Amongst spam, sushi and Kahlua pork, ramen is a popular commodity here on the island. Now, I’m not a huge fan of Ramen. Honestly, I’m a little confused as to why it is so popular. Why would anyone want to eat noodles in steamy hot broth in Hawaii? It’s like drinking hot green tea in a sauna. Hot soup in Hawaii is to green tea in a sauna. The more I thought about it the more cleansing and relaxing it sounded to me. I suddenly felt the need for a proper detox, the Asian way, the Ramen way.

There’s a ramen place in side the food court at the Ala Mouana Mall. I decided to check it out after a long day of shopping. Naniwa Ya Ramen didn’t look very busy, the prices looked decent and the place looked clean. After further examining the menu, I ordered the won ton ramen. Now if your not familiar with what a won ton is, it’s a flat square noodle that is wrapped around meant, usually ground pork. Won tons can be prepared in soup, deep fried , or as my mother use to serve them, steamed with a dipping sauce. It took about 5 minutes till I got my food, I took a minute to observe my food before I ate it. The noodle’s were perfect, not over or under cooked, just like the green veggies that came with it. the broth was tasty, and hot. Temperature of food is a big deal for me. If food is meant to be hot, then that’s the way I want it to be. The brightly colored pink thing in my soup was scrumptious. It tasted like some sort of seafood. Just think of imitation seafood meat, but not flaky and not imitation. the won tons, on the other hand were a huge disappointment. the noodles were a little too soft, probably from being over cooked. The meat that resided within was barely the size of the meat in a can of spaghetti O’s. Not to mention it tasted like free-range meat. There was absolutely no thought put into the creation of what could have been a very tasty treat. Considering my family use to own a small Chinese restaurant where I have spent many hours in mass production of the won ton, yes it is safe to call me a won ton expert. I’ll have it put in bold print on my new business cards. At first I didn’t think enough of them were given, but the more I ate the more I wanted to trade them in for those brightly colored pink seafood things. The meal cost me a little over $7.00. Now $7.00 still puts you in the cheap food catacgory, but when it resembles that of a .25 cents top ramen pack it starts to look a little pricey. If you want my advice, go to the grocery store and buy some green tea and head to the nearest sauna.

Directions to Naniwa Ya Ramen