Hanamaruken Ramen

After months of curiosity about Hanamaruken Ramen, one cold, rainy date night was the perfect opportunity to try their Signature Happiness Ramen. 

Now, the obvious thing that separates this from any other bowl of ramen would definitely have to be the slow-braised custom cut soft bone pork rib on top. While other ramens are topped with thin slices of pork, with this, you are spoiled with a huge chunk of meat that's so tender all you need is a soft bite to tear it apart. It's so delicious I remember thinking to myself that I would actually eat that pork with rice. It has a sweet, barbecue-like glaze which slowly bleeds into the broth, making the soup even more flavorful as you're eating it. However, even without the pork rib, the shoyu tonkotsu broth can confidently stand on its own. When the ramen arrived to our table, the first thing I did (aside from take pictures) was taste the broth. One slurp was all it took and I instantly understood why it seemed inevitable for people to not post pictures of this ramen on Instagram. The broth is so rich and flavorful, but still has a very clean taste.

Martin and I just shared the ramen because we knew we wouldn't be able to finish a bowl each, but we did order some Gyoza on the side. Their gyoza did not disappoint as well. I loved the crispiness of the pan-fried side while the rest of the wrapper was soft and chewy. When you bite into it, what greets your palette is the brightness of the garlic and greens, which makes it the perfect pairing to the heavy ramen. 

On the bowl of the ramen, there's a piece of seaweed which according to our server reads something like, "Happiness coming your way." This rainy season, while the winds and rains are on their way, we can all take comfort in the fact that so is happiness when we eat a bowl of ramen on a cold, rainy day.