Five and counting

Photo taken by David Svilar, copyright 2012

It's been a long road together, as relationships often are, but I'm glad to report that on this day, we're celebrating 11 years and 7 months since we first shyly clasped hands as bright-eyed youngsters and started on this journey of life together. 

Exactly five years ago, the journey shifted to a different and new phase--some might say a more serious phase--but the truth is we've been traveling the same road all along. The marriage certificate was only a formality and symbol of the commitment we already made to each other long before.

So here's to the innumerable years ahead, hands still clasped tightly, of walking on the road together. Hopefully somewhere along the way there might be an extra hand, or a few hands, to join our family. But even if not, hey, we know we'll always have plenty of furry paws and plenty of friends to share the road along the way. And of course, we'll always have each other.

Happy five years, my chuck.*

Photo taken by David Svilar, copyright 2012

*Macbeth, anyone?

Ramen in Pittsburgh: Taste Test at Last!

After months of waiting and two failed attempts to eat at the newest Asian-cuisine addition to Pittsburgh, we finally scored our bowls of noodles last night!

I ordered a miso-base ramen that had one large chunk of stewed (chashu) pork and a bunch of bean sprouts. I also added a soft-center egg. It was great. The noodles were chewy and plentiful, the egg yolk was wonderfully unctuous, the meat was tender and very generously sized, and there was plenty of soup to slurp.

Michael opted for a soy sauce based soup with wontons. He had five wontons, a decently sized piece of tender white meat pork, and plenty of slightly pickled bamboo shoots. He enjoyed it and gives it 3.5 truffles out of 5 truffles.

So would we go back and recommend it to others? I would say yes and yes, but with an asterisk. We wouldn't necessarily frequent it very often as a random weekend dinner, as it is indeed a bit pricey ($9-10) for an-only-slightly-better bowl of noodle soup than we could make at home with frozen ramen kits from the Japanese grocery store (~$4, serves 2).

But it would be a fun experience with friends, good amount of food for the price, and they have some wild crazy ramen choices that you can't get from the grocery store (e.g. kimchi ramen, curry ramen). Unlike many Yelp reviewers, I think the amount of meat they give you is really quite tasty and generous (obviously those reviewers haven't eaten at noodle establishments in Asia where they only give you a few super thin slices of meat per bowl of noodles). And it really isn't that much more expensive in price than noodle bowls at other Asian restaurants, like Vietnamese pho.

Next time, curry ramen!