Soda Rankings & Reviews Pt. 2 — It's Still Serious Business
Quick Introduction Faygo was never readily available in SoCal. The only time I saw it was at this huge liquor store that I'd wander around to peruse the large selection of soft drinks while I waited for my order from the fish-taco place nextstore : once they had EXACTLY ONE BOTTLE of the Cotton Candy, and then it was hella overpriced, like four fucking dollars or something for a 24 ounce ? And everytime I went back again it wasn't in stock. But the brand is super commonplace where I live now ( and usually the cheapest option, at a dollar and some change for a 2 liter ), probably because it's made like an hour away in Detroit — which is where Insane Clown Posse is from, explaining the juggalo association. For my part, I just can't turn down an opportunity to try cheap, regional cuisine. I haven't personally met anyone who seems especially interested in Faygo here, but I did see "Rock & Rye" markered on a sticker on the wall of a Spirit Halloween, so I can't be the only one.
Amazing
1. Cotton Candy
Sugary vanilla. Super tasty, but I haven't really figured out
what to pair this with. It winds up with a strange dessert-
soda status.
2. Rock & Rye
Hard to describe. Sort of like a fusion of maraschino
and cream soda, but with more depth than you'd think.
It's really special. I will miss it the most when I leave.
Great
3. Jolly Green Apple
4. Firework
Tastes like that redwhite&blue rocket popsicle. It is
such an unusual concept for a soft drink that I am
willing to overlook its slight cough-syrupy aftertaste.
Makes me feel a little nostalgic.
Good 5. Grape
By itself : whatever. But it pairs so well with sandwiches.
6. Dreamin
Okay I Guess. . . 7. Cream Soda
It tastes fine, it's serviceable, but why does it look like
unflavored sparkling water ?
Actually Kind Of Bad 8. Root Beer
9. Redpop
10. 60/40
~ Please Enjoy It Super Cold, OK ? ~
Thanks, Feigenson Brothers Bottle Works
My Favorite Fast Food Place
It's Culver's • posted 11/5/24
I’d never heard of Culver’s before moving to Michigan. Nor had I heard of JJ but every table’s got a placard with his image and a reminder that you can order your burger the very same way JJ likes it. This placard also introduces you to your nonsensically #'d table #. I like to sit at table #413, and there are definitely not 413 tables. Their logo is simply their name done in a neat-enough but still sort of carefree and boyish cursive, tilted to a playful slant. I do not watch sports, but this is very Baseball. A Google search reveals that the Royals, Braves, & Dodgers all use this EXACT approach to logo design. The ambiance is pretty Chik-Fil-A–ish but with a color scheme built around the deep, salutary blue of their logo. Also they’ve got this silhouetted icon they put on their cups that’s pretty illegible. It took me a long time to figure out it wasn’t a rustic wooden paddle ( which really puzzled me because they do not sell pizza ), but a custard scooper. Okay, enough about peripheral details that don’t really matter. One day I was waiting in line and there was a little kid ahead of me asking his mother for a Curder Burger. Intuitively, that didn’t sound great. In fact, it sounded sort of gross, like their Butter Burger. Nonetheless, I trusted the kid’s judgment. And when CurderBurger season rolled around — a mere two week’s long — I was blown away. Over the course of the meal, I realized it was the tastiest burger I’d ever had. It really is about that huge cheese curd patty and its very high cheese:breading ratio. ( I found a lead who may have information on who manufactures that cheese curd patty and how to get it, and I will update this page if that goes anywhere. ) The fish dinner is also incredible. A dinner roll, slaw, lemon, fried cod. . . It's the only actually good fast food fish I’ve tried. So yeah, Culver’s has got three dishes that are the best fast-food burger and breaded-meat and dessert ( cookie dough custard ) I’ve ever had.
