[Daly City, CA] - Noodle in a Haystack: Duck Shoyu & Foie Rice

If you've been following my blog, you'll know that Noodle in a Haystack is my favorite ramen restaurant/pop-up in the States. You can find my previous blog entry here. I broke down the reasons why it's worth making that elusive reservation, and what makes Clint and Yoko's ramen so great and unique. So, I'm not going to repeat myself. What I want to do this time around (and next time because I assure you it's not my last visit), is show some pretty pictures and introduce one of the other ramen seatings that they had. They have a few different ramen varieties in rotation which depend on what they feel is fresh. They had a shio clam ramen I wanted in on a few years ago, but they stopped making it because they didn't like the clams they were using. They finally brought it back (don't worry, if you aren't able to go, I will definitely report back!) for July 2019. For how long, I can't say though. So really, if you see something you like, BOOK IT. They sell out fast.

Deviled eggs Noodle in a Haystack style with a piece of fried chicken skin and ikura


Noodle in a Haystack's "mala tofu" with Sichuan peppercorns for that numbing experience. I still find this very refreshing and very enjoyable

Tsukemono - some pickled cucumbers. The knife work on this was excellent. It really allowed the juice to get in there and flavor as much of the surface area as possible

The team working hard to feed all of us hungry monkeys

This was one big piece of foie gras. It was super fatty and buttery. The yuzu zest really helped to cut the fat so that I could finish the entire piece. If you've had foie gras, then you also know that texturally, it's very soft. The little rice puffs added a great texture that kept each bite from being boring

Mustard green and daikon pickles - if you've been here before, you know what's up. The mustard greens have some chili oil from Monterey in there, so there's a fire that kicks in. It's too spicy for some people, but I like it a lot. Intermixed with the rice and foie gras; it was fantastic juxtaposition of flavors and textures

Finally, the reason we're all here - the duck shoyu ramen. If I have a choice, I usually go with something lighter in flavor like a shio or miso ramen. I like tonkotsu, but it's pretty heavy and I don't find myself craving it the way I would a miso ramen (#alwaysthinkingofhokkaido). That said, I really liked this ramen. The soup was just packed with so much flavor without being overwhelming. And the duck, well the duck was perfect. The duck was so tender and as expected, not gamey at all


Dessert - strawberry ice cream with matcha crunchies

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