16: Erik Bentz | Cafe Mochiko, Ida Shoten, Shonan Negiya, Hasumi, Fukufukutei, Yokohama Iekei Samurai

Episode 28 of the Ramen in Japan podcast with my very special guest Jake Vo, who runs the Yume Wo Katare ramen shop in Boston. We have an extraordinarily interesting discussion about his way of traveling without planning too far ahead, about his experience of eating at Ramen Jiro Mita and Ramen Jiro Meguro, as well as both of our opinions about how Jiro stacks up against the Jiro style ramen chain Butayama. We also get into the Yume Wo Katare summit in Japan he visited and the things he learned from his Japanese colleagues. Check out the Instagram of Yume Wo Katare: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/yume_wo_katare/

Episode 27 of the Ramen in Japan podcast with my very special guest Preston Landers, who has had a very colorful career in the culinary world, all the way from making ramen at home, creating new ways to make garum, all the way to Michelin Star restaurants. In this episode we talk about his approach to ramen, his clam shio ramen recipe, how he became the world leading authority on garum and his new venture called NAOMI, which is a high end hand soap made for serious home cooks. Go and get yourself 1 or 5 bottles of his hand soap NAOMI right here on https://trynaomi.com/ Check out his his fantastic blog Culinary Crush, where he shares fantastic recipes, secret pro cooking techniques and tons of valuable culinary insights: https://www.culinarycrush.biz/

Episode 26 of the Ramen in Japan podcast with my very special guest Frank aka ⁠5 AM Ramen⁠. We talk about the latest ramen bowls that we had in Japan and the current summer special ramen that are all over Japan at the moment, including some quite unique things like cold ramen at Denny's. Make sure to check out Frank's website ⁠www.5amramen.com⁠. Todays covered shops are: Menya Mikan https://maps.app.goo.gl/UCokpH6DziXxyqxw6 Mendokoro Wakamusha Asakusa Fukushima Noodle Style https://maps.app.goo.gl/fdubsn55eGQ2vtdw6 Senrigan https://maps.app.goo.gl/cThKHH9siBVrEk8N8 This podcast is produced by Nama Japan. Check out our ramen website ⁠Namajapan.tv⁠ and our ⁠ramen YouTube channel Nama Japan⁠.

Episode 25 of the Ramen in Japan podcast with my very special guest Mike Harrison, owner of the ramen restaurants Hana Ramenbar (Park City) and Ramen Ichizu (Salt Lake City). We talk a lot of about his time at the "Rajuku" ramen school in Tokyo and his experience and insights of opening and running his ramen shops in the US. Of course we also talk some great bowls he and I had in Japan recently. In this episode, we talked about the following shops: Ramen Ichizu (Salt Lake City, US) https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ry9a6VfLEWPBNMZB8 Ramen Feel https://maps.app.goo.gl/PZFLFGZp5GuBaMuS6 Ramen Jiro Meguro ⁠https://maps.app.goo.gl/QTmD1xKJNmVgyCyo6 Gonokami Seisakujo ⁠https://maps.app.goo.gl/kXnmXVrJoYgwpZNu9 Chukasoba Mitaka ⁠https://maps.app.goo.gl/N6LpKhpaS1TNj7SS8

Episode 24 of the Ramen in Japan podcast is all about looking back into the ramen year 2023 with recurring podcast guest Cody Mizuno, also known as Ramenguidejapan. He is the prime source for English language ramen reviews in Japan and ramen tour guide for your future ramen tour in Tokyo. In this episode, we highlight all the top shops we have eaten in 2023 and also some of the disappointing shops, which have left us scratching our heads.. Top shops of Cody in 2023: Ramen Rikido https://maps.app.goo.gl/ULHHjMxRoihGbzaP7 Ramen Matsui https://maps.app.goo.gl/ThDiWsinKtiHFKnj7 Sakurajosui Funakoshi https://maps.app.goo.gl/5fC8FLkPXBEJPawCA Top shops of Sebastian in 2023 Ramen Feel https://maps.app.goo.gl/SVnrsPZDaqk789nx9 Ramen Bros https://maps.app.goo.gl/GZp7gZd4bKWeuGd19 Niboshimania https://maps.app.goo.gl/WYfbJbi4taV4Riwk6 If you would like to know more about other mentioned shops, just message me on Instagram @namajapantv

