What do you do in Pasadena when it’s 100 degrees outside? Surely not ramen in an un-air conditioned restaurant. Right? Wrong. You see, sometimes you just need ramen and sometimes that means going to Tamashii for it. Tamashii is a small izakaya-esque spot that has a surprising variety for such a small place, even within the ramen section.
For some reason, the Black Tonkotsu stuck out to me because of the presence of black garlic oil, but I didn’t really like the other ingredients so I just ordered the Tonkotsu Sho-yu and asked for black garlic oil with it. Aside from the garlic, it came with bamboo shoots, green onions, fried onions, half an egg and pork. Both the garlic oil and crispy onions added a unique dimension to this ramen. The black garlic packed in a flavor very distinct from normal garlic, while the onion strings provided some texture. Needless to say, I wouldn’t be kissing anyone until long after lunch. The pork was of the melt-in-your-mouth variety, which is always better than the chewy type and the noodles and broth were both solid.
This was far better than is usually expected when you do the “Where is the nearest [insert food here]?” search. Next time I get a hankering for ramen in the area I’ll know where to go (and hopefully the temperature will be quite different).
