Orochon:1, Kong:0

The plan was to arrive and conquer the fiery beast, Special #2: the hottest ramen at Orochon. Kong has been psyching himself up for this challenge over the past week; planning strategy and contemplating the repercussions. We got to the restaurant (after 3 hours in traffic), and the line was out the door. While we waited in the burning hot sun (with sweat on our brow) for friends to arrive, Kong began to doubt his ability. He decided to do the #3 level miso ramen to feel out how spicy it really is. I did #4 miso ramen. The broth was deliciously flavorful and the texture of the noodles was a great al dente. Mine wasn’t very spicy at all; Kong’s made my nose run a little. He totally could’ve done the #2 special!! The blazing heat psyched him out of doing the challenge this time, but we shall return one day so he can do it!!
edit: the spoons there are great, too!  they hook on to the side of the bowl and don't drop down into the soup.  how great is that?!

my miso ramen spicy level 4

Aaron's miso ramen spicy level 3

We found out from Josh that Mikawaya Mochi Ice Cream was right down the street. We obviously had to go. We decided to try some of the mochi-lato. We got pistachio, plum wine, and coconut. Kris’s chocolate hazelnut also posed for the picture. My favorite was the plum wine which had actual pieces of fruit in it. Sitting in air conditioning savoring the cool creamy ice cream filled mochi was the perfect finish to a sunny day in little Tokyo.

Mochi-lato!

Coconut, pistachio, plum wine, chocolate hazelnut

From there, we headed to Long Beach to visit mom. We told her to pick a restaurant from one of the local foodie magazines she has, and we ended up at Trattoria Limone. It’s a small, cozy restaurant and the staff is really friendly. They bring out garlic bread and bruschetta which are both delicious. I ordered the pollo al limone which is a chicken scaloppini in lemon sauce and penne in pesto. It wasn’t really anything special. Mom got the melanzane al forno which was eggplant parmesan. They both said it was "ok." Aaron got the fettuccini Benevento which was egg noodles with lamb tenderloin in a mushroom cream sauce. The meat was tender and juicy, and the sauce was creamy and flavorful. Delicious.

chicken limone.

yum- lamb fettuccini

We went to Frosted Cupcakery after that. They didn’t have much of a selection by the time we got there. I got a strawberry cream cheese and Aaron got a Lemon cream cheese. Both were mediocre. They looked pretty except for the gummy fruit topping each cupcake. They were moist, but otherwise not outstanding. Maybe we just didn't get there in time for the yummy ones?

frosted cupcakery: meh.

That was just Saturday.

Orochon 123 S. Onizuka St. Los Angeles, CA 90012

Mikawaya 118 Japanese Village Mall Los Angeles, CA 90012
Trattoria Limone 3405 Orange St. Long Beach, CA 90807
Frosted Cupcakery 4817 E. 2nd St. Long Beach, CA 90803