In 2012, I was in search of the best phở on O’ahu. It was a lotta fun! For 2014, my quest is to find the best bowl of ramen on the island. I’m quickly learning that this is going to be much more difficult. In fact, I’ve already confused myself. Finding the best phở was basically a simple process. Phở is phở. It’s a beef broth. I could compare apples to apples. Also, good phở is pretty much limited to Chinatown. With ramen, there’s tonkotsu broth, shoyu, miso, shio, sesame, and a varying combination of all. There are also many good shops in Waikiki, Ala Moana, and Kapahulu. Here’s what I’ve discovered so far. For phở, it’s all about the broth. For ramen, it’s the trio of the broth, the noodles, and the chashu in concert. I’ve also discovered that “real ramen” does not come with a curry or fried rice combo. Real ramen shops have real Japanese tourists waiting in line before the shop opens at 11am. Here are what I’ve sampled so far:

Looking forward to updating this post. Can’t wait to try more places. Gonna be blast….