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Raraya, a closer look
Aloha!
7/23/09 - As stated on the last Closer look, we did stop by Uncle's at Pier 38, but before I let you in on that experience, we'll take a quickie-detour to another, completely un-related shop on S. King St., which took-over the property vacated by former Japanese restaurant/sushi house Yama-chan.
The name is Raraya, and the game here is ramen - real, honest-to-goodness, full-flavored, hearty bowls of ramen, just like you'd find in the homeland. Almost looking like a hole-in-the-wall, and housed in one of the many shops camouflaged in the row upon row of one or two-story buildings that line S. King St., this is one place that'll really make you realize how deep the advertising and word-of-mouth runs when it comes to attracting Japanese National's and transplant's. I mean, even though there is a lot of activity running past this street, it's not exactly the kind of area non-local's are familiar with, as there is very little of the kind of foot-traffic visitors are more likely to occupy themselves in, but rather, vehicular traffic, mostly. In other words, and since it's not found in Waikiki, Ala Moana, or Kapiolani Blvd., someone is telling the Japanese National's about this place because chances are, they won't find it on their own.
Why, I almost felt like a stranger in my own town, as the restaurant was more than half-full, and every single other person in the restaurant was obviously from Japan, including our kind waitress. That is the ultimate compliment, however, and a tell-tale sign that their ramen is exactly as it should be, and not some kind of modified, localized, or terrorized replica of the real thing. After all, I'm not looking for saimin, pho, wo wonton mein, or anything else on this particular night, just a good bowl of ramen, that's it!
And... that's exactly what we found here at Raraya. Check this out:
This-here's a bowl of shio (salt) chicken ramen, garnished with two slices of pork and large pieces of nori and wakame seaweeds. It comes in either salt or shoyu, and what instantly struck me about it was the genuine, powerful flavor of pure chicken soup, just like the kind I'd make at home (before putting in the carrots, mushrooms, bell peppers, etc...), as it was obviously made not from a can or powder, but with real chicken bones, which gave it a home-made taste and feel. I hear that's the kind of bowl the Chef wants to create, and to both wifey and I, he definitely hits the mark with dishes like this.
But before noodles, there was the quintissential ramen side-kick, gyoza. This one appeared in rather interesting fashion, as you can see here:
This flat sheet of golden-brown crispiness almost left me wondering if we ordered the wrong dish, but a side-ways peek underneath revealed the pork and vegetable-filled dumplings we were looking for.
Usually served dumpling-side-up, it's little twists like this that always make a dining experience more rewarding and fun. Taste-wise, they were as great as any other good set of gyoza, so even without points for style, they'd easily accumulate high scores for substance, as well.
Here's the other side:
Though there's not too many varieties of ramen here, unlike other spots that can have a few pages' worth, there are several side-dishes that can be ordered in combination with your ramen as a single order. They include items like ajitsuke egg, chashu (char-siu) pork, cod fish, natto, and unagi, all served over a hot bowl of rice and with a small portion of kim chee.
We dispensed with all the above, but did order a recent addition to the menu, which was a kind of Japanese-style locomoco. As locals know, this home-grown dish comes with rice, a hamburger patty or two, a couple of eggs, and brown gravy all over. This one, however, came with all of the above, except in place of brown gravy, there was a generous portion of Japanese curry! Personally, I favor Thai curries over Japanese curries, but because the former comes with a highly dish-altering coconut milk and a myriad of exotic herbs and spices not normally used in Japan, the two are so different from eachother that I wouldn't even consider it an apples-to-apples comparison, but an apples-to-oranges example, more like. Even so, I still love Japanese curries, especially when presented like this:
The last order for the evening was another bowl of ramen, this time as a tonkotsu (pork) ramen, not in shio broth, but shoyu:
Oh, bruddah! Lemme tell you - this bowl was absolutely delicious! Definitely ranks right up there with the best of 'em on the island. This was wifey's favorite style of ramen when she was living in Japan a bunch of years back, and even she says this one was fabulous. It wasn't super-thick like a Paitan or the richest of them all, Kotteri, as introduced to Hawaii by Tenkaippin, but it was still plenty-rich, and bursting with a deep, aromatic, complex broth that y'all just gotta try!
The noodles are also great - perfectly al-dente, firm, and substantial. They also come as tsukemen if you want, which is the same thing except that noodles are served separately from the broth, and are incrementally added as you go. The benefit is that your noodles stay firmer because they don't continue cooking in the hot broth from the very beginning, but a possible down-side is that your bowl of ramen won't be quite as hot, since noodles are usually at room temperature, and sometimes slightly colder.
Hey, hope you enjoyed our jaunt through this new ramen shop, Raraya. They definitely serve a mean bowl of ramen, and would be a perfect place to experience the real thing. Go with the shoyu pork above, is all I can say. The chicken was great, but I think it would've probably tasted better in the shoyu version.
Hope you're all having a great day and wonderful week in general! Catch you all lay'duz...
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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Comments:
K.I. (7/24/09) - I was looking at checking this place out when I noticed that it had replaced Yama-chan, but never had the chance to make it there. After reading your review, it has now become a must try, and soon! I'm always looking for another good authentic bowl of ramen. Thanks for the heads up.
Aku (7/24/09) - You bet! Popular within the Japanese transplant community, so it must be good! Shoyu pork ramen was our favorite!
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