♡ Ramen ♡
A Survey of Ramen Shops in THE O.C. • updated 6/3 Kitakata
A Brief Introduction to the Survey
I'm moving faraway in a couple months. This has provided a lot of great & specious justifications to do things I would've wanted to do anyway, like spend money to go places and eat things because, uh, you know, it's good to appreciate what you have before it's gone, right ? I suppose mortality can always provide this same rationalization, but with an end so near, it's a lot more convincing of an alibi. This list will be updated periodically over the next couple months as I reflect on and literally revisit various Orange County ramen shops. My secret inner goal is to review every single brand in the area, though this is tempered by the schoolroom adage "shoot for the moon for even if you miss you'll land among the stars."
Best Hironori, Irvine The other night at Chocolate Bash I ordered a dessert ; it wasn't to-go, but it arrived as it always does in a takeout container. I opened it up to see two fresh rectangles of belgian waffle totally smothered in sticky Lotus Cookie Butter all topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream that had a strange orange tint : its appearance was delightfully simple. Tasting it, my date & I were totally awestruck : that being awestruck was in part owed to the unassuming, unapologetic presentation.
On the other hand, let's talk about the title-restaurant. Not to mention their hipsterish decor & vibes & full name ( Hironori Craft Ramen ), their ramen comes with these, I don't know, ostentatiously thick & filet-mignonishly tender & even fucking blowtorched slabs of chashu. In Rae's words, they're so tryhard. Now, I don't mean to scorch anyone who puts effort into things, that part's laudable, but the word captures for me a specific flavor of effort : that which is directed into a hella predictable idea of success.
Don't get me wrong : their broth, noodles, and meat are all super great. I don't even think that it Lacks Heart — rather its heart is so frictionlessly made for the world that as I eat I can't help but regard it with unusual suspicion. So yes I dislike it for more emotional reasons than culinary reasons. It's topnotch, but I don't like it.
Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen, Fountain Valley
I must've gone here upwards of 40 times ; over the past 12 years, I've given this restaurant over half a grand. In fact, now that I think of it, this
probably takes the prize for my single most visited sitdown place by a wide margin. It's a tiny store : most of the floorspace resembles a narrow hallway, with
small metal tables on the one side & the bar on the other, right behind which the cooks prepare the ramen in a huge vat.
Shin-Sen-Gumi's tonkotsu is a real mixed bag. It's got a brilliant, highsalt broth. It's so salty that
Hen Hen thinks of it as fastfoodlike — though not as an insult : more in the sense that it's unpretentious, exciting, & addictive.
Then contrariwise you have the worst excuse for chashu I've ever had. From a certain perspective, it would be better that you don't even eat it.
Despite soaking in the rich broth, it somehow ( by whatever the opposite of a miracle is ) manages to avoid soaking up any moisture and flavor : it's a dry, tough thing.
But I eat the strips of pork everytime, often in a rush to get it over with, yes to avoid food wastage but also maybe out of some sort of loyalty.
I try to enjoy the sacrifice of my pleasure & to take the good with the bad to love the dish better. A puzzling amount of ginger is
included by default, but I find it complements the flavors in a very distinct way. The most remarkable part of the dish, though,
is its noodles. Whereas Kitakata sets itself apart with its extra thick, sort of wobbly-shaped ones, Shin-Sen-Gumi sticks to the
classic style & executes it better than any other ramen shop I've been to. I always mark the ordering sheet to order them Hard,
& then as the broth gets to room temp, I go Medium for the Extra Noodles. Their ramen is clearly not perfect,
& if good chashu is
important to you, you flat out will not like it. But to me, it's a masterpiece.
P.S. One Thanksgiving I participated in their Ramen-Eating Contest : I made it to 4 or 5 bowls, whereas the woman who won ate ~13. After that day, feeling terribly overfull, I had to take a long hiatus from eating here lol.
Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai, Costa Mesa & Fountain Valley No list of ramen in The O.C. would be complete without mentioning Kitakata.
Based on Yelp & word of mouth, this place is the best, and it's easy to see why.