Episode 23 of the Ramen in Japan podcast with my very special guest Hans Lienesch, who is also known as the Ramen Rater. At the time of publishing this podcast, he has reviewed nearly 5000 instant ramen varieties. He and his family are currently going through some rough times, so if you could find it in your heart to help him out for all the work he does for the instant ramen world, you can find his donation site over here: https://gofund.me/76eef59a Check out his instant ramen review website: https://www.theramenrater.com/

Episode 22 of the Ramen in Japan podcast with my very special guest Jake Vo, who runs the Yume Wo Katare ramen shop in Boston. We talk about his dreams and philosophies surrounding ramen and his ramen shop. Get ready for a slightly different episode of Ramen in Japan. Check out the Instagram of Yume Wo Katare: https://www.instagram.com/yume_wo_katare/

Episode 21 of the Ramen in Japan podcast, this time recorded live and in person with Lindsay Steigerwald and Jesse Pryor, the co-owners of Neighborhood Ramen in Philadelphia. This is the first episode I have ever recorded LIVE, which was so much fun, we could barely stop ourselves and went to almost 3 hours of non-stop ramen talk! We start with the history and background of Neighborhood Ramen and then transition into Lindsay and Jesse's ramen adventure in Japan, which included a ton of great ramen shops in and outside of Tokyo. You can find the most important ramen shops we talked about below: Toy Box https://maps.app.goo.gl/WpHtrDgcsqB8Pu3c9 Nukaji https://maps.app.goo.gl/BcEdRANh9Wx9qVaG8 Ramen Jiro Matsudo https://maps.app.goo.gl/ppF3hNKpKj7F3Pyx5 Senrigan https://maps.app.goo.gl/YWRjNnufVTE6gmAc9 Hayashi https://maps.app.goo.gl/PWtbd3Hwi9xQkCfv6 Kissou https://maps.app.goo.gl/464RRg9rZduieRC8A Maruboshi https://maps.app.goo.gl/jnqUhfEXcDAhRVWf8 Maruko Ramen Center https://maps.app.goo.gl/xZPAYFm5nEwkK5nDA Uzu to Kaminari https://maps.app.goo.gl/8QZCEh4BEFQq25bt7 Bario https://maps.app.goo.gl/gWQCQa6qNZJbNQuP6

Episode 20 of the Ramen in Japan podcast with my very special guest Madoka aka Backyardramen, serial ramen pop-up chef and regularly viral with her ramen creations which you can check out on ⁠@backyardramen on Instagram. In this episode, we talked about the following shops: Mugi to Mensuke https://goo.gl/maps/X2GQWpRqC5GLjey68 Sennotori https://goo.gl/maps/Q1fNCis97qaGzj2T7 Hanauta https://goo.gl/maps/3yqsm4u7SJbHwQeW7 Suehiroya https://goo.gl/maps/NizGFt28xh2XcHaY7

Episode 19 of the Ramen in Japan podcast with my very special guest Drew Huckey, home ramen engineer and known as @darth.ramen.wednesday on Instagram. We talk about how he found his way to ramen, his recreation of the bowl I had at Maikagura in Tokyo, as well as the Neighborhood Ramen Pop-Up at Menya Nukaji in Shibuya and his latest bowl he had in the US at Union Ramen Bar in New Orleans. In this episode, we talked about the following shops: Ramen Maikagura ⁠https://goo.gl/maps/Po51D66aiz5qjiLr8 Neighborhood Ramen ⁠https://goo.gl/maps/8AQmqcbgBY1KNHUE8 Menya Nukaji (麺屋ぬかじ) https://goo.gl/maps/U2pDfTL1XKX6jnFk8 Union Ramen Bar (New Orleans) ⁠https://goo.gl/maps/FKJZRYWDHxpemuLG9