Japan House Ramen Popup

Jul 25

A large bowl of ramen exhibit — Ramen Discoveries | A Popup Series
and
*“The Art of the Ramen Bowl”* exhibition

The popup series features different ramen styles and regions over the course of a few months. My bf and I decided to go during Mengyo’s Snapper Ramen style - the soup uses snapper fish. This seemed unique and different, especially compared to what ramen is typically available in our area (shoyu, shio, tonkatsu, or miso bases). I hadn’t had one with a seafood base before.

We made a reservation online using the booking system. This was pretty easy. However, the popup restaurant is a little difficult to find. It’s not in the same place as the exhibit, which is on the second floor. The popup is near Forever 21, there’s an elevator a little hidden in the corner. Take that elevator up to floor 5, round the corner outside, walk down the hall, there’s the popup restaurant. Took us a good 15 mins and asking around to figure it out.

Seafood ramen with smoked snapper and egg

The ramen was really tasty and unique. I got mine with smoked fish on top with an egg (of course) and my partner got chashu as his add-on. The soup definitely has the snapper flavor yet it’s nice, light, and not too salty. There’s an undercurrent of the smokey flavor in the fish and the egg. The chashu didn’t seem to have this, which is great if someone isn’t a fan of smokiness in general. I’d love to see more of this style of ramen in Southern California.

After finishing up our meal, we headed down over to the exhibit. The first section of the exhibit goes over the history and culture of ramen. It also deconstructs a bowl of ramen, which was very interesting. Breaking down all the different ingredients and technical specification as well as the bowl. Parts of this exhibit are interactive. There’s a display for smelling the different types of oils that go into the soup for example.

Ramen bowl art with narutomaki design — Gugi Akiyama

Ramen bowl art with a blue and white abstract design — Kenjiro Sano

The second part of the exhibit is the designer ramen bowls. I took some photos of the ones I thought were especially cute. Like this one with little narutomaki - fish cake. I ate these frequently as a child in soups, etc. The little pink swirl seems so happy. And I’m currently obsessed with shades of blue this summer, so snapped a pic of a bowl like that.

Ceramic ramen bowl — Celadon - Kei Wakao

Ceramic ramen bowl with pink, blue, and purple swirls — Shino Ware - Takumi Ando

The third part of the exhibit is about the Ceramic Valley of Mino which is a Japanese ceramics center. This part shares more about Mino - geography, history, and a collection of Mino ceramics. There’s different styles and they’re all beautiful.

Overall, this popup was a lot of fun. Loved the food and the exhibit. Makes me want to check out similar concepts for different items.

Location:
JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles
6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028

Have you been to a popup experience before? What’s your favorite type of ramen? Let me know in the comments below!