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Food, Restaurant

What’s Wrong with Ramen in Seattle? It’s Wramen.

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TanakaSan’s tonkotsu ramen with soba-like whole wheat noodles and an “umami bomb” of dried mushrooms, parmesan rind, kombu (kelp), and duck fat ($13)

Gomen na. That’s Japanese for “I’m sorry,” and something I want to state from the outset. I really hate to be a wet noodle about our ramen boom, but as someone who’s spent considerable time in Japan, I’ve been feeling a little sad about the state of ramen in Seattle.

During one of my 12 trips to Japan, I remember being glued to the TV watching a show dedicated to ramen. In it, three experts traveled restaurant to restaurant judging ramen quality. When deeming a bowl bad, an expert would bow his head, solemnly say “Gomen na,” and simply walk out of the place.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to do the same here.

I’m seeing so many chefs falling in love with ramen (understandably so!) and making it themselves—putting their own spins on it. When I try their creations, I’m confused. Something about the noodles, the soup, and the toppings is just not right.

As a result, I worry that ramen will lose its authenticity. People will soon think of it as misguidedly as many think of sushi: rolls that would be foreign in Japan. No native Japanese chef would sandwich cream cheese and hot pepper jelly into rice and call it sushi. Similarly, you won’t find ramen made with sous vide short ribs and candied carrots in the Land of the Rising Sun. But, all too often, that’s the direction the dish is taking in the United States.

So I’m calling for a change in nomenclature. Just as I don’t think we should call sushi rolls “sushi,” I think we need another name for Westernized ramen. Here’s my proposal. If you’re trying to make authentic Japanese ramen, continue to call it by its original name: ramen. But if you’re not trying to be authentic, then let’s call your creation something new: Wramen. Pronounced double-u ramen, it indicates a version that you wouldn’t expect to see in Japan.

Authentic ramen transports me to Tokyo (or Hakata, or Hokkaido), whereas if you’re using parmesan cheese, fried chicken or oysters, apple slices, smoked kielbasa, or tofu, that’s Wramen. The same is true for foie gras, duck confit, duck fat, and duck anything. (Do American chefs depend on duck fat to get depth of flavor that they can’t seem to extract from pork/chicken bones and seafood?) Fancy ingredients take me far from Japan, often at fanciful pricing. At the same time, trying to make ramen too healthy renders a result of Wramen. While the Japanese love to eat seasonally, there’s no call for seasonal vegetables in ramen. And don’t get me started on vegetarian ramen. It’s a rarity in Japan. In fact, there’s little concern about fat/oil content and MSG in ramen—they’re an integral (and flavorful) part of the package.

The new name Wramen not only maintains the integrity of authentic ramen, it allows me to critique both types accordingly. And to just plain try to enjoy both of them. After all, some of the Wramen I’ve eaten has been daring and delicious. Then again, some Wramen has been a completely wreck.

Brimmer & Heeltap’s ramen with Chinese-style roast pork and Brussels sprout kimchi ($10)

Examples of the Wramen scene in Seattle:

  • Brimmer & Heeltap: The noodles in the “family meal ramen” are too spongy soft, but the flavors of the Chinese-style pork and the kimchi Brussels sprouts make this a delicious Wramen.
  • TanakaSan: The ever-changing ingredient combinations are intriguing (#3 includes smoked kielbasa and Savoy cabbage), though the use of soba-like whole wheat noodles is strange.
  • Mighty Ramen: The chef says he’s “going more for delicious than authentic,” using fresh, local ingredients, but this translates to weak soup, pork that’s too lean, and a high price for a small bowl. (An A for effort attempting handmade noodles, but they’re too chewy.)
  • Bloom: Fresh corn has shown the striving for seasonality, but was misplaced in the Showa tonkotsu ramen and the chicken shio ramen—with both soups weak and surprisingly indistinguishable from each other.
  • (Further afield, I’ve enjoyed ramen with pulled pork, fried chicken, and pickled mustard seeds in aioli at Boke Bowl in Portland, as well as a beef brisket and mirin-glazed bacon with mixed greens ramen at Burdock & Co. in Vancouver, BC. Both clearly Wramen, and both really good!)

Perhaps the best illustration of the Wramen trend comes from Boom Noodle. Jonathan Hunt visited Japan to immerse himself in the country’s cuisine upon getting the executive chef job at Boom, even apprenticing for a day under Ivan Orkin of Ivan Ramen fame. His ramen got to be quite good. But new management mandated an end to use of MSG, among other changes. Hunt eventually left and the ramen has since spiraled downward in quality, with the Tokyo (shoyu) ramen now resembling mushroom soup. It’s no wonder Boom is going bust as its restaurants close one by one.

In contrast to all the new Wramen, I’d like to see Seattle get a “real” ramen restaurant that scores three perfect 10s: 10 seats, 10-minute eating time, and a cap of $10 per bowl. Serve just ramen—specializing in only one or two types—and perhaps gyoza on the side. No cocktails, no big menu, no Western spins.

Redefining ramen in America will require educating diners and chefs alike. Just as the ramen master in Tampopo (a must -see “ramen Western” centered on a ramen shop) taught his disciple to have reverence for the bowl (“appreciate its gestalt” and “caress the surface with the chopstick tips…to express affection”), chefs should have reverence for ramen, too. They can start by identifying their bowls as authentic—or as Wramen. As a writer, I’ll be doing that, and invite others to do the same.

