Restaurant: Iki Ramen
Location: 740 S Western Ave #115, Los Angeles, CA 90005. (424) 419-2772
Date: August 24, 2023
Cuisine: Modern Japanese
Rating: Big fun!
Michael K organized this omakase buyout at Iki Ramen.
Dreams do come true for these 4 best friends. 👏
Jeffry Undiarto (former n/naka GM), childhood friends Sabastian Karyadi (owner of ramen nagomi in New Jersey and formerly work at Mori sushi in LA) and chefs Hiroyuki Masato (formerly owner Poke Tendo, chef and manager at sushi chain sushi Mac) and Andy Juliady (owner seafood company based in downtown LA), together they co-founded Iki Ramen.
Giant shoutout to Michael organizing this private dinner to create more fantastic memories with new & old friends 🥰 Mary A Chevy Bonnie Joe Andy Erick Larry Brent Sebastian Aedyn Brad Gordan Conrad David Emily Fred Danielle David Linda Jio Jovi Jordan 🥂🍾🍷
The interior before we swamped it out.
A salad of white fish sashimi, greens, yuzu koshu, and pear. Very zesty and delicious.
Just a few of the bottles.
Tuna with truffle and a sweet soy. Delicious.
Incredibly tender octopus with sunomono.
Miso glazed cod.
White fish “custard” (more a thickened stock)?
Uni and squid ink pasta with truffles. This was an incredible pasta with a great chewy texture and absolutely delicious briny flavors.
Scallop, burrata, and tomatoes. Who would have thought this would have paired — but it really did.
Salmon, Tai, and crab sushi.
Toro, uni, and wagyu sushi.
Ginger.
Yuzu Shio Ramen. Yuzu citrus + sea salt seasoned organic chicken broth+house dashi. slow-braised niman ranch pork belly, hanjuku tamago, menma, nori, scallions. Really awesome and complex flavor.
Soft Shell Crab Bao. fried soft shell crab bao, cucumber, spicy mayo, chili garlic.
Cucumber Cut Roll.
Hand rolls.
Uni Sushi.
Toro sushi (chopped).
Truffle Butter Tonkotsu. Rich, shoyu seasoned pork bone stock, with truffle butter, pork belly, egg, kikurage, sweet corn, scallions, nori. Very rich.
Toro Uni Ikura don. Sushi rice, toro tartare, sea urchin, dashi ikura.
Crispy Japanese dessert. The shell wasn’t sweet at all, but it was crunchy.
Coconut Crunch Gelato — Coconut dairy custard base with Strawberry Wafers and house-made White Chocolate Coated Crunch Berries — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #coconut #crunch #crunchBerries #WhiteChocolate
Almond Gelato and Chocolate Expresso Sorbetto
Just a few bottles — the whole front row were ours!
Overall, this was a crazy fun evening. 23 people, very chaotic, over 30 wines, and tons of food. We had the whole place to ourselves so it was just a bit of a party. There were so many wines that things didn’t really run out either. Good times — except for the next morning.