In search of a hall runner rug to placate the underfoot downstairs neighbors, we traveled to Schaumburg, Illnois yesterday, destination Ikea. I was in charge of the map, so, of course, I routed the family, in the Honda Odyssey minivan borrowed from the in-laws (six CD changer; yeah, baby!), to Mitsuwa Marketplace, a Japanese grocery store that houses within its food court the best ramen in all of Chicagoland. (Well, who knows for sure, but it's the best ramen I've had here, and I have been looking!) The Santoka stand, pictured below (I do my captioning above pictures, instead of under them), charmingly peeks out from under a blue shingled roof, as if plucked from Japan and set down here in Arlington Heights by benevolent ramen gods.
I ordered one regular-size hot miso ramen and one salt ramen. We were so hungry, destroying both bowls of noodles the moment they hit the table, that I totally forgot to photograph them! So I had to go back after the meal and take pictures of the plastic food display. Looks real, no? The hot miso ramen is salty and spicy; the salt ramen broth is so dense it looks creamy and has subtle underflavors that I could not identity. YUMMY.
Knowing that we'd need more food, I also ventured to the kiosk next door and bought a chicken katsu plate, which looks like the plastic meal shown here. Chicken katsu is a deep-fried cutlet, usually cut into strips. The hallmark of a great Japanese katsu is its near greaselessness. This one was YUMMY. Awesomely, it came with a tiny scoop of potato salad and a small bowl of cold Del Monte canned fruit salad. It's so Japanese, but I can't explain why. Why do the Japanese love canned fruit salad. Anyone know? The Japanese also love mayonnaise combined with starch -- macaroni, potato, and, yes, even rice (as in sushi rolls that include a squirt of mayo). We also tried sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves and har gau (shrimp dumplings) from the Chinese food stand, and fried gyoza (pork dumplings) from the Korean food booth. I thought the gyoza were actually going to be mandoo, Korean pork dumplings, but they weren't. They were gyoza, for the Japanese people, I guess. These straggler items were kind of YUCKY. The har gau was too salty; the sticky rice was pretty good but I was the only one who liked it so maybe it wasn't that good; and the gyoza seemed not freshly made. Oh well.
For dessert, we had soft-serve green tea ice cream and vanilla ice cream; YUMMY (the vanilla was better than the green tea at first, but then the green tea really grew on me). I didn't take a picture of this either, so this is the scoopable ice cream–case, photographed after the fact. Clockwise from the pink one: plum, black sesame, green tea, and red bean.
I ordered one regular-size hot miso ramen and one salt ramen. We were so hungry, destroying both bowls of noodles the moment they hit the table, that I totally forgot to photograph them! So I had to go back after the meal and take pictures of the plastic food display. Looks real, no? The hot miso ramen is salty and spicy; the salt ramen broth is so dense it looks creamy and has subtle underflavors that I could not identity. YUMMY. 
Knowing that we'd need more food, I also ventured to the kiosk next door and bought a chicken katsu plate, which looks like the plastic meal shown here. Chicken katsu is a deep-fried cutlet, usually cut into strips. The hallmark of a great Japanese katsu is its near greaselessness. This one was YUMMY. Awesomely, it came with a tiny scoop of potato salad and a small bowl of cold Del Monte canned fruit salad. It's so Japanese, but I can't explain why. Why do the Japanese love canned fruit salad. Anyone know? The Japanese also love mayonnaise combined with starch -- macaroni, potato, and, yes, even rice (as in sushi rolls that include a squirt of mayo). We also tried sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves and har gau (shrimp dumplings) from the Chinese food stand, and fried gyoza (pork dumplings) from the Korean food booth. I thought the gyoza were actually going to be mandoo, Korean pork dumplings, but they weren't. They were gyoza, for the Japanese people, I guess. These straggler items were kind of YUCKY. The har gau was too salty; the sticky rice was pretty good but I was the only one who liked it so maybe it wasn't that good; and the gyoza seemed not freshly made. Oh well. 
For dessert, we had soft-serve green tea ice cream and vanilla ice cream; YUMMY (the vanilla was better than the green tea at first, but then the green tea really grew on me). I didn't take a picture of this either, so this is the scoopable ice cream–case, photographed after the fact. Clockwise from the pink one: plum, black sesame, green tea, and red bean. 
3 comments:
So jealous. Have been craving shio (salt) ramen for a few weeks and had a miserable substitute at the State Street Macy's (nee Marshall Field's ) upstairs (i.e. high end) food court. It's supposed to be a chef's version, but since it's prepared by non-Asians who have no clue, it's just not up to snuff, sigh... The same food court has a Frontera (Rick Bayless) outlet, but based on the ramen fiasco, I'm sure it's also a lame excuse for the real thing. I wonder if a Momofuku-esque place could ever make it in Chicago?? (But true ramen is so labor intensive--see Tampopo--and would all that effort be truly appreciated by the midwestern masses?)
The Husband said the same thing while we were eating: "Why doesn't someone do this in the city? It would kill!" I agree. A while ago I left a message at the Web site for a company called Wagamama, which I believe is a London-based fast-food ramen purveyor? (Is that right? I'm too lazy to Google it; sorry.) Anyhoo, I asked whether they had plans for a Chicago location and some actual executive from the U.S. operation emailed me back! He said that Chicago was on the radar for sure. I've never eaten at Wagamama. Is it any good?
The Actuary has also commented (esp. after our Tokyo stint) that a ramen-ya would rage in the Loop among the time-pressed Master/Mistresses of the Universe financial types downtown.
As for Wagamama, I've never eaten there or heard of it. That said, we are off to Beantown (boo Red Sox) this weekend, and will try to squeeze in a trip to the Faneuil Hall outlet. If we make it, I'll report back.
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