It had to happen sooner or later. Toro Burger, a new burger joint that just opened in Santa Ana, is selling ramen burgers–those noodle hamburger hybrids that went viral last year and had everyone calling it the next cronut. And Keizo Shimamoto–the food blogger and ramen aficionado who invented the original ramen burger–does not appear to have anything to do with it.
See also: It's Here: A Recipe For The Ramen Burger
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Along with the Ramen Burger, which is described as being constructed of Angus beef, shaved green onions, baby mixed greens, BBQ pork belly, and a gourmet ramen bun, Toro Burgers also offers a Banh Mi Burger with the Angus beef paired with a steamed pork roll, pickled carrots, daikon radish, fresh cilantro, jalapeño, and a dousing of fish sauce.
Also on the menu: a Kim Chi Burger, with Korean BBQ sauce and kimchi, because if you're going to be inspired by Shimamoto's Ramen Burger, you're also going to give a nod to Kogi's Roy Choi and his Korean mash ups, even if it's not something that's cribbed directly from his repertoire.
Toro Burgers is located at 2321 E 4th St. Ste A., Santa Ana, CA 92705. It had its grand opening yesterday.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.