I mentioned this restaurant ages ago but I finally made it over there! Every time I went by the lines were so long so I was waiting until they were only moderately bad. I decided to have lunch on a Saturday, and sure enough the restaurant was completely full at 11:30AM, only half an hour after opening, but thankfully only two people in front of me. A young man from the host seemed to be in charge of taking the names of everyone who is new in line, which grew longer as I waited.
My wait was really only maybe 10 minutes and I was led in to a small 2 person table that was placed very close to the table next to me. I immediately recognized the restaurant trick of splitting up a 4 person table into two 2’s when you’re desperate for more seats, even when it makes the two parties awkwardly close to each other. The restaurant was decorated in all light wood and black, with a nice brick accent wall in the back. All the employees chanted some type of greeting as I walked in, and as any newcomers were seated as well.
I’d heard that the shio ramen was the most popular I went with the ramen combo, with a small miso ramen and the shiyake ikura gohan (grilled salmon with salmon roe on rice) and egg salad. I wanted to try a lot without spending a lot! The combo price was $15.50 which was a good deal, and despite my initial worries the small ramen was actually plenty of food.
I’m a ramen newbie so sitting uncomfortably close to the people next to me had its advantages in that I had to steal glances at them every few seconds to learn how to eat my noodles with the spoon and chopstick combo. I know you’re supposed to slurp them, but I don’t know how to do that without covering my shirt in droplets of oily broth. They should include bibs with your meal. I wasn’t really sure what the items included in the ramen were, like the tightly packed brown leaves on top, or the white & pink star shaped garnish (it was soft and sort of flavorless and chewy). I was also pretty sad to see that I only received one piece of pork in my small ramen :(. The salmon & rice salad was very good, the salmon was well cooked, the rice warm and the salmon roe providing a cool, salty contrast to both. The egg salad was a random inclusion (unless that’s a normal accompaniment to ramen), but it tasted good.
I thought the food overall was very good. The ramen broth was a little salty, especially toward the end and I wish I had gotten more meat or other toppings. The menu is pretty limited so I’m not sure I’d go again unless I really want ramen….because that’s all they really have.
Flavor Adventures 