WAGYU BEEF RAMEN & 30 Minute SUSHI Omakase | Japanese RAMEN TOUR of Chicago

Hey guys, Mike Chen before getting to this video, my favorite time of the month has arrived. Japanese snacks tasting time, courtesy of the sponsor of this video, Sakurako and Tokyo Treats. Let's start with Tokyo Treats. This month's theme is snacking in Shibuya. Pudding KitKat. The latest exclusive KitKat from Tokyo Treats. It's something I look forward to every single month. Cooking cream waffle. There's some crunchy chocolate cookies in here. Spicy Neapolitan pasta. Corn puffs. Pooh Pooh Thai lemonade. Look at this. Caramel popcorn soda. It kind of tastes like that limited edition Starlight Coke. Love this. So with Tokyo Treats, you get up to 20 latest limited edition, most exclusive and seasonal flavored Japanese snacks that are only in Japan for a limited time. And now looking at Sakurako. And with this box, you'll find 20 traditional, artisanal, authentic Japanese snack items including teas and one home item every single month. And this month's theme is taste of Hokkaido. One of my favorite regions of Japan. Milk Bell Castella. Cute. That is so fluffy and airy. Mini biscuits. Shrimp cracker. Cheese cookie. This is so, so, so, so good. And here is the tableware item. A beautiful soup bowl. Anyway, the biggest difference between the Tokyo Treat box and the Sakurako box. Like I said, Tokyo Treats, more fun, more exciting. Sakurako, very traditional, authentic, artisanal. Also, Sakurako partners with local Japanese snack makers to spread the beauty that is traditional Japanese culture. And a lot of these snack makers has been in operation for over a hundred years. And I love this company's mission to share Japanese culture to the world through the medium of snacking. Which is like the best mission statement ever. So if you are interested, go to my link down below. Use my promo code, Dumpling, for $5 off your first Sakurako box through the Sakurako link or your first Tokyo Treat box through the Tokyo Treat link. And make sure to order by May 31st to get this month's box. Alright, I'm gonna finish breakfast and enjoy the video. Hey guys, Mike Chen here in Chicago. Today, the windy city is really living up to its name. The wind is blowing, it's drizzling, it's cold. But that's good because that's just the perfect weather for ramen. And we're gonna get started right here, Giro Ramen. And this place just opened. So they have their soft opening right now. This place is set up like you're walking on the streets of Japan. Very cool. I think what they're known for is their gyukatsu, which is their creamy beef bone broth. And they got domestic wagyu. So I'm getting the wagyu mitsuji, which is domestic wagyu. Truffle wagyu wontons. Scallion and tamago. Okay, so I'm actually gonna get the premium, which has tamago, mema, scallion, domestic wagyu, medium rare, beef tongue. Again, to the wagyu wontons and beef char siu and beef chunks. This looks really, really good. Also, whenever I see yakisoba on the menu, can't resist it. So here, yakisoba is cooked in duck oil. And I'm getting the spicy crab yakisoba. Also, dog rice, beef short rib, beef char siu, beef chunk, toasted garlic. I just got a feeling it's gonna be pretty good. All right, this is, first of all, beautiful. I did not know there's gonna be gold on this. I think from now on, I wish I did this a long time ago. What if I just like, every time I see gold on my food, I just take it and keep it? Maybe at the end of my life, I buy myself more food with it. Look at this. This is the premium wagyu mizuji ramen. I see the wontons, I see the cuts of wagyu, the mushroom, the egg. Oh, this looks so creamy. It's beefy, smooth, very fragrant. This is way different than any other ramen I really had before. So, beside the gold on top and scallions and sesame, look at this. Nice big chunks of wagyu. You see the marbling? That looks absolutely immaculate. All that great marbling rivering through the slices of char siu. Underneath that, you get the char siu. Oh, look how fatty this thing is. It's supposed to be medium rare, cooked perfectly. Okay, this is the piece of tongue right here. Charred and ginormous. And here is the truffle wagyu wontons right here. All sitting on top of straight white noodles in this creamy, creamy broth. This is a very, very beefy bowl of ramen. That slices of beef is so tender and flavored perfectly as well. The fatty char siu. Those pieces just melt. I think overall, though, the tongue is my favorite. The biggest beefy flavor, the most tender piece comes from that. Overall, very well-balanced bowl of ramen. The crunchy bamboo, the crunchy scallions, the tender, melting