Salmon and Hamachi Bento at Kirala 2, Berkeley USA

Hamachi (Yellow Tail) Bento: Grilled Hamachi, Tamago, veggies cooked with dashi broth, rice $10

Salmon Bento: Grilled Salmon, Tamago, veggies cooked with dashi broth, rice $10

Kirala 2 is located inside "Epicurious Garden." It can be easily found on the right-hand side once you enter the building. Although it is a small space for Kirala, there are constantly at least 3-4 sushi chefs who's making sushi all the time. I once met a Japanese girl while waiting in line and she said their bento is very close to the ones in Toyko, which is where she was from. Their bento box usually includes protein (either grilled fish, chicken, or deep-fried tonkotsu) and large variety of Japanese veggies cooked with fish stock.

Hokkaido Squash Blossom Butter Corn Miso Ramen & Porcini Shoyu Ramen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Hokkaido Squash Blossom Butter Corn Miso Ramen $17.5

Porcini (an Italian mushroom) Shoyu Ramen $17.5

I feel extremely happy with the Hokkaido Squash Blossom Butter Corn Miso Ramen. The creamy broth really fits well with the soft squash in general. Along with butter, corn, and miso, the ramen includes ground pork belly, shoyu-marinated egg, padron pepper, broccoli, and shungiku green.

At the same time, Porcini shoyu ramen is another new ramen invention that my friend (who usually prefers lighter-tasting food) really loves. As the name suggests, this ramen recipe uses Porcini, an Italian mushroom that is very meaty and rich. The shoyu broth is not too salty and its flavor is very satisfying with good quality Japanese soy sauce. The bowl of ramen also has pork chashu slices, shoyu-marinated eff, spring garlic, scallions, bok choy, and mizuna.

Shio Tori Paitan Ramen at Ramen Shop, Oakland USA

Shio Tori Paitan Ramen $17.5

On Sunday, one of Ramen Shop's owners, Ray, told me about their Paitan ramen that will be on their menu today. That is why I planned to come visit again at 5pm sharp to try it out right when the restaurant opens. The ramen today is called Shio Tori Paitan Ramen. It is very creamy and rich yet moderately salty. The creamy texture is very overwhelming to me. Luckily, there're porcini mushroom and lots of veggies. It is a very satisfying meal with egg and chashu!