I just returned from two trips to Berkeley. The first trip Susan and I went to the Shattuck Cinema and saw the new Japanese documentary, “Ramen Heads.” Then we walked to a nearby ramen restaurant called Ippuku on Center Street, which is an izakaya, meaning they serve brief meals, appetizers, and drinks in a casual setting. Hungry from the movie, we ordered noodles. Susan had thick udon. I had thin ramen. We ate without talking, lost in the broth.
The next day I went back to Berkeley alone. First I went to the Shattuck Cinema and watched “Ramen Heads” again. Then I walked to a different ramen restaurant just around the corner from Ippuku called Ippudo. I had a spicy ramen with peppers and coconut.
Now I need to return a third time with my wife, skip the movie, and eat longer at Ippuku because it is the hands-down winner, though they are both good. Knowledge from the movie helped me to better judge what I was tasting.
I’m a Ramen Head. I love that noodle soup, and can only be thankful that I didn’t get attached back in the lean years to the instant ramen craze, what with the ton of sodium in every flavor packet. Heart Attack City.
Luckily, I fell in love with real ramen back in 1985 living in Berkeley when the hilarious Japanese food-centric western parody movie “Tampopo” came out and I saw it at the UC Theater.
The main character, a John-Wayne type, must rescue a damsel who runs a noodle shop. Her noodles suck. He must show her the secret to good ramen. Training involves many adventures. The constant foodie cut-away scenes mark “Tampopo” as a one-of-a-kind classic.
That movie had a tremendous effect on me and I ran right out the door after the credits and rushed to the nearest Japanese restaurant. I couldn’t understand the menu, so I told the waitress exactly that.
“Can you help me? I don’t know my sukiyaki from my teriyaki.” She not only helped me but read through the menu with me describing yakitori, shabu-shabu, and various noodle dishes. Then she asked me what I liked to eat. When I described the movie “Tampopo” to her, she wrote something down on a napkin for me, the words “Nabeyaki udon.”
She said, “Remember this, and you can order it even if it’s not on the menu.” Basically, I was ordering noodle soup, which was my favorite.
So, back to the crux. I’m always in search of good ramen. We have excellent udon and ramen shops right here in town, so there’s little need to travel far to find an iron pot of happiness. Yet, I do.
I’ve found shops in Manhattan, Sacramento, Reno, Tahoe, San Francisco, and lately I’ve been scouring the East Bay Berkeley area. “They’re places to bring the boys,” is my constant excuse to my wife who follows me to ramen shops everywhere. I got my grandsons hooked on ramen last year in Hell’s Kitchen.
Just knowing someone took the time to create a documentary called “Ramen Heads” gave me solace that I was not alone in my quest. Watching it taught me far more about ramen than simply ingredients and technique. I learned ramen psyche.
Osamu Tomita is Japan’s reigning king of ramen, winning Best Ramen Award three years in a row. He lives in a small town and his shop only seats ten people. Hungry fans board red-eye trains to get there early and stand outside all day.
The film is like soup. It follows Osamu for 15 months as the main ingredient, and along the journey tosses in interviews with five other noted ramen shops, studying their philosophies and techniques, like spice.
As a grand finale for the film, Osamu brings together two fellow finalist chefs and together the three of them spend days together planning and creating a new ramen broth while the camera rolls. Each chef adds ingredients to the 60-hour boil pot. The plan is to feed 200, no more. The date is set.
Then trouble. Near the end, in a taste test, hmm, something is missing. The chefs look concerned. They contemplate alone and together. At last, it is Osamu who recommends a final ingredient that saves the day. Everyone is happy. He wins for another year.
Here is what I learned watching “Ramen Heads” that has given me new perspective regarding taste, ingredients, technique, presentation, and everything else ramen has to offer in my never-satiated quest for happy ramen shops near me.
As spoken by Osamu most directly and in various other ways by all the chefs and patrons interviewed in the movie: the best ramen has a flavor and feel that makes you want to eat it every day. Whenever you are hungry, you are hungry for ramen.
That may on the surface sound like braggadocio; however, the true meaning is more subtle. They are saying that there is a difference between occasional ramen and all-the-time ramen, and the difference is in the mastery.
Occasional ramen can be fantastic, exploding with flavor, exotic and mouthwatering, memorable in every way, but can you eat it every day? Ramen Heads do not want to eat ramen only on birthdays and holidays. Ramen Heads want to eat ramen for daily happiness. Finding the flavor and feel of happiness and capturing it in a bowl of noodles is the ramen chef’s eternal quest.
Mine is to find those guys.

Steve Gibbs is a retired Benicia High School teacher who has written a column for The Herald since 1985.

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