From Folsom to Maui, this restaurant owner wants to help survivors of the deadly fire

Brianna Taylor
·5 min read

In Myanmar, garlic noodles are a typical breakfast made with simple, yet bold flavors that highlight Burmese cuisine.

In Folsom, one restaurant owner is using his country’s dish to raise money to help those in need, sending it more than 2,400 miles across the Pacific Ocean to Maui.

Owner Aung Win of contemporary ramen house Umami Ramen added Maui garlic noodles to his menu shortly after learning of the deadly wildfires. The first blaze ignited in early August in the historic town of Lahaina on Maui, and has since caused widespread devastation across the island.

Homes and businesses were burned to the ground. Entire communities were decimated. Thousands were forced to evacuate. People are missing. More than a hundred have died and the death toll continues to mount. Survivors have been urged to submit DNA samples to identify victims.

He has raised between $800 and $1,000 since the initiative began Aug. 16.

“I wish I could help more... come and support Maui,” Aung said.

The $15 bowl of garlic noodles is served alongside slices of tender chicken or pork, one marinated egg and garnished with crispy fried onions. The spice level is up too — just know, Aung doesn’t hold back.

Umami Ramen owner Aung Win said his restaurant’s Maui garlic noodles dish is akin to popular street food from his native Myanmar. He plans to donate 100% of the money he raises by Aug. 31 to Maui wildfire relief efforts.
Umami Ramen owner Aung Win said his restaurant’s Maui garlic noodles dish is akin to popular street food from his native Myanmar. He plans to donate 100% of the money he raises by Aug. 31 to Maui wildfire relief efforts.

I was apprehensive at first because the noodles weren’t swimming in broth, but trust me, you will not be disappointed.

The menu has a variety of appetizers including a $9.50 plate of gyoza, delicately fried pot stickers served alongside a complementing dipping sauce.

The list of ramen is short, but packed with flavor. A $15 bowl of black garlic tonkotsu comes with thin noodles in pork broth, black garlic oil, bamboo shoots, roasted pork and black mushrooms. If you can’t decide on which ramen dish to get, order the $15 bowl of spicy miso made with a special miso paste and spicy wine.

All proceeds from the garlic noodles will go to disaster efforts in Maui. The fundraiser ends Aug. 31 and then the dish will be taken off the menu.

What I’m eating

I am one of The Bee’s service journalism reporters, and I’m taking over for food and drink reporter Benjy Egel while he’s on vacation. Hello, again.

The last time we spoke in June, you allowed me to geek out about my first time trying Corti Brothers’ most popular sandwich — the $9 Corti Special with provolone cheese, honey mustard, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, onion and pepperoncini.

I moved to Sacramento a year and a half ago from New York City, and for the past eight months readers who know the city’s best have guided me through their favorite $25 activities.

One of the oldest remnants of Sacramento’s Japantown was my latest stop.

Osaka-Ya Wagashi — or just Osaka-Ya — was established in 1963.

Packaged snacks including wasabi green peas ($2.25), curry-flavored shrimp chips ($3.55) and kaki peanut ($5.78), crescent-shaped rice crisps and peanuts, line shelves inside the small storefront.

A handmade sign labeled “sushi on vacation” is taped to an empty refrigerator. A statue of a black bear dressed in a vest, pants and belt holds a “welcome” sign over its head and miscellaneous sticky notes line a wall behind the dessert counter.

The Japanese dessert shop on 10th Street in Southside Park sells homemade manju and mochi, but it’s probably most well known for its seasonal snowcones.

When the weather heats up, the family business opens the window to its summer-only shaved ice operation. Inside, workers juggle orders of snowcones as well as ice cream, freezes, floats and fruit shakes.

Standard shaved ice is priced between $4.50 and $9, depending on the size. Kintoki, shaved ice with sweet red beans, is slightly more expensive and comes in two sizes: small ($7) and large ($8.50).

I decided on a small, sour apple flavored snowcone drenched in bright green candied syrup for $5.

The small-sized cup of shaved ice with sour-apple-flavored syrup cost $5 Osaka-Ya in Sacramento’s Southside Park neighborhood.
The small-sized cup of shaved ice with sour-apple-flavored syrup cost $5 Osaka-Ya in Sacramento’s Southside Park neighborhood.

This month I’m going to check out a Laos market in the capital region. More to come on that.

In the meantime, I want to know where your favorite cheap eats and activities are in the Sacramento area. Whatever it is — big or small — let me hear it. Email me at btaylor@sacbee.com.

Osaka-Ya

Address: 2215 10th St., Sacramento.

Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Phone number: 916-446-6857.

Website: https://osakaya-wagashi.com/

Drinks: Canned drinks, floats and fruit shakes.

Animal-free desserts: Mochi, manju and standard snowcones.

Noise level: Low.

Openings and Closings

  • Tom’s Watch Bar will officially open its doors in October but the exact date remains unclear. The sports bar will feature a 360-degree viewing room and hundreds of smaller televisions in the space.

  • Seafood eatery chain Ahipoki Bowl will soon open its doors to the Ridge shopping center in Elk Grove, at 7460 Elk Grove Blvd., Suite 130. It will serve hand rolls, bowls and burritos.

  • Indian restaurant Curry Up Now in Elk Grove closed in August. The former location at 7470 Elk Grove Blvd., Suite 120, served lamb samosas, fried ravioli and mashed potato fritter sandwiches.

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