Friday, May 21, 2010

Shin Sen Gumi

Ramen at Shin Sen Gumi.

We went to the one on Valley Blvd and it was right next to a fruit shop. With Durian! Yipe, what a stench! It smelled like rotting fruits! Isn't that an environmental odor violation? On the other hand, I don't think the AQMD regulates agricultural sources.

The food is not too bad, though the selection is very limited. Instead of offering the major ramen types like seaweed, miso, salt and the like, they have just one kind with different sets, like ramen bowls that come in these chicken balls or gyoza. Or you could add seaweed or an egg and other things separately. Half portions are also available, which is an interesting twist to the american fast food cuisine which usually has super size portions as options. On the other hand, for the non-half portions, you can request more noodles for an extra 95 cents.

Since it was dinner, the sets were actually not available...so it was a bit of a pain choosing what to get. I finally settled on the half portion with a side of the chicken ball.


The menu did not have a good photo of what a chicken ball was...turns out it is merely a triangular balled shaped rice with stuff inside, but I don't taste any chicken. It's got these orange and brown bits that are definitely not chicken pieces; tastes a bit like turnips, but I'm not sure. It was not to my palette.

And in the ramen, I asked for an egg, and was expecting it to be lightly cooked into the soup...instead it was hard boiled!



But the green tea creme brulee was good, no disappointments there.


It turned out I had actually been here before a few months back except I forgot what I had ordered. The chicken balls did not make an impact on me the first time around because I didn't remember I ordered that upon my first visit until I ordered it a second time, saw them and recognized them and remembered I didn't like them for not tasting nor looking like chicken! So, now I'm writing all this down to make sure I don't order them again!! They are nothing more than fancy looking rice balls and just not worth the price.


*update- 2/2/11
Tried the Sesame Ice-Cream. It is full of flavor, rich and creamy!!
My only complaint is that there is only one scoop per serving!

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