YumeWoKatare, Porter Square, Cambridge, MA.

I said I'd try YumeWoKatare when I didn't have to wait in line to do so. 5:45pm Wednesday night was such a time. I went in, paid my $14 for the bowl of ramen with five slices of pork, and sat down. It was that easy.

I have to say I was not hugely impressed. The pork was tasty and the noodles were clearly hand-made, but I don't think the whole was really up to the sum of its parts.

I might order the pork for take-out* at some point to eat with a large quantity of rice and some Japanese pickles, however. The rather salty pork definitely needs something to cut the fatty cloyingness, and the ramen isn't really the thing to do it. I did like the extra garlic, however. It was certainly a filling, energy-rich meal for a cold winter night.

As a 1300 yen bowl of noodles it's okay. If you're feeling cheap the normal bowl with only two slices of pork is $2 less, but in terms of price vs. performance you should definitely get the extra pork if your belly will hold it. Portions are generous.

What it basically boils down to is that this isn't a particular style of ramen that I'm likely to want to have very often. I imagine it's executed well, but it's not really my thing.

(No photos or contact info as this isn't really a full restaurant listing, just a quick post.)

*The pork is the only thing they do for take-out. You're not even allowed to cart away leftovers. Not that I left anything but some soup.

Is Carnival Cruise lines just having a bad couple of years, or do they just suck?

The news about the Carnival Triumph and its recent troubles got me to looking into the line's recent record:

• On November 8, 2010, a fire broke out in the generator room of the Carnival Splendor and the ship lost most power.


• On January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia, operated by a Carnival subsidiary, ran aground off Isola del Giglio, Tuscany. The ship capsized and partially sank, killing 32 people.


• In March 2012, the Costa Allegra, owned by Carnival Cruise Lines' Costa Cruises subsidiary, suffered an engine room fire and went adrift in the Indian Ocean.


• In February 2013, the Carnival Triumph, with 3,143 passengers aboard, suffered an engine room fire, leaving the ship adrift for days in the Gulf of Mexico.

Is this number of incidents normal for cruise lines? Is Carnival Cruise lines known to be more accident prone than other lines? They do have a large fleet, so I suppose it could just be random chance, but it doesn't seem like a good record.

I don't know the first thing about cruise lines and their reputations, so I'm asking.