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| - Yep. Everyone's saying it, but the comparisons to Deer Garden are legit. I can't say anything about the fish soup (not a fan of fish soup), but the price point here is much more reasonable than Deer Garden. I just checked Deer Garden's website, and their noodles + toppings + drink come to $10.50. Here, Japanese pork bone broth, noodles, 2 toppings, and drink (or ice cream or mango pudding) come to $7.95. Fish soup is an additional dollar, if I recall correctly.
I was surprised to find lamb slices available as a topping. Japanese BBQ pork is also a topping option. Neither requires an upcharge, which I was very pleased to note. Those were my two topping options. The lamb was tender and flavorful and there was a decent amount of it. The BBQ pork was mostly fat, but also tender and delicious. There were at least four slices of that as well. This is made of pork belly, for those of you who care about that kind of thing.
I had the thick vermicelli, but I was surprised to find that instant noodles and Shin ramen are both options. The distinction is nice. The broth was good, but not super milky delicious. Veggies included lots of cabbage, at least two kinds of mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. Because it was Japanese pork bone broth, there were a few slices of roasted seaweed as well. No egg though.
I also ordered the $1.99 deep fried pork chop side order in addition to my noodles. I was more curious to see what the portion would be like than anything else. It was about the size of a quarter pound burger patty. It was also, oddly enough, served with tartar sauce. I wouldn't say it was worth the extra two dollars.
I was stuffed after my noodles and pork chop, but I had opted for the mango pudding, so onto dessert! The mango pudding was larger than a shot glass, which was nice. It had a couple fairly large chunks of mango in it, and came with a side of evaporated milk. All in all, a nice way to end the meal.
Should there be a next time, I'm sticking to the noodles and mango pudding. Good stuff!
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