Today Jonathan Kauffman asks, “Why are we so half-hearted in our adulation of Japanese noodles? Is it because that one sublime ramen shop has not manifested here? Or are we simply pasta Unitarians, our hearts flush with love for all noodles rather than a blinding, blinkered passion for one pure strain?” He answers this by teaching us a bit about tonkotsu ramen, long the rage in New York and L.A., and reviews the fairly recent local examples of the form at Izakaya Sozai (“There’s a pronounced porkiness to the broth, which intensifies when I chase down the droplets of pork fat huddling around the edges…”), Saiwaii Ramen (“While Saiwaii’s crinkly noodles would horrify purists (most tonkotsu ramen is served with a skinnier, straight noodle), they’re cooked a proper al dente.”), Ajisen Ramen (“not flawless but solid — and it’s certainly the best dish I’ve ever encountered in the shopping center’s upscale food court”), Ramen Dojo in San Mateo (“storms the palate with thicker noodles, fattier broth, and dude-ish rushes of umami”), and the still nomadic Hapa Ramen (“all [Nakano’s] ramen wants now is one swaggering, charismatic element, something to provoke the id as well respect for his technique.”) [SF Weekly]
Paul Reidinger dedicates his introductory, three-paragraph meditation this week on the meanings of “downtown” and “uptown,” both etymologically and as to how they hold meaning in S.F. Eventually he gets to reviewing Uptown Joe’s in Pacific Heights, where he finds some “sickly” looking minestrone but he seems pleased with the calamari steak, “tender with just a hint of chewiness (can we say al dente in this context?) and doused with lemon butter for a fillip of decadence.” We love it when you say “fillip,” Paul. [SFBG]