meat. All soaked in this beefy, flavorful, but very mild broth. It's not overly rich. It's not overly anything. Oh, oh, that truffle wonton's the best thing right here. I wish I could just order a side of that. First of all, so much truffle flavor. Not only is it fatty, that meat is so tender. That's really good. Oh, thank you. You don't have like a side order of truffle wontons, do you? You do? Yeah, yeah, bring that. Bring the truffle wonton. That's so good. Thank you. Thank you so much. Oh, that's so, so good. They do offer, it's not on the menu, an appetizer size truffle wontons. I recommend you get that. But overall, meat's fantastic. Quality is superb. Broth is delicious. Texture is great. And after coming in from the cold, I'm definitely warmed up. I got two more things. I think I gotta get to the noodle one first, because this is probably gonna be the one that expires the earliest. Spicy crab yakisoba. And I asked, the spicy crab is blue crab. So check this out. Pickled ginger on top, bonito flakes. This is the spicy crab right here. Some wood ear, sprouts, and underneath is the yakisoba. And right away, that familiar fragrance of the oyster sauce hits you. And you can tell that these are gonna be very chewy noodles. Yakisoba is one of my favorite, all-time favorite dishes in Japan. I remember this yakisoba place I found in Kyoto by this Japanese chef that trained in Paris. His okonomiyaki and yakisoba, still to this day, best I had in Japan. Love it. First of all, they stir-fry the ramen in duck fat. That fatty flavor is intense. The noodles are perfectly al dente. The spicy crab brings on a ton of heat. You got some crunch from the cabbage, the wood ear. And it also brings you a bowl of soup to eat this with. The soup is so good, too. So light, so flavorful. Goes perfect with these dried noodles. Honestly, I'll come back all the time for this. This is so up my alley. Love, love noodles like this. They brought over the truffle wontons. They put it, little scallion, crispy garlic, hot oil. Oh my gosh. They turned it kind of into like a hot oil wonton. Now it's nummy, spicy, garlicky. And then you got that extra hit of the truffle flavor. Love these wontons so much. One more dish to try. Look how pretty this is. This is called dog rice. Pickled ginger, scallions, toasted garlic, beef tongue, beef chashu, beef rib, wood ear, whole egg. Beef rib is the treasure. Right here. Oh yeah. Look at that. Oh my gosh. Barely cling on to the bone. Oh, I love how much roasted garlic they gave you. This place is serious about the garlic. I love that. Cut open the egg. Perfect. Perfectly gooey. You got to bring out a spoon for this. Get a spoonful of rice with some beef, with a piece of that roasted garlic. This is really good. Especially love that intense smoky garlicky flavor. Chashu perfectly melty. I'm getting a piece of the beef rib right now and some of that egg. And there's so many different flavor profiles and combinations you can play with here. That's tender. Delicious, melt-in-your-mouth piece of beef rib. Little sweet, very fatty. Mix that with some of the creamy egg and some of that roasted garlic. You just have some of the best flavors around, parting it up in your mouth. Also, add a little togarashi for some extra heat. This thing goes great with rice. They also have hot oil. Mix that in with the rice and the beef. I love that every single bowl of beef. There's so many different flavors. There's so many different textures. Plus, you can bring the heat on your own and the items on the menu. It's so different than a typical ramen shop. You taste the delicious flavors, you taste the innovation. This is a really good ramen place. Next stop, one of the most popular ramen places in Chicago, Ramen Wasabi. Now here, if you're here, you like spicy food, you gotta get the spicy garlic miso ramen. That's what I got. Okay, this came out in about five minutes. So, very impressive how fast the food comes to you. Again, spicy garlic miso, giant chunks of pork char siu. Look at this. That is a thick belly. Bamboo, crispy garlic, beautiful egg sprouts, wavy yellow noodles on the bottom. This looks beautiful. As soon as the noodles came out, the fragrance of the garlic, of the broth, of the miso, just shoots out from the bowl. That broth is so good. That broth is exactly what I like. I just love miso with that earthy, deep, fermented flavor. You smell and taste all that garlic. The noodle texture is just absolute perfection. So chewy and al dente. The crunchy sprouts, the scallions, provides a bit of difference in texture. And a couple of slurps in, the spice is just hanging out right here. Oh, look at this. I was afraid