SHISEN RAMEN - CERRITOS, CA

I had no clue there was a ramen spot in Cerritos and I ran into this place by accident one day. Soon as I peered into the place, I knew Japanese people were running it (hand written daily specials written in Japanese) so the ramen had to be at least somewhat decent... and it was, especially the BURNT RAMEN.

Yes, burnt.


Adam Wright was in town, he had some work going on out here with Alpinestars. He gave me a buzz and we all hooked up after work one night, along with Senor Ramen CantStayJose.

I'll do the ordering, just let me take care of it.
Jose had an Asahi and Commander Adama had a classic beverage to get all relaxified.
We started with the Chicken Karaage. Basically its Japanese fried chicken. There's all types of variations to this, like the Americanized sesame fried chicken or the Hawaiian mochiko chicken. Their karaage was done well, not spectacular, but good.
The gyoza was ok, nothing really special. I thought they could've put a little more flavor to the filling... but then here comes the ramen...
This was my first run with "black ramen" or burnt ramen, known in Japan as Kogashi Ramen, which is a style of ramen that's gotten more popular in the last few years.

CantStayJose said "it was very different but good. It's funny cuz you start craving that burnt flavor..." Shisen burns sesame oil for the flavor. It was a trip seeing a black bowl of ramen show up. It also contained green onions, bean sprouts, ground pork and bamboo shoot. I highly recommend trying "black ramen" if you ever get the chance.
Adam had the same.
So did Jose. It took him a moment to figure out exactly if he liked it or not as seen in the above photo.
As you can see, we mopped it up.

All in all, it's a good place to eat at if you're in the area.
Right across the street from Cerritos Mall.

Shisen Ramen

11410 South St
Cerritos, CA 90703

(562) 809-5888