“Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.”
—Anthony Bourdain
Several years ago Former President Barak Obama and the late food critic Anthony Bourdain proved that you don’t need a five-course meal at a fancy restaurant to enjoy yourself when they sat down on plastic chairs and slurped down some cheap, but delicious noodles at a restaurant in Hanoi. Our son Jason stopped by, and it was Cecile’s Mahjong night with her friends. I asked him if he wanted to grab dinner out. I told him I had a craving for Ramen noodles. He was of like mind and found one close by near the Pruneyard, called Hinodeya Dashi Ramen.
We were first-time customers and didn’t know what to expect. We chose to sit on their covered outdoor patio. The place has nice casual atmospherics. The waitress told us to order online by placing our cell phone over the barcode on our table to check out the menu. Before, I was able to take out my credit card, Jason said he was going to treat. It was the best offer I had all day:).
We ordered a bottle of Sapporo, a crisp refreshing lager and a side dish of Gyoza, which are dumplings filled with pork and chicken and served with dashi sauce. For the main dish we ordered Tori Paitan (Chicken Ramen). It was a nice layered dish with Ramen noodles and a tantalizing rich dashi-style broth at the bottom followed by leaves of fresh spinach, fillet of chicken, Shiitake mushrooms, a half soft boiled egg at the top, and a slice of crispy kale on the side of the dish. The Ramen was fresh and we loved the savory taste. What distinguishes Hinodeya from many Ramen bars with its light clear dashi-style broth is fish-based as opposed to being pork-based. The owners are a Japan-based family whose culinary business ventures go back 136 years in Northern Tokyo founded in 1885. Hinodeya first made its debut in San Francisco ten years ago. Seven types of ramen are offered with wheat noodles or vegan spinach noodles. Home Ramen Kits available for takeout or delivery. I am definitely going back again for more.
Photo Credit of Former President Obama & the late Anthony Bourdain (Reuters)
