Ramen California-Closed

Ramen California 24231 Crenshaw Blvd Ste C Torrance 310-530-2749 If you're expecting real ramen at Ramen California, you're going to be disappointed. This is a ramen fusion restaurant. They use organic, whenever they can. I'm not much of a ramen fan, matter of fact, this is the first review of a ramen restaurant on The New Diner. Shrimp wonton, $8.50, regular size, with chicken broth and green onions. Regular size is 20oz, which was more than enough. This was in interesting combination. First the broth; very bland, with not much flavor, needed more time or less water. The shrimp wonton, had baby shrimp and pork inside. I have never seen shrimp wontons filled with pork. Weird. They were ok but when I pay for shrimp, I want bigger shrimp, not shrimp, with pork used as a filler. The wonton wrappers were a bit thick, chewy, and tough. Yes, they need to hold up in the broth but I thought they were a bit too thick. Service was friendly but a bit lacking. The young lady was nice and friendly. But a table that was seated about ten minutes after us, had their order taken before we did. Our drinks were not refilled. Nobody came by and asked how everything was. I would not go back to Ramen California again. The prices are good, the portions are good. But the broth is too bland and there wasn't enough shrimp.

Hole In the Wall Deli BBQ-Closed

Hole In the Wall Deli
21162 S Western Ave
Torrance
310-328-7499

The good old South Bay area of LA. Suburbs galore. Chains restaurants galore. I don't expect much from this area in terms of BBQ. So I should have been leary about going to a liquor store/deli that serves up BBQ.

I walked in and saw the BBQ, just like Ward and June, had on Leave It to Beaver. It's a bigger backyard grill!!!. So what they used hardwood charcoal. This isn't real BBQ.

For people who think Chili's or Tony Roma's is BBQ, Hole in the Wall Deli BBQ, will be good. For others who want slow cooked meats, using the smoke (not the high heat) of hardwoods, go somewhere else.


I got the three pork rib dinner, $7.99, with corn and macaroni salad. The ribs, which were coated with a too much vinegar, tomato based BBQ sauce, were tough and chewy. These are spare ribs, so only cooking them for long periods of time, over low heat will make them tender. When using high heat, it's called GRILLING. They also could use better quality ribs. Very poor quality ribs.

The worst part? One of the ribs, was a four bone section of the tip!!! Come on man, give me a rib, not the tip!!

The corn on the cob, was small, pretty much drowned in butter, and just lacked any sweetness or tenderness.

I didn't touch the mac salad.

Service was below average. One word answers to question, not helpful, not friendly.

If you like Tony Roma's or Chili's, you will like this Deli BBQ. If you like real BBQ, keep driving.

Flossie's Southern Cuisine-Closed

Flossie's Southern Cuisine
3566 Redondo Beach Blvd
Torrance
310-352-4037

WOW the first restaurant in Torrance, that has been reviewed by The New Diner. I heard of Flossie's about five years ago. But since I'm rarely in the Torrance area, I didn't get a chance to try it. I decided to have dinner there tonight and now I'm hoping it won't be another five years before I go back to Flossie's.





I got the fried chicken dinner, $10.99 with double mac and cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy with a drink, sweet tea, ice tea, Kool Aid, or water. They give you a choice of white or dark meat. They lady said the wait for white meat would be about 15 minutes, which was no problem for me. My order comes out and after taking pictures, I dig into the fried chicken. The breast piece was hot, juicy and moist like crazy. The skin was so crunchy, with a lot of seasoning. The meat was cooked to perfection and so moist. Just a wonderful wonderful fried chicken.

The wing piece, though had been sitting under heat lamps for a while. It was good but nothing beats fried chicken right out of the fryer.



The double mac and cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy. The mac and cheese was creamy, cheesy and just great, cooked to perfection. One of the best mac and cheese, I've ever had.

The mashed potatoes were bland and lacked flavor. I'm leaning towards the mashed potatoes being made from a box but I'm not 100% sure. The next time I go to Flossie's I'm getting triple mac and cheese!!

Service is pretty good. Flossie's has a long row of steam tables and you tell them what you want. When I walked in and went to the counter, I wasn't greeted at all, like I was invisiable. I waited for about 3-4 minutes until the lady asked what I would like. It is not asking much to be greeted. A simple "Hi, we will be right with you." is fine.

Other than not being greeted, the service was good. The lady is very nice, she just has to greet people.

I would go back to Flossie's. I want to try their meatloaf, which looked so good.