The noodles are extra big ( as is typical of Kitakata-style ramens ) and sort of crinklecut,
the chashu's thick with a fatty meaty flavor. A lighter broth balances out the hardiness of the meat & noodles
— it's actually quite chicken-soupy, a fact that earns it the
Loneliwish Official Best Ramen To Eat When You Are Under the Weather Award. Which is not
just a jokey designation : I have had it at home while sick a few times & it consistently hits the spot.
All in all, if someone spoke the orthodox opinion on Kitakata in my proximity, I would have to compliantly nod along,
which isn't a terribly exciting conclusion, but there it is. Believe the hype. ( Bonus fact :
I went here on my first date with Rae, 7 years ago next month. <3 )
~ A TALE OF TWO CITIES ~ In the good old days, you would have to make the trek to Costa Mesa & park in either a
too-small lot it shared with another immensely popular Japanese restuarant ( this
one a ritzy BBQ place ), or find some overflow parking somewhere else, perhaps by
INVADING A NEARBY RESIDENTIAL ZONE. In any case, basically anytime you went here,
the line would be out the door, and there would be little metal chairs set up for a
small% of elect waiters ( like, people biding their time, not customer service ).
Now there's a new location in Fountain Valley at the edge of a ginormous lot
that has never once been even halfway full, & which hugs a McDonalds at its center ;
the location also has marginally more seating, and is rarely filled with people.
So there is certainly a psychological factor or two working against it. But I think, & have
confirmed with two other trusted sources, that it also just serves a slightly inferior product.
Point is, make the trip to Costa Mesa.
Worst
( All those beneath this heading, I would sooner eat Menraku Instant Tonkotsu at home for 2 dollars ) Kashiwa Ramen, Costa Mesa
Other Relevant Places I Have Already Been Pending Review Butaton Ramen, Orange
Slurpin' Ramen Bar, Costa Mesa
Kashiwa Ramen, Costa Mesa
Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, Costa Mesa
Hakata Ikkousha Ramen, Costa Mesa
♡ Fries ♡
A Defense of In N Out Fries
French fries are a food for which our US laity has cultivated an unusually discriminating palette, probably owing to the fact that the potato sticks are so easy and tempting to come by here. This by itself is a good thing in my book. But where expertise lies, the threat of snobbery sometimes looms.
Let me recall to you a few facts about my highschool Chemistry class. My teacher was by turns domineering and incredibly goofy : hard to get a read on. Once a boy who had seemed to be in our teacher's good graces raised his hand and, when he was called on, lightly joked about the strangeness of units of measure : an attempt at simple, lesson-relevant fun. But our teacher only scolded him in a harsh and distant voice : People like you give Chemistry a bad name. And the student started to cry. A mutual friend in silence consoled him, but the teacher went right on teaching. This same teacher was also the first person I ever heard spurn In N Out's french fries, and he did so in a display of the same — though quite a bit smaller — vitriolic passion.
His critique established for me a few hallmarks of the genre ( viz., the fry-hater's In N Out review ) that I would come to see friends repeat over and over throughout the years. The outstanding quality of their burgers is always leveraged as a hefty juxtaposition against which to bash the bland fries. Comparisons to cardboard abound. And one never fails to mention how horrifyingly time-sensitive the task of eating them is. ( According to legend, failing this window is what turns them to cardboard, after all. )
For my part as a lay fry expert, I understand the orthodox reading, I know its ins and outs — but I dissent. First, on the counts of blandness : In N Out's fries are best paired with ketchup. In fact, I don't know any other fastfood fry that plays quite so well with the stuff ; the rest of my top contenders, Canes & Chik Fil A, have a special nonketchup sauce that lifts them up. But to speak to their own taste, they are one of the few fastfood places that doesn't trim off the potato skins, yes losing a smidge of punch in that, but gaining in a kind of lightness. Plus In N Out's plain and simple approach harkens back to the retro imaginary of SoCal surf and eatery culture that the restaurant offers up in spades ( read more about the details of that vibe in suboptimalism's wonderful travel essay here ).
