A Stripmall Sleeper
TL;DR —
We found a ramen shop 10 minutes from our house that serves very similar tsukemen to Tsujita but is less heavy and a little sweeter. What we need to know is: how did this place fly under our radar for so long?
Garlic Edamame
We ordered the garlic edamame as an appetizer which was actually really delicious. It was served very warm and was dressed in a delicious garlicky-buttery soy-based sauce. The flavors randomly tasted just like Kenji’s famous garlic noodles that we cook on the regular except instead of noodles, the delectable sauce coated warm pieces of edamame.
Tsukemen
The tsukemen at Kai Ramen is delicious. We both wondered if maybe the chef had worked at Tsujita previously because the flavors were so similar. Some notable differences, however, were the type of noodles used and the sweetness and thickness of Kai Ramen’s broth. The broth at Kai Ramen was slightly sweeter than Tsujita’s and the broth was a bit thicker which could put some people off, but we thought it was nice for coating the noodles perfectly with each dip. The noodles were definitely a different brand than Tsujita and were reminiscent of the type of noodles DTLA Ramen uses. Still perfectly springy, but slightly different in texture. The egg was cooked to perfectly jammy perfection and their chashu, though on the leaner side, was still very tender and soft. Similar to Tsujita, Kai Ramen also serves their tsukemen with lime which one of us is a huge fan of. The only complaint we had about the tsukemen was that both the noodles and broth were served piping hot. We’re used to having the noodles at room temperature, so I asked our waitress if this was something they did, and she said definitely. Seems like it’s just something you have to specify when you’re ordering which we’ll definitely be doing next time.
Kai Ramen Alhambra
1261 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
