NOT YOUR DORM ROOM RAMEN ~ A FOOD REVIEW

It’s 2024 and the good ol ramen noodle has entered the rebrand conversation. If you’re like me, ramen was one of the first dishes you learned how to whip up in the kitchen at an early age; right there with the classic ham and cheese sandwich and the fried egg. 

What was even more of an early age culinary accomplishment was when I began to add cheese and cut up hotdog wieners or sausage to create what I considered sort of an ultimate ramen situation. 

Ramen remained a mostly distant menu option throughout college and into adulthood, however, there has been a shift that has brought the taste for ramen to my radar. 

Insert Osaka Ramen and Chef Bobby, but before we get to the ramen, let’s get to some apps. As much as I like sushi, I have never eaten edamame so per recommendation of my man, “Dangerous Dan,” we had the spicy garlic edamame which did not disappoint. Another first for me was the deep fried Japanese tofu with the special sauce and bonito flakes. The bonito flakes make for the coolest garnish because they move around on the plate almost like they’re alive, a really cool accent to this dish. Keeping with the theme of firsts, I tried Takoyaki which are essentially Japanese boudin balls with deep fried octopus, eel sauce, and more bonito flakes. Dip them in the gyoza sweet soy sauce and your tastes buds get hit with an unexpected twist of flavor and textures on the front end, then, a spicy, sweet, salty kick on the back end.  

Before we dive off into a couple of the ramen bowls we sample the Beef Don rice bowl, a simple bowl of sliced marinated beef and onions in a special sauce with broccoli over rice. I imagine this will pair well with a cold Japanese beer once they’re made available. 

The two ramen bowls we tried were the fried chicken ramen with its rich shoyu based broth and spicy sauce topped with bean sprouts, corn, black fungus, egg, fish cake, black garlic oil, spicy oil, shredded chili peppers and, as the name indicates, crispy fried chicken. The meatballs ramen has the same shoyu base but is topped with bamboo shoots and jalapeños to go along with the tennis ball sized angus meatballs. 

Wash it all down with a taro boba milk tea, and just like that, the ramen noodles we grew up with as kids is now grown and gourmet.