Fukusuke Japanese Ramen
Fukusuke offers a variety of ramen options on their menu, as well as other Japanese small dishes and sushi options.
Tonkotsu with spicy red miso on the side, no black garlic oil
Ratings
Broth
Noodles
Chashu
Egg
Toppings
Overall
Date of Visit: May 2018
What I Ordered: Tonkotsu Ramen
Cost: $8.79
Offers Extra Noodles: $2.00
Offers Extra Broth: $3.00
Review
This location in fountain valley is easy to get to from the area, and has plenty of parking outside for the various restaurants or shops in the area. They offer a variety of ramen options on their menu, and then other Japanese small dishes and sushi options. Of course, I am here for one thing. Tonkotsu ramen. Their ramen menu offers shoyu options, miso options, shio, Tonkotsu, and tsukemen. I will always go for the one with Tonkotsu. The tonkotsu ramen by default has black garlic oil, so I ordered it without it, as I don’t prefer it and it changes the flavor a lot. Each of the different categories of ramen have a different broth base. I also wanted to try the spicy option, so I asked for the spice on the side so I can try the tonkotsu broth without spice first.
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The broth is creamy and super smooth in texture. It is not a thick broth at all, yet it still has good flavor and a tonkotsu creaminess to it. It is not super rich, but creamy enough to be a great tonkosu broth. The flavor is good, just light. I would certainly desire something richer and creamier. The spicy paste is pretty potent. I got a serving of about four table spoons on the side. If that much was in the bowl, it would be way too spicy. I used about a fifth of what I was given, and got a broth that is still flavorful but had a small kick. The spice is good in flavor, not something that takes over the flavor profile.
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The noodles are classic thin yellowish ramen noodles. Unfortunately they are rather soft in texture so there is not much chew to them. A firmer texture is certainly more desirable, especially from thinner noodles. The taste is average, and seems to blend with the bowl. It does not taste bland, but nothing exceptional either. They do twirl onto the spoon quite nicely though.
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The texture of the noodles and broth are similar. Both smooth and light in texture. The broth is light and not very thick. The noodles are thin and not very firm. It isn’t necessarily the most preferable combo, but it works. The flavor is okay, but seems toned down a bit. If the rich tonkotsu flavor I was expecting was on a scale, this bowl would be toned down a notch or two.
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The chashu is super thin slices of pork. The taste is excellent with bold flavor and melt in your mouth texture. Unfortunately, they give you like one hair thin slice so I got half a normal slices worth of meat. That small amount was tasty, but it was such a small amount. Because it was so small, I couldn’t see exactly what cut it was, but I would guess pork belly.
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I ordered the egg add on and it’s a whole egg. It is cooked so that the yolk is creamy and the white is soft, as it should be. However, the flavor was sweet. It was unexpectedly sweet. It is as if it was lightly seasoned in a sweet soy sauce. The soy sauce marinade was not that strong, so it mostly tasted like a sweet soft boiled egg. The flavor was a bit confusing, but not bad.
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The bamboo was sweet? Like, it was sweetened and weird. I didn’t like that. Aside from that, the mushrooms were normal, but there was like a handful of green onion. The toppings certainly cover a large portion of the bowl, which is good if you like lots of toppings.
Overall: 7/10
Not sure if I would recommend or not. I would recommend if you are looking for a place with cheap bowls starting under $9, and a large menu with other items including sushi and small dishes. But I would not recommend this place if you are looking for the best ramen. The ramen is good, but there is nothing special about it. Looking at the ramen, the noodles are below average, being soft and non home made. The broth is done well, but light in flavor. It seems like a great standardized tonkotsu broth. The chashu is almost non existent in my bowl unless you order extra. The egg was oddly sweet, and same with the bamboo. So overall, there isn’t anything that makes this bowl stand out. I would say it is a great standard bowl that sits at about average.
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