29 for 3 courses Portland Dining Month 2016 meals I’ve enjoyed so far. All of these restaurants in this Portland Dining Month 2016 Review are from the list I shared last week of my top picks from the Portland Dining Month list. This is the order I happened to dine at them…

Clyde Common

What I really like about Clyde Common‘s options is how it’s a mashup of Northwest goodness with a little bit of a hint of Filipino influence, which is a unique perspective. And those lumpia, which I’ve had before, keep bringing me back, along with the cocktails. Seriously, the lumpia are such an awesome match to alcohol, and every time I see my fellow bar patrons going for the fries (though they are perfectly crispy!) instead of lumpia, I see it as such a missed opportunity. I’ve been visiting the Clyde Common bar for years, but since Chef Carlos Lamagna took over the kitchen I’ve been going more often for lunch and dinner because the food options are now just as compelling as their award winning cocktail program at the bar (OpenTable rez avail). Dinner service starts at 6 PM.

First course: Pork and shiitake lumpia with house sweet and sour sauce and spicy greens. I think I’ve already told you what I think of the lumpia earlier… <3
Second course: Preserved ramp butter risotto with grana padano, chili oil and chicken chicharrónes. I liked the dish but wished for a little bit more chili oil to help brighten up the richness of the risotto.
Third course: Local bee honey panna cotta with chèvre whipped cream, mixed berry jam and candied pine nuts. So good, a great play of textures with the creamy and the jammy and crunchy and sticky in a perfect proportion in every spoonful.

Ataula

Ataula for Catalan (Spanish) cuisine by James Beard 2016 nominee for Best Chef Northwest Jose Chesa is a must visit with this deal. The first two tapas together are usually worth $19 and a full version by itself of the third course dish is usually $34 and for two people, so I was happy that now there is a smaller portion option so you can try this paella (ha ha and then you can justify ordering another full size one if you wish to try two paellas, or a lot more tapas… muahaha). And, you get dessert with a warm fresh doughnut! Ataula opens for dinner (no reservations except for parties larger than 6 people) at 4:30 PM Tues-Sat.

First course: Pulpo octopus carpaccio with sun-dried tomato, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pine nuts and pickled cipollini onions
Second course: Tortilla de patatas con bellota with farm eggs, confit potatoes, onions and 4-year cured ibérico ham
Third course: Mini rossejat negre with toasted noodles, calamari, squid ink, sofrito and harissa aioli. Instead of a pan that can feed 2-6 like their normal size, this one is individually sized (or two if you order more tapas!) I’m a cute mini pan.
Fourth course: Doughnut, brioche, spiced sugar as a perfect ending

Willow

Willow is just opening in March right now, but they are participating in Portland Dining Month! They don’t have a regular menu available – this is their only menu for the month before shifting to their 6 course tasting menu in April, so here’s your chance to try them out on a smaller scale. Though when I say that, their 3 courses for $29 also included an amuse bouche, intermezzo palate cleanser, and a little coffee with tiny snack, so is that really 3 courses?

They are working using the Tock reservation system that automatically has you pay for the meal and tip in advance, and you have a choice of whether to also order ahead a beverage pairing whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic. They are open Tues-Sat with seatings at 6 PM, 8 PM, or 10 PM. You need to get there pretty much on time because of these seatings because they serve all the dishes at once to all the guests when proceeding through the courses. When you arrive, it’s almost like you are at a supper club at someone’s sophisticated apartment – they have a lounge area for you to wait in until they are ready to seat you.
Willow PDX - waiting area before being seated at the chef's counter

There is also a living room of sorts that later after dinner you can be served coffee. Their small chef’s counter for the meal almost feels like you are setting at a friend’s bar – it is intimate, seating only 10 people, and easy to converse with fellow dining friends.
Willow PDX - lounge area where later we would have our after dinner coffee and snack Chef's Counter of Willow PDX

Their Portland Dining Month food menu for the month (since you get no choice – though they can accomodate some special diets within reason – for instance the person next to me had a vegetarian meal – the Short Rib steak was switched out for Kabocha Squash steak instead) are