Last let's talk about the claim that if you don't gobble them up in ten minutes, they turn to cardboard. Let's say it's true. If it is, maybe it's trying to tell us something. Maybe it's a grandparent calling to us from downstairs to come down honey before dinner gets cold. Should we really hate our fries for saying that to us ? Try this. Instead of getting incensed at their call, pull over. Grab a table. Or don't. Eat parked in some residential street. Do what you can to try to cherish them for what they are.
♡ Ramune ♡
Soda Rankings & Reviews — It's Serious Business
Best ( Makes me contemplate the nature of my soul and of god ;
it is a mystery that fills me with much awe ) 1. Melon — click me !
I paired my Shirakiku meluné ( special insider portmanteau I invented ) with leftover Whole Foods foodcourt mac 'n' cheese. I wolfed and drank it all down fast. The Shirakiku was so sweet and good, with a hint of creaminess to it, and strong melon taste.
I chased a dinner of pizza slices with the Sangaria meluné. I found the melonfactor fainter, the flavor nearer to the original ramuné in this one. So Sangaria's soda being colorless, and Shirakiku's being of a garish, fée verte-like hue, was an appropriate visual contrast. But despite the more subdued fruitiness, I found Sangaria's to have more of a biting / piercing quality to it overall, maybe partly due to a slight bitter note.
For me, Shirakiku takes the crown melon prize !!!!
Great ( Wanted poster from the Wild West ) 2. Lychee Simply amazing. If I just wanted a simple, sweet ramune, this is the one I'd reach toward.
3. Peach More complex than lychee, but less intense. A good compromise between the depth and fascination of Melon, and the supersugary pleasure of lychee. But, being a compromise, it doesn't really reach the heights of either.
4. Original
What can I say about original ramune ? I had it for like, 5 years before trying any others, and it was one of my fav drinks through that time. I haven't grown out of it or anything — it's a classic.
Good ( When I want to mix things up ) 5. Orange
The orange had been sitting in my fridge for many months : I was expecting not to like it, for some reason, even though I love Orange Lavaburst Hi-C and find Orange Fanta decent. In the end, I thought it was pretty good, better than OJ and Fanta, but worse than Hi-C.
6. Yuzu My feelings about the yuzu ramune are complicated. For a little background, one of my favorite drinks I've ever had is this yuzu lemonade they serve at this breakfast place the town over. So I expected to like yuzu ramune quite a bit. I wasn't too disappointed, but I must admit the flavor came across at times as faintly medicinal. In short, I struggled with it, but regardless I find it one of the most interesting ramune flavors I've had so far, which should probably count for something.
Alright ( I'd give 'em another shot, but for now they're not for me ) 7. Blue Blue is pleasant, easy enough to like. But it's not really all that memorable. I think it lacks a clear identity. If you want a masterpiece of blue soda, get an Ocean Water® from Sonic, that's what I say. ( Can you believe they trademarked that ? Lmao. )
8. Watermelon I was quite excited to try watermelon. It's super clubsoda-y, like if you took club soda and enhanced its concentration by 2 or 3 times before flavoring : very very fizzyfeeling. There is a kind of “sting” to it in that sense. The watermelon taste is vague and sparklingwater-esque as you drink, existing in a more powerful form as aftertaste. Kind of disconcerting structure to the experience.
9. Pineapple
Pineapple felt dialed down compared to what I expected. The actual fruit is so flavorful that it has made me dry-heave. So perhaps I'm biased lol. But I didn't find it offensive or anything. It was alright, but in no way fascinating. Perhaps its a strange thing to say, but unlike the mysterious flavor of melon, it told me nothing about myself. I didn’t have a good reason to keep drinking it, so it remains unfinished in my fridge. While composing this review I thought, “perhaps I just wasn’t thirsty enough,” but I guess that really shows I didn’t care much about its flavor if I’m thinking of things in those terms.
~ Please Enjoy It Super Cold, OK ? ~
Thanks, Vashti <3
