Ramen + Marshmallow = GHOST DIP RAMEN
I had the great opportunity to be invited by Shin Hollywood to try their food. It’s located in the energetic city of Hollywood, nestled by the picturesque view of Hollywood Hills.
Shin offers Japanese staples ranging from sushi to ramen to yakitori to Japanese beers. Anything you can think of, they probably have it here. In fact, when I arrived, the first thing on the menu that caught my eye was their dip ramen.
In my experience, ramen places like keeping their menu small, giving you less than 10 different variations of their in-house soup. Shin thinks otherwise. They have this vast menu filled with a combination of classic ramen flavors such Shio, Shoyu, Miso, and creative ones like Kotteri, Get Well Soon, and Ghost Ramen.
I was greeted by the sweetest staff and asked if I preferred to sit inside or outside. It was 6 PM, I was in Hollywood, so obviously, I chose to sat outside and enjoy that golden dusk.
As I mentioned, their menu is vast. I had the option to choose between ramen or sushi as the main course, and I chose ramen for tonight. I have been on this cycle of craving sushi every day, and I haven’t had ramen in possibly over a year, since the whole pandemic started, so the clear choice was the latter. And before you make any assumptions, I do not hate ramen - it’s just not my first choice typically. Also, just under the Ramen & Noodles alone, they give you 23 different options. So I had to narrow it down.
As I was skimming through the menu, I saw the word “marshmallow” which is something I have not seen before. It was this ramen dish called Ghost Dip. I asked my beautiful server, Alondra, to give me some insight on what type of meal this is, and she said, it’s “thick, creamy, and a bit sweet.” SOLD.
The Ghost Dip ramen was exactly that. On top of it all, it is a dip ramen, meaning it does not come in one regular bowl. It came in a platter, with greens, thick noodles, and a bowl of the ramen broth. The broth reeked of truffle oil and I immediately fell in love. There were also chunks of button mushrooms, and if you think this is the peak, you’re wrong. As she put down the plate, she had this skewer with two mini marshmallows, torched it, and swirled it in my broth. BOY OH BOY, I was so excited. You also get to choose if you want more toppings, or in this case, and extra side dish and I chose flavored soft-boiled eggs. It delivered its promise of being thick, creamy, flavorful, with a hint of sweetness highlighted by the marshmallow. It would be a great quencher after a full day of work.
I also tried their Spicy Takoyaki, which was also new to me. Not the takoyaki, but it being spicy. They add some spicy oil and a dash of shichimi on top. It was not the most mind-blowing thing on the menu but I still enjoyed it.
To top it all of, I flushed all this deliciousness with [a couple of] fresh, crisp glasses of Suntory’s The Premium Malt’s.
Basked in the golden sunset, it was the perfect day-ender.
Fresh glass of Suntory’s The Premium Malt’s
If you’re in Hollywood and are looking to try some creative, never-been-done-before type of ramen, check out Shin, located at 1655 North La Brea Avenue,
Los Angeles, California 90028.