Wokou Ramen and Yakitori

You  won't be disappointed if you try Wokou Restaurant in Carmel Valley.  It is located in the new Pacific Highlands Ranch shopping center and I think you're going to love it.  That is, if you like Asian food, especially ramen, with a few twists.  Vivian, Paula and I  had a wonderful time there recently.  It's not crowded at lunch time, but I hear that dinner is very busy.

The new Pacific Highlands Ranch center is beautiful.  It has Crunch Gym, lots of upscale places to eat, and a few nice retail  shops.  It also has Rite Aid and Trader Joe's in another area of the center.  Crudo and Cucina Allegra are two other restaurants I would like to try in the future, but Wokou is casual and lots of fun.  Here's some of what you might have.

My favorite dish was carnitas bao bao.  For $6.95 you get two carnitas type tacos, served on a bao that is split and filled with delicious carnitas, crystals of sugar, nuts, jalapenos, and pickled onions.  I know, it sounds strange but your taste buds will be delighted.  We also shared an order of the house ramen, filled with pork, mushrooms, half of a perfectly cooked egg, and of course noodles.  The broth was delicious, and if you're so inclined, you can add lots of other veggies to the ramen.  Wokou offers several other types of ramen, and all come in your preferred degree of spice.  Other choices at Wokou include yakitori (meat on a skewer), a noodle dish (without broth), chicken wing, rice bowls, firecracker shrimp roll, pan fried broccoli,  and red quinoa salad.

Ramen restaurants are popping up all over San Diego, and they vary from fair to great.  This was great, as it had several very creative items on the menu.  I wish it was closer to Oceanside, but next time I'm in the Carmel Valley area, I will definitely pop in for lunch.  If you go once, you'll want to try it again.