PDF Theory

I have a theory that the prevalence of Asian food (especially Japanese) is an attempt to cater to the myriads of Japanese tourists who make there way to Paris to spend a great deal of money on high fashion items that are ridiculously marked up back home (in Japan).  This theory is solely based on my observations of the countless number of Japanese restaurants that I have seen in Paris and the even more countless number of Japanese tourists I have crossed paths with in my stay here (which is creeping up on three weeks now).

And the only reason I've created this theory is to justify another blog post about eating more Japanese food (besides the already established Ramen craving that I have) in Paris.  I'll call it the "People Dictate the Food" theory, or PDF for short (not to be confused with the document file).  And so, now that I've outlined the PDF theory, I present you with a review on Hokkaido.

Initially at Hokkaido, I was almost tempted into doing something regrettably foolish and ordering something that was not ramen when ramen was present on the menu.  Past memories of Sukiya and Matsuya serving delectable bowls of gyudon almost got the best of me as I asked the waitress for a €10 gyudon.  But once I had a glass of cold water, I quickly came to my senses and desperately asked the waitress if she could forgive the unforgivable and change my order from a gyudon to a chashu ramen combo that came with 5 piece of gyoza (and cost €11).

The chashu ramen came in a shoyu (soy sauce based) broth with a topping of negi (green onions), moyashi (beansprouts), chayshu (sliced pork), and sesame seeds.  The seaweed you see in the picture was an addition from a neighbors yasai (vegetable) ramen.  The broth was light but surprisingly good.  I've been so used to a strong, salty shoyu broth that a light shoyu broth was a pleasant surprise.  The noodles were a medium thickness cut that had a decent firmness and a taste that wasn't expected well...crap for a lack of better words, which I usually describe most standard ramen noodles.  The chashu wasn't as good as the chashu at Sapporo, but that was the only aspect this bowl was inferior to as compared with Sapporo ramen in my previous post.

The gyoza was stuffed with a blend of ground pork, green onions, and clear noodles and came cooked Japanese style, with the bottom fried and the sides steamed.  They were solid but nothing extraordinary as the skin of the steamed section wasn't extremely chewy (probably effects of over frying the bottom).

Overall though, the meal of both gyoza and ramen was a pleasant surprise to my low expectations of ramen in Japan and even my initial impressions of the restaurant and it's menu that seemed to offer every specialty Japanese food available (from my experiences, you want to stick with one specialty).  If you're craving a light shoyu-broth type of Ramen in Paris (a rather specific craving that I know will only affect a minority percentage of people) then give Hokkaido a try as I can't vouch for any other place...yet.

Restaurant Hokkaido

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14 Rue Chabanais, 75002 Paris, France
Metro: Quatre-Septembre or Pyramides