Amuse-Bouche: Itty Bitty McMuffin with squash glaze, egg yolk, dehydrated kale, their own mini muffin
First course: Cream of celery root soup with charred roots and thyme. It was first placed before the broth was added so we could admire the wonderful textures of the celery root prepared 4 ways including hay roasted and pickled, and they took advantage of as much of the whole product as they can by including the celery leaf as an ingredient here as well as in the broth. The hay used to roast the celery root also was combined with grapeseed and hazelnut oil to make the hay oil, and there were little bits of hazelnut. I loved the various layers of flavor so that every spoonful was a little different depending on what preparation of celery you may have in your scoop, and really great variety of texture.
Second course (choose one): Short rib steak with glazed vegetables, potato and sauce bordelaise or Cauliflower steak with glazed vegetables, potato and sauce bordelaise. Wow, that steak was rich and melt in your mouth, I was cutting very small pieces just savoring it.
Intermezzo: Cilantro ice cream and yogurt. I loved how rich that yogurt was! I need Chef Doug Weiler to tell me where he sourced this from again it was so creamy and thick.
Third course: Chocolate cake s’more with meringue and graham cracker – this translates into a very dense chocolate cake with with praline, just toasted meringue with a huge flame by Chef John Pickett, graham, and with the best wine pairing of the night a Burmester 10 year Tawny Port from Portugal.
After Dinner Coffee and Snack

I had the wine pairing which included 2014 Franchere Gruner Veltliner, 2013 Santa Cristo Grenache, and Burmester 10 Year Tawny Port, but the non alcoholic pairing was very intriguing as well, as it included Apple and Celery Kvass, Mirepoix Sun Tea, and Sweetened Oat Milk. There were also a la carte beverages available including Fentiman’s Rose Lemonade or Dandelion & Burdock, Lurisia, Burnside Brewing Couch St Lager, pFriem Pilsner, and Breakside Brewing Wanderlust IPA.

I can’t wait to go back to try the 6 course format in the future at Willow!

You can see the full list of participating restaurants at the Portland Dining Month website.

Where have you eaten, or where are you planning to eat? What’s your Portland Dining Month 2016 Review so far of the participating restaurants you’ve been?

Filed Under: Food and Drink Tagged With: #foodiefriday, Ataula Portland Dining Month, Ataula Portland Dining Month 2016, Clyde Common Portland Dining Month, Foodie Friday, PDM, PDM 2016, pdx, portland, portland dining month, Portland Dining Month 2016, Portland Dining Month 2016 Review, pulpo octopus carpaccio, rossejat negre, Tortilla de patatas with iberico ham, Willow PDX, Willow PDX Portland Dining Month

Japan Travel – Visiting Cup Noodles Museum

March 8, 2016 by Pechluck 4 Comments

During our first week staying in Japan, we stayed in Shinjuku, a busy area known for lots of shopping, entertainment, and Shinjuku Station is Japan’s busiest railway station. This was great for us in that it was super easy to get food and drink (varying from department stores to lots of restaurants and nightlife establishments), and the train station is a hub for many train lines.

So it was very easy to decide that morning to take a day trip to Mount Takao, or on another day, we took a day trip to Yokohama and made it a Ramen Day! Our first stop was visiting Cup Noodles Museum, also known as the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum. This is one of the 2 branches of the museum – the other is in Osaka.

Not far from Tokyo – about 40 km south, or about an hour by train, is the city of Yokohama. If you recall vaguely from your history books, this is the fishing village that became the epicenter of foreign trade when Commodore Matthew Perry landed around here in 1853 and Japan opened itself for the first time to the outside world. Today, Yokohama is the second largest city outside, and the foreign influence shows in that is a port town, and it is also home to the largest Chinatown in Japan. It is still home to lots of trade and visitors, though now the focus is more on amusement and tourism then foreign trade and military presence. This includes the Cup Noodles Ramen Museum, Cosmo World Amusement Park, Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium and amusement park, Kirin Beer Village, and other activities. You could easily spend a whole day, and it would be a great family trip together.

As you are walking from the train station to the Cup Noodles Ramen Museum in Yokohama, you won’t help but notice the huge Cosmo Clock 21, at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world and the world’s largest clock with a height of 112.5 m / 369 ft and diameter of 100 m / 330 ft and 60 cars each carrying 8 people. The presence of the tall ship as we walked along the waterfront past Cosmo World was a modern nod to the ships that might have docked in the area more than 150 years ago. Other modern skyscrapers also compliment the skyline here.
Cosmo Clock 21 (at one point the tallest ferris wheel in the world and world's largest clock with a height of 112.5 m / 369 ft and diameter of 100 m / 330 ft and 60 cars each carrying 8 people) in Yokohama

Both Cup Noodles museums in Yokohama and Osaka have an instant ramen workshop allowing visitors to make their own “fresh” instant noodles (fresh as in just made the noodles at least!). Reservations must be made in advance for this fresh ramen making activity called Chicken Ramen Factory. There is also a My Cupnoodles Factory where visitors can assemble their own personal Cup Noodles from pre-made ingredients for a small fee. You can decide to do this when you buy your admission ticket if there are times available, so much easier to add to your schedule. We decided to only do the personal Cup Noodles container since making noodles is a lot like pasta making so that workshop didn’t seem worth the time… especially since we were planning to go to another Ramen Museum after this (I’ll cover that next week).

