If you once slurped down plastic cups of the reconstituted stuff when you were broke, you might be shocked to know that nowadays people get very touchy about ramen — not necessarily Japanese people, either. Among the young and the hip, in fact, there are heated debates about where the finest bowl of noodles with pork, miso and soy, or sometimes chicken or veg broth, garnished with eggs, meats, and assorted veggies, can best be enjoyed. In New York, it’s Ippudo — in Los Angeles, Tsujita. For personal and foodie reasons, our family leans toward Ramen Tatsu-Ya in Austin, Texas.
And finally we can sip close to home. Three weeks ago, William Lam, who owns the Saigon mini-empire of restaurants in Santa Barbara and hails from a small village in Vietnam, went way out on a limb and opened a combo ramen and robata (skewered fish and meats) house where Esau’s on Chapala Street used to be. “I just loved Japanese food all my life,” he confessed. “And there was no place to get ramen when I first thought up the idea.”
Originally, the quiet, hardworking restaurateur planned to add the soul-enhancing Japanese soup to his Saigon menus. “But then the landlord [of the Chapala building] asked me if I was interested in opening another Saigon there. I just said, ‘No, I’m going to open a ramen restaurant.’”