Where to Try Really Good “Real” Ramen in the Seattle Area

  1. Tsukushinbo: Home-style shoyu ramen served lunch-only on Fridays that cheap and good.
  2. 4649 Yoroshiku: Miso is best at this Sapporo-style restaurant that’s upped its focus on ramen for lunch
  3. Kukai: Yuzu-shio shines (others are okay) at this Bellevue restaurant reportedly expanding to Northgate and South Lake Union.
  4. Jinya: Decent tonkotsu (I’ve had it in Vancouver) due to arrive next week at Crossroads Mall.
  5. Santouka: Schedule to open in April in Bellevue, the specialty is tonkotsu, and it’s likely to be the best ramen in the Seattle area (again, I’ve had it in Vancouver).
  6. Biwa: If you’re headed to Portland, Biwa bests all of Seattle’s current ramen shops.
  7. G-men: This Richmond, BC restaurant serves my favorite ramen in the Pacific Northwest, truly transporting me to Japan (also good in Vancouver: Motomachi Shokudo).
4649 Yoroshiku’s miso ramen ($9.50)

Rules for Ramen (aka Why Ramen Might Not Succeed in Seattle, or Why the Lines at Ippudo in NYC Drive Me Crazy)

  1. Don’t order a cocktail, don’t go to the bathroom just before your ramen comes to the table, don’t dawdle once it arrives, and don’t let it cool off. Eat your ramen quickly so the soup is hot and the noodles don’t get soft.
  2. Don’t mix all the toppings. Pick at them intermittently, enjoying the various components. This is interactive eating.
  3. Don’t try to be politely quiet. Slurp, pulling in soup with the noodles, along with air to cool things off.
  4. Don’t complain about saltiness or fattiness. Ramen isn’t intended to be healthy food. Oil glistening on the surface of the soup is a good thing.
  5. Don’t wear your Sunday best when eating ramen. Expect oil stains, especially if you drink your soup from the bowl once you finish your noodles and toppings.
  6. Don’t linger. Leave when you finish so someone else can sit. Go get coffee or a cocktail elsewhere if you want to chat with your companion(s).

Note: As for some of the more notable, heretofore unmentioneds: Setsuna is pretty good but needs hotter soup and a little more depth of flavor. Samurai Noodle has disappointed of late with somewhat weak soup. Aloha Ramen offers a wide variety of bowls, but never quite wows me. (Their shio is my favorite of the shop.) Ramen Man comes closest to my vision of an ideal ramen shop setting, but the tori-paitan is too light for my taste, the chashu is too lean and cold, and the hard-boiled eggs don’t do much more than distract me.

More photos:

Mighty Ramen’s tosho ramen with marinated egg ($9)
Might Ramen’s noodles, exposed
Bloom’s chicken shio ramen ($13)
Bloom’s Showa tonkotsu ramen ($13)

 

Food, Restaurant

Ramen by the Numbers on 45th in Wallingford

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Fresh from my eleventh trip to Japan, I’m remaining vigilant in my ramen watch for Seattle. There have been numerous changes since my comprehensive critique of our ramen scene in 2011, many of those changes happening on the north side of the city.

Taichi Kitamura did indeed develop a ramen recipe (actually, more than one), serving up some of my favorite ramen at Showa until the izakaya closed recently. Aloha Ramen, which I like less, plans to move from Greenwood to Lake City late in the summer, putting them out of desirable geographic reach for many.

Boom Noodle has gone downhill since the departure of executive chef Jonathan Hunt. Consistency always varied among its shops, with the ramen best wherever Hunt was present. There’s a similar problem with Samurai Noodle, though on its better days it might be tops in the Seattle area. That said, I still enjoy “grandma’s ramen” at Tsukushinbo, which also happens to be the best bargain of all.

I’ve yet to try Kukai in Bellevue, partly because I’ve heard negative reviews from the local Japanese community. Meanwhile, I await the opening of Tanaka-san, though with concern that the ramen might be too high-end.

In that developing Nihonmachi in Wallingford, there are two options in the world of ramen. 4649 Restaurant (aka “Yoroshiku,” which is a way to read the numbers aloud, and means “pleased to meet you”), in the former Joule space on 45th, serves shio ramen, pictured above. At $9.50 for the basic, the bowl is a little on the small side and the broth a bit bland (it needs more shio punch), though the chashu is good. (Reason, perhaps, to order the meatier chashu-men for $11.95.)

Incidentally, I found the meat portions of the yakitori to be meager as well. Better at 4649 are the salads. Ruibe, which is Hokkaido-style beef carpaccio over vegetables, served with ponzu dressing, is a fine choice for freshness and flavor. The other salads (choices include tofu, salmon, ramen, and a 4649 house salad) looked delicious as well, and I’ve heard good things about them from numerous diners.

A little further east on the same street, Miyabi 45th is doing a ramen pop-up this coming Sunday and Monday. Mutsuko Soma makes some exquisite soba, and while she won’t be making ramen noodles this time around, she’s putting a lot of effort into the broth (bet on bone marrow for some flavoring) and toppings. Soma will be serving shoyu ramen (