At least in the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum we visited – there are 5 floors of ramen fun. Well, really only 4 since the 5th is for events. The 1st floor is the Museum Shop, 2nd is a theater explaining the history of instant ramen’s invention, the 3rd has activities like making ramen noodles or your personal Cup Noodles, and the 4th is a Noodles Bazaar with various ramen from around the world to eat in a food hall.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - very clean, simple design reflected throughout the museum except in the Noodles Bazaar. This is reflective of the philosophy that you don't need state-of-the-art facilities to research and invent things because it’s the knowledge in your head that’s important Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - 5 floors of ramen fun! Well, really only 4 since the 5th is for events. The 1st floor is the Museum Shop, 2nd is a theater explaining the history of instant ramen's invention, the 3rd has activities like making ramen noodles or your personal Cup Noodles, and the 4th is a Noodles Bazaar with various ramen from around the world to eat in a food hall.

The way of the flow of the museum goes, you start with the history area, which is on the second floor since the first floor is the lobby with Entrance Hall to buy your admission or make activity reservations and the Museum Shop.

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Second Floor

It’s a pretty cool visual sight to see what they dub the Instant Noodles History Cube that displays the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen from 1958 through the approximately 800 product packages that were created to now. The breadth and depth of different packages really demonstrates how a single product has grown to the 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world now.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - the Instant Noodles History Cube shows the instant noodles lineup that started with the original Cup Noodles Chicken Ramen. Approximately 800 product packages shows how a single product grew to te 100 billion servings of instant noodles that are consumed every year around the world

It’s fascinating seeing the various flavors that have been created and changes in marketing over time and how it varies internationally.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - in the Instant Noodles History Cube, see rare products from the past. Take a trip down memory lane as you search for a favorite instant noodles package from your past or kinds you never saw before from other places in the world

You can then watch a 15 minute film about the history in the Momofuku Theater of how Momofuku Ando came up with the idea for instant noodles. It is a pretty fun film using animation with big bobble headed versions of people and a little humor to walk through the thoughts that led up to the invention of instant ramen and then of Cup Noodles.
At Cup Nooodles Museum, watch the 15 minute Cup Noodles history in the Momofuku Theater with animated episodes demonstrating the thoughts that led up to the invention of Cup Noodles

Momofuku Ando invented the world’s first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, in 1958 after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had constructed in the backyard of his house. Right after the short film, a wall opens to a narrative timeline of the instant ramen invention (Creative Thinking Rooms) that starts out with a replica of his little shed (Momofuku Work Shed). You can step right into the shed, which is very humbling to see as the origin of such a vast empire and a savior to many a poor student. The giant wok pot of oil he was experimenting with definitely seemed to be very unsafe lab conditions for the year while he was inventing instant ramen!
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - On August 25, 1958, Momofuku Ando invented the world's first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had constructed in the backyard of his house. Cup Noodles was invented then in 1971

One of the things I really enjoyed about the museum is also the philosophy it tries to teach to its visitors. Momofuku Ando was 48 years old when he started Cup Noodles. It involved a huge bounce back from personal hardships which they kept sort of vague, but I found he was raised by his grandparents because his parents died when he was an infant, and as an adult he went to jail convicted of tax evasion in the form of providing scholarships to students, and his company went bankrupt and he lost all his assets except his house.

There is no such thing as too late in life and don’t give up, the museum tries to message. Given the era of time this was also in (end of WW II), you can see how this optimism was really reflective of the rebuilding the whole country was going through too.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - On August 25, 1958, Momofuku Ando invented the world's first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had constructed in the backyard of his house. There is no such thing as too late in life and don't give up, the Momofuku Ando Cup Noodles museum tries to message.

