(upbeat rock music)
- I have never had ramen before.
- I didn't know until two days ago
that there was such a thing as restaurant ramen.
- Because I was vegetarian, I never had experience
with ramen, cause it had animal byproducts in it.
- I'm expecting slimy noodles
and soup that's too salty.
- I'm hopeful.
I'm a little bit nervous.
- I've had Vietnamese pho.
I've had Thai boat noodles.
- My name is Toshiro Tagami.
I am a store manager of LA Artisan Noodle.
I am very excited for you guys
to try the ramen for the first time.
- Here we go ramen.
- Thank you.
- I think I smelled seaweed.
[Server] Yeah.
- Gross.
- This doesn't look anything like I was expecting.
It looks eclectic.
Hardy and eclectic.
(slurping)
(laughs)
- I'm splashing all over myself.
- But it's not a date food.
- It's a little salty.
- It's not too salty.
- It tastes like chicken noodle soup.
- It's like if gravy was mixed with the chicken broth
and kinda watered down a little bit.
- That is really good pork.
- Pork isn't my favorite thing.
- There's a slimy thing going on.
- Juicy, it's salty, it's all the good stuff.
- I've never seen a brown egg.
- I don't think I've ever had a whole egg
since I was probably a small child.
- I'm a fan. I'm a fan of the egg.
- Passable.
Actually, the aftertaste or whatever it is,
it gets a little bit better as you eat it.
- It's good, it's definitely growing on me.
- I'm gonna have to order stuff that's not sushi
when I go to Japanese places now.
- The more I eat it, the better it is.
That's so weird.
- This is like,
if you added a Japanese twist to Thanksgiving.
- Now by the end,
especially with that egg,
I'm like, I'm a fan.
- Instant ramen's got nothing on this.
This is like, legit.
- But I'm not a full-blown believer.
- I feel like I should have been
introduced to this a long time ago.
College students should not be given the 45 cent
plastic, red-wrapped, whatever that is.
- This is what I want.
When it's raining, with a book,
I want some ramen.