TaishoRamen 面屋大勝拉面 — Restaurant in City of Industry

We stumbled upon Taisho Ramen while in the plaza and decided to give it a try since it's new and seemed popular. The place is small and was fully packed when we arrived, but the waitlist system was straightforward. After signing in on a pad, we waited for about 10 minutes, which wasn't bad considering the crowd.

We ordered Combo A - Rich Tonkotsu White Soup ramen, Taisho Pan-fried Dumplings (small size), and a coke, and Combo B which we went with Special Tonkotsu Shoyu ramen, Fried Pork Cutlet (small size), and a coke. Starting with the ramen, both soup bases were rich and intensely porky. The Tonkotsu White Soup was creamy and smooth, definitely the highlight of the meal. The Shoyu soup, however, was underwhelming--too salty for my taste and not particularly special. It's worth noting that the menu doesn't appear to offer any non-pork or non-pork-based ramen options. The ramen itself was average, nothing memorable.

As for the sides, the pan-fried dumplings were okay, but the fried pork cutlet was disappointing. My kid found the meat too tough and only ate the crispy skin. The Taisho Chashu Rice didn't fare any better-it was dry, underseasoned, and required extra soy sauce to be remotely palatable. Even then, it felt lackluster. Lastly, the Taisho French fries were overly salty, to the point where ketchup became a necessity to make them edible.

Service was fine, food came out fast, given how busy they were--nothing extraordinary, but no complaints either.

Overall, the food was disappointing. It might've been an off day due to the weekend rush, but the flavors and execution didn't live up to the buzz. While the soup bases were rich, the rest of the meal fell flat. I'm not sure l'd rush back...

My mom loves Japanese Ramen, so we had to come check this place out even though they are in the Soft Opening phase. My dad was in a wheelchair and the staff were very friendly and helpful in getting him situated (thank you!). Overall, staff was great and friendly.

We ordered the Tonkotsu ramen, unaqgi bowl, and chicken karaage. I’ve had better chicken kaarage elsewhere based on flavor alone, but the pros they have going for them is that the chicken (dark meat) were big generous chunks, well fried, and came with a side of mayo and wedge of lemon. Personally, I would’ve like a bit more sake flavor coming through. While eating the unagi bowl, my dad was already asking if we can come back again - he really liked the egg, pickles, rice, and eel (that’s everything minus the seaweed garnish lol). The tonkotsu ramen had a thick tasty broth, as advertised, and was quite delightful and decadent. Again, I wished the egg had more sake flavor, but that is a minor detail. The music was a bit loud but the decoration was very nice - looked peaceful.

We are definitely coming back, and looking forward to the kitchen doing even better post...

Everyone in the SGV has been talking about this HOT🔥 new restaurant that just opened in Rowland Heights last month, and I finally got to go, so here's everything I tried and what it's really like.

First of all, it's a vibe. It feels like you're dining in a Japanese izakaya in a small alley, and you know they've nailed their recipe down when there's only 4 types of ramen on the menu.

They really emphasize their meats here, like the pork chashu that's slow-cooked at low temps, and you can really taste the smokiness of the pork belly chashu in the Special tonkatsu shoyu.

We also got an Unagi rice to share which was so tender and I'm such a sucker for unagi sauce.

Definitely don't skip out on the Gyozas, and their Karaage chicken had my eyes popping out of my head when it arrived to the table. SO huge but still so juicyyy

Thanks for...