Hey all, Joan here!

Lately I’ve been playing some morning gigs out in North Hollywood area and would sometimes have a little ramen run afterwards. Either solo or with a buddy. This time I was joined by Kateri.

We found a place called Yok Ramen in Sherman Oaks, along Ventura Blvd. where you can find other ramen joints along the street.

Kateri ordered the Black Ramen and I ordered the Veggie Deluxe Ramen. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of my bowl. But you can kinda see it in the picture below:

Kat eating noodles like the Tiger eating noodles. Artwork by Buggy Labo

My Deluxe Veggie Ramen’s broth was made with canola oil, onion and cabbage. So it had a very subtle, delicate flavor. The toppings were green onion, corn, carrot, daikon sprouts, chili pepper threads and yuzu flavored olive oil. I have to say that my ramen broth was really different. It tasted citrusy and tangy, probably because of the tangy daikon flavor and yuzu olive oil (yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit.) I am not sure if I dig the citrusy broth. The noodles were good and for the most part, I liked the combination of toppings.

The restaurant had a really fun hip vibe, with the artwork all over the restaurant. Since it was a late lunch on a Sunday and they were about to close for their afternoon break, we were the only ones in the restaurant. Our server looked like a perfectly cute J-pop singer.

Would I go back here? Probably not. It wasn’t that the ramen was terrible, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. But I liked that everything in our bowls looked fresh. Kateri seemed to like hers so it’s all good.

Thanks for reading!

-Joan

Restaurant Information
Yok Ramen
13608 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
​(818) 650-8041

Street parking can be found on Ventura Blvd. and the surrounding neighborhoods.