Restaurant: Bangaichi Ramen
Location: 9810 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232. (424) 603-4341
Date: January 22, 2018
Cuisine: Japanese Ramen
Rating: Meh
The former location of East Borough has been empty for over a year and finally in comes…
Ramen — and right next to the former Ramen Roll location. Good thing we aren’t still open, more competition. hehe.
It was always a pretty space but on the odd side of the street.
Big menu.
They have a modern fixed build out and TVs.
A ramen bar and a full liquor licensee (EB must have had it).
Decent array of condiments.
Cold Tufu w/ Onion Slices. Tofu, white onion, dried bonito, sesame oil. I love this kind of soft Japanese/Korean tofu. This was a typical, but very oniony prep.
Gyoza. Decent classic pan fried gyoza.
Bangaichi Ramen. Char-siu pork, bamboo shoots, green onions, bean sprouts, butter, corn, seaweed, nori, seasoned egg. I didn’t really like this ramen at all. The broth was like miso soup and had very little richness and flavor. The toppings were fine for what they were, but it was just uninspired. I had to dump a ton of vinegar in to make it palatable.
I was there at a weird (late) lunch hour but I was the only customer. It screams Japanese ramen chain, but I don’t really get this type of Hokaido miso ramen. They are very Japanese in style and probably not that likely to appeal to a general American audience. And Culver City is a seriously white bread general American audience (as I learned first hand).