that giant piece of char siu was gonna be dry or not tender or tough in the middle. This is beautiful. This is one of those pieces of meat that the more you chew, the more flavor exudes from it. And this part, this is all fat right here. And that is just the best part. Just let that gooey egg yolk soak a little bit in that delicious miso broth. Delicious. Especially when you get to the bottom. Anytime you get to the bottom of a soup bowl, it just got more flavor because all the ingredients and spices are shifting to the bottom. That's just the best part right there. All right. One more ramen place to check out, and then dinner. Cookie spin. Warm cookie sundae, cookie milkshakes, dip cones. That looks good. The next ramen place we're at, I think it's also open by Ramen Wasabi. Pretty new place. It's called... Minagoku. All right, got a little appetizer. This is Ika Gesso, which is basically tempura squid. A little bit of spicy mayo dipping sauce, it looks like. A little bit of lime juice. Itadakimasu. Oh, this is fried so nicely. Dip it in a little bit of mayo. Love this. Highly recommend. Squid is tender, but the outside batter, that's where this dish is really shining for me. It's so light and crispy with a little creaminess from the mayo. This is a really good way to eat squid. I think this is a ponzu soy sauce. I mean, honestly, it doesn't really need much dipping sauce. The batter itself is so well seasoned. I wanted to come here for this. I haven't had tandanmen in such a long time. And this place is supposed to have a really good bowl of it. Minced meat on top. Some bok choy. Don't see that a lot in ramen. Thin, straight white noodles. A lot of that. Some bamboo. Look at this. Broth looks super thick and spicy and rich. That's freaking delicious. That's so good. That's the exact flavor I love in tantanmen. It's spicy. It's numbing. It's thick and rich. Borderline creamy. It's just jam-packed with so much flavor. This reminds me of the type of tantanmen I used to have in Japan. This might be my favorite bowl of noodles tonight. Actually, I think this is my favorite bowl of noodles tonight. Everything from the crunchy bamboo to the meaty, rich broth to the al dente noodles. Everything is just singing to me right now. This might be one of the best bowls of tantanmen I had outside of Japan. This is absolutely delicious. Oh, yeah. Don't even need a spoon. Just pick this bowl up, put it to the edge of your mouth, and just slurp the noodles in. Also, such great peanut butter flavor in this as well. Again, the bottom is the best part with all the little bits of minced meat and the spices sinking to the bottom. The most flavorful bites of ramen right down here. That was awesome. Like I said, favorite bowl tonight. Dinner is sushi by Bo, 30-minute, 12 courses, $50 omakase. That's about as affordable for omakase as you can find. First bite, yellowtail. Love yellowtail. That thing just melts in your mouth. The sushi rice versus fish ratio. Perfect. I mean, I just ate multiple bowls of ramen. One bite of that brought all the hungerness back. Lean tuna. That flavor is just so clean. I like otoro better, fatty tuna. I can't wait for that. It's coming up. Lean tuna is like a beautiful movie preview. Gets you excited for what's to come. Spotted prime. Nice, creamy, and sweet. Oh, nice little wasabi kick in that as well. That was probably the best piece so far. That's just beautiful. Every time you see it. Salmon roll with lemon zest. I've had a number of salmon roll at this point, but with the lemon zest, that is just unparalleled. Popping, briny salmon roll. That delicious bit of citrus with a slight bitterness to it. That was amazing. Next is albacore with radish and scallions. Smoky perfection. Next piece, chopped tuna with radish on top. Scallops. That is just so sweet. There's something crispy in there. Oh, that was chopped whole sea salt. Oh, that's so good. That's so good. My favorite, otoro, fatty tuna. Some truffle in there too. Miso cod. I'm still feeling that umami blast. That just went in my mouth right now. Unfortunately, only three more pieces left. Salmon with spicy miso. Surf and turf wagyu uni. That's like the ultimate surf and turf. Barbecue eel. And a little bit of love. Thank you, man. Feel that. Knocking it out of the park. That was really good. It's amazing. I can taste your passion. Amazing, dude. Thank you. That's one of the best omakase experiences I've ever had. I mean, amazing food. Amazing price. Amazing chef. This has been another great food day. And as always, all places I went to are listed down below for you guys. Thank you all so much for watching. Until we eat again. See you later.