I am in the minority. I have yet to swoon over a bowl of ramen.
I have tried. Seriously, I have!
I've downed bowls brimming with pork broth at hot spots like Chuko Ramen, Ganso Ramen, and Ivan Ramen, and recently tucked into the steaming bowl pictured above at a new neighborhood place called Kogane Ramen. They all are fine, but I feel like I'm simply missing something when I see friends weep with joy as they dive in.
Perhaps the real thing can't live up to the hype I experienced early on in my introduction to authentic ramen -- the uber-foodgasmic 1985 Japanese film Tampopo. It made learning the culinary art of ramen look like a quest to find the Holy Grail (if the Holy Grail could illicit heavy slurping and oohs and aahs.)
I'll probably continue trying ramen at friends' behest. I just hope that some day I will have a ramen awakening.
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