"Orochon...? " "Nah Dawg, NAGANAGA!"

Ramen. For some of you, Orochon, Daikokuya, or even a street-side ramen cart come to mind, right? Well it's either those or some sort of instant noodles you can pick up at your local supermarket! But not this time friends! Today, we have Naga Naga Ramen!

Now, you might find yourself asking, "What does Naga Naga mean?" No, I'm not talking about those serpent deities! "Naga Naga" is a slang term derived from the Japanese word "Nagai" which means long.

Located near the East Colorado Boulevard and North Raymond Avenue the restaurant is quite easy to find due to the freakishly bright red awning and neon sign. Sticking out of the wall to the side of the awning is a sign with their mascot, a young spikey-haired boy slurping a bowl of ramen with chopsticks in hand. To be honest, you can't really see the INSIDE of the restaurant from the outside. But what you CAN see are 3 red paper lanterns that say "RAMEN" in Japanese Katakana. Below the lanterns are some square glass vases with bamboo rods sticking out of them. Looks pretty nice, actually.

Unlike OROCHON or DAIKOKUYA, the interior design is very modern, not like a ramen house at all. The cashier's booth is right in front of you when you walk through the doors, but the one thing that will really catch your eye is the big aquarium. It almost spans the width of the restaurant, and the counter around the aquarium double as seats for customers. The only problem with the aquarium spanning the width of the place is that YOU CANT SEE PAST IT. I swear, the only things I saw were Yoshi, the guy next to us, and the aquarium with the occasional waitress. The walls are painted the same red as the awning with big wooden panels and tube lighting underneath them. A little further down, you can see some pop art with their mascot on them.

Enough of the Decor! ONTO THE FOOD! Yes, they are Vegetarian friendly.

Naga Naga serves a variety of food as well, not only ramen(duh). They have traditional Japanese appetizers like gyoza, takoyaki and croquettes. They also serve beef bowls, cold noodles, pan fried noodles, various rice dishes and salads. Naga Naga has this one part called "recolutionary ramen TM" on their menu and the dishes seem to be "Non traditional ramen that's full of flavor and spices, served with curly yellow ramen".... Huh? What's the difference? I have no idea what Tomyum broth is so I'll leave it to them, but I CAN make Kimchee Ramen at home. You can choose from three different broths: Shoyu, Miso, and Tonkotsu.

I ordered the Takoyaki, Corn Croquettes and Spicy Beef Stew Ramen.

The Takoyaki were fried perfectly. The outside shell was nice and crispy while the insides were creamy and moist. I burned my tongue from the sheer nostalgia. They tasted and felt like the freshly made ones that I would find from a street stall walking around Shibuya. What really caught my eye on this appetizer were the bonito flakes and okonomiyaki sauce. I still laugh every time I put the skins over hot food and watch them move around.

The Croquettes were fresh as well... but not fried enough. There were not enough breadcrumbs, and they fell apart when I tried to pick them up with my chopsticks! they were served with a some okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise with a tiny side of shredded cabbage. Mediocre at best.

Aahhhhh... the ramen! The whole point of why I'm here in the first place. When the waitress brought over the ramen, I swear, I did not know what was in my bowl. It looked like some sort of grayish liquid with little bubbles of chili oil floating around... After much sipping of the broth, I came to the conclusion that it was the pork broth, and boy, my lips and throat were burning. Trust me, direct contact with chili oil is a nice spicy rush for the soul. The rest of the contents of the bowl were shredded cabbage, beef chunks, sliced spring onions, and chili peppers. The spiciness of the dish did overpower the broth a bit, but hey, in Spicy Beef Stew Ramen, SPICY IS WHAT YOU GET! Why else would they have "spicy" in it. The noodles itself were cooked nicely. They were just the right consistency, not al dente, and at the same time, not soggy.

Like their slogan, Naga Naga Ramen is "Slurpin' Good TM."