The museum aesthetic is very clean, simple design reflected throughout the museum rooms except in the Noodles Bazaar. This is reflective of the museum’s other message that you don’t need fancy or expensive facilities to research and invent things because it’s the knowledge in your head that’s important. The museum goes into detail in finding inspiration from every day things and thinking outside the box. Charming doodle like drawings accompany the narrative from the original instant noodle ramen invention in 1958 to the Cup Noodles initial invention in 1971 to Cup Noodles for consumption in outer space and carried on the Space Shuttle Discovery. It does seem though those who know Japanese get a lot more info than those who just know English from the placards.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - there's an actual vacuum pack of Space Ramen, the instant noodles developed for consumption in outer space and carried on the Space Shuttle Discovery

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Third Floor

On the next floor is the area for the Chicken Ramen Factory I had mentioned earlier where you done bright yellow bandannas with the Nissin chick mascot on it and make noodles, as well as the area where you make your own custom Cup Noodles – My Cupnoodles Factory. It’s pretty cheap to sign up for the custom Cup Noodles experience and it will only cost you 300 yen. The admission is for set times during the day, so make sure you keep an eye out for when your time slot is. As you can see, this is appropriate for pretty much ALL ages.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. In a cup that you design, select your favorite soup from among four varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Altogether, there are 5,460 flavor combinations.

There’s just 8 steps to the process:

Get a cup from the vending machine (300 yen) and sanitize your hands.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Get a cup from the vending machine (300 yen) and sanitize your hands. The cup will have a lid on it for now to keep it clean

You will be directed to empty seats at communal tables that have markers to decorate your cup. You will also see a preview of the ingredients you can choose to fill your custom cup with a custom ramen noodle combination. There are four varieties of soup and you get to choose four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Don’t worry, there is a lid on your cup as you are decorating to keep it uncontaminated inside.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. A lid is put on top of your container so it stays uncontaminated until the ingredients are added while you decorate your cup

Next you will be directed to one of the lines to fill your cup. I have to hand it to the ladies who man those cup filling stations, they were super cheerful and patient with guests of all ages and languages, and always had a bright smile on their faces and clear gestures to show you the process. In the first part, you will turn a lever to place the noodle cup over the already flash fried noodles upside down – one of the big discoveries as part of the Cup Noodles invention. By putting it upside down, the noodles don’t get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. By putting the cup upside down onto the noodles, the noodles don't get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line.

The designer in me loved the clear simple explanation in multiple languages on the glass of each station, and when you’ve reached the end of turning the cup to place the noodles in the right part, the crank gives this satisfying click and you can feel it click in the handle too.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. By putting the cup upside down onto the noodles, the noodles don't get stuck when you drop into the cup and mess up the assembly line.

Now you choose one soup flavor from among 4 varieties and four toppings from among 12 ingredients. Altogether, there are 5,460 flavor combinations possible! Soup flavors include original, seafood, curry or chili tomato. Ingredient options include kidney beans, crab flavored fish sausage, corn, shrimp, egg, cubic roast pork, garlic chips, kimchee, Hiyoko-chan fish sausage (the chicken face chips), cheddar cheese, and green onion, and one seasonal limited edition additional ingredient that varies.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package.

The next portions the staff perform for you to observe – the packaging of the cup where you seal the cup,
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients

then you shrink wrap the cup
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Staff will seal your cup after adding ingredients

Then you inflate a protective bag using an air pump
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. Inflate a protective bag using an air pump as the final step

Now you can wear it as a ridiculous necklace accessory.
Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum - Here at the My Cupnoodles Factory, you can create your own completely original CUPNOODLES package. You decorate it yourself and choose the ingredients for a custom ramen mix

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Fourth Floor

The Fourth Floor is the Noodles Bazaar, which is essentially a food court offering instant ramen flavors from around the world at various stations that you then eat in an open cafeteria area. Our goal was to go to another Ramen Museum which had ramen representations of different prefectures o eat, so I only have a few pictures to show you the atmosphere here since we didn’t eat any ramen.

All around the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum Noodles Bazaar eating area are multiple booths with various kinds of ramen from around the world to try in a setting like an outdoor food court market

So, what did you think of this Ramen Adventure part 1? Is it what you expected from an Instant Ramen museum? Would you visit this museum or not, and what would you decorate or choose for ingredients in your custom Cup Noodles cup?

Next week- Ramen Adventure part 2 to Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum.

If you’d like to read a little more on Momofuku Ando, it was his 105th birthday on March 5 2015 and Google had a cute doodle for him you can read here!

Here’s a summary of my Japan Travel post series:

Guide to Planning a Trip: Research
Guide to Planning a Trip: Mapping
Hagoita Ichi Winter Festival at Sensoji Temple, Japan
Japanese Treats at Temples and Shrines
Winter Illuminations in Tokyo (Winter Season – November – February!)
Snow Monkeys in Hot Springs
Onsen by Mount Fuji covers Onsen 101 and how we loved our stay at Lake Kawaguchiko
Dining at a Ryokan a look at what a traditional dinner and breakfast might be during a ryokan stay
Visiting Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama (just outside Tokyo)
Visiting Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum
Kyoto Temples and Shrines (walking tour starting in Higashimaya with stops especially at Kiyomizudera Temple, Kodaji Temple, Heian Shrine)
Kyoto Temples in Arashiyama
Kyoto Tofu
Kyoto Famous Sights of the Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion) and Fushimi Inari (Red Torii Gates)
Famous Signs of Osaka and eating Osaka Food specialities like okonomiyaki, takoyaki and kushikatsu
Visiting Himeji Castle, the famous white castle in Japan
Fun at Japanese Cafes and More including Maid Cafe, Cat Cafe; theme parks of J World and Namja Town, a geeky stop at Kanda Myojin, and Ghibli Museum
Japan Eating Checklist is my top 25 list of things to try to include as an eating experience when visiting Japan
New Year’s in Japan: Oji Fox Parade, and some photos of a Meiji Shrine visit on New Year’s Day

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Travel Tagged With: #japantravel, #pechandfredjapan2015, #traveltuesday, Cup Noodles Museum, Cup Noodles Ramen Museum, Cup of Noodles Museum, Day trip from Tokyo, guide to Cup Noodles Museum, Guide to Visiting Cup Noodles, Instant Ramen Museum, Instant Ramen Museum Tokyo, Japan travel, Make your own Cup Noodles, My Cupnoodles Factory, Ramen Museum, Ramen Museum Yokohama, review of Cup Noodles Museum, Tokyo Ramen Museum, tour of Cup Noodles Museum, travel Japan, Travel Tuesday, traveling in Japan, Visiting Cup Noodles Ramen Museum, Yokohama

Stupid F***ing Bird at Portland Center Stage

March 7, 2016 by Pechluck Leave a Comment

When I saw last year that Stupid F***ing Bird was on the list for Portland Center Stage‘s season, I was pretty excited. Around this time last year I attended the PCS production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike which was a fun modern take with references to famous Russian playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov as well as a bit of meta mocking and mashup of theater and modern times. I really enjoyed the production. Stupid F***ing Bird is similar, but focuses specifically on having fun with Chekhov’s The Seagull. Stupid F***ing Bird at Portland Center Stage is running now until March 27.

Art by Julia McNamara poster for Stupid F***ing Bird at Portland Center Stage. By Aaron Posner Directed by Howard Shalwitz
Art by Julia McNamara presenting Stupid F***ing Bird at Portland Center Stage. By Aaron Posner Directed by Howard Shalwitz

You don’t have to know anything at all about Chekhov to enjoy Stupid F***ing Bird. It addresses things we can all relate to as a human being- loving someone and wanting to be loved back, wanting to be meaningful, wondering about the point of life. And as you can tell right away from the title, it does so in a cheeky way that doesn’t hold back from expletives and strength of feelings.

If you want to know a little background though, Chekhov spotlights how the everyday includes opposite moods and emotions occurring simultaneously. Overall, his works reflect that life is comedic and maddening and fascinating in being sorta terrible. I believe Chekhov inspired Leo Tolstoy in showing how unhappy families are all unhappy in their own way.

(l-r): Kate Eastwood Norris as Emma Arkadina, Ian Holcomb as Conrad Arkadina, Charles Leggett as Eugene Sorn and Cody Nickell as Doyle Trigorin in Stupid F***ing Bird at Portland Center Stage. Photo by Patrick Weishampel/blankeye.tv

Similar to The Seagull, in Stupid F***ing Bird not a lot of action happens onstage – instead, the audience experiences the conversations and observations that lead before and in the aftermath of those offstage events – and this script follows suit. You are an observer of a group of people and their relationships to each other because drama is people in the everyday, rather than big events. Thankfully, Stupid F***ing Bird trims down the original play to a manageable number of people and acts, and their names are a lot more normal to make it a lean and more effective and clear story. It doesn’t follow the The Seagull directly but more takes inspiration by carrying forward all the intended sentiments but into more current times, and distills it into bigger emotions.

The play brings the weight of the inner turmoils and longings within each of its characters quickly and succinctly – each of the actors and actresses were perfect in completely embodying who they are even without words. Each person is complex – with a positive trait as well as a negative trait that helps you empathize but at the same time shake your head a little.

Con, played by actor Ian Holcomb is the energy that propels the people through the story with his desperation for love and meaning. I don’t know how as an actor he digs in every night to find the emotional energy to pour into portraying the brash ambitions of that kind of young man so well. He really makes it real, helping everyone feel for his “I want to change the world” hopes while also feeling exhausted as he takes himself so seriously. You can relate to the bemusement, patience, and exasperation reactions of the other characters to him.

Meanwhile, you can understand his obsession with the radiant Nina played by Katie deBuys whose presence is like a breath of fresh air compared to all the glass half empty viewpoints everyone else has. She does a wonderful job of presenting that lightness at the start that contrasts sharply as she hardens, with a great assist from wardrobe from floaty ethereal garments to being all wrapped up in layers from coldness at the end.

(l-r): Katie deBuys as Nina, Cody Nickell as Doyle Trigorin, Kate Eastwood Norris as Emma Arkadina, Charles Leggett as Eugene Sorn, Darius Pierce as Dev and Kimberly Gilbert as Mash in Stupid F***ing Bird at Portland Center Stage. Photo by Patrick Weishampel/blankeye.tv

I most fell in love with Kimberly Gilbert’s Mash through her brilliant physical presentation with her body language, fully taking advantage of stage presence. While Con and Nina may be the center of the story, it’s the tragedy and comedy as represented by Nina, or the perfect timing of observations by Charles Leggett as Sorn, that I think are the heart of the play. They experience a quieter, parallel addressing of Con’s and Nina’s yearning for love and meaning, and I think Masha and Sorn serve as the author and audience surrogate. The script also breaks the fourth wall immediately, including us the audience as observers that those on the stage are conscious of and sometimes directly address and interact with at times, and getting meta with it’s source material as well as theater in general and us!

After the play, it’s interesting to chat with others who have seen the play on your order of who you liked the most to least, in order. I won’t give away the end, but it’s one that leaves it open to us and ensuing conversation to decide what it all means, if anything at all…

There is some mature language and sexuality so PCS recommends it for ages 16+. The play notes that “Contains mature language (surprise!) and content, fleeting nudity, fog, loaded guns and theater people.”

Stupid F***ing Bird at Portland Center Stage run until March 27. The performance runs for approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one 15 minute intermission. All performances are at the Armory (128 NW 11th Avenue, in the Pearl District) on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. See more details and other ticket specials for groups, students, military, or learn about rush tickets here.

Tuesday – Sunday 7:30 PM. ($25-64 for adults Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sun, $25-70 for the Fri-Sat evening performances)
Saturday and Sundays at 2 PM and Thursdays at noon ($25-53 for adults)

You can enjoy $10 off select tickets to Stupid &?@#!*% Bird using promo code “SOCIAL”. Note that the promotional code valid only on seating areas 1-3 and is not valid on previously purchased tickets, student tickets or in combination with other discounts and is subject to availability.

As a special for March, PCS is hosting a special March series of Social Hour events featuring local performance companies Hand2Mouth, Performance Works NW, PETE and Shaking the Tree. These are events that allow you to connect with Portland artists prior to a performance on all Thursdays in March from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. (includes a beer or glass of wine on PCS) and all Sunday’s in March from 1 to 2 p.m. (includes a complimentary mimosa on PCS)!

Disclosure: I was invited to see this production, but I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.

Filed Under: Sponsored Post, Theater Tagged With: PCS, PDX Theater, PDX Theatre, play review, portland, portland center stage, Portland theater, Portland Theatre, review, Stupid [bleep] Bird, Stupid F Bird, Stupid F***ing Bird, Stupid F***ing Bird by Portland Center Stage, Stupid Fucking Bird, theater, theater review, theatre, Theatre Review

Archives for March 2016

Japan Travel – Visiting Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum

Atmosphere

Ramen Recap

Cabbage Casserole with Leeks, Ricotta, and Nuts

Cabbage Casserole with Leeks, Ricotta, and Pine Nuts with Butter Tomato Sauce

Portland Dining Month 2016 Review

Clyde Common

Ataula

Willow

Japan Travel – Visiting Cup Noodles Museum

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Second Floor

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Third Floor

Visiting Cup Noodles Museum – Fourth Floor

Stupid F***ing Bird at Portland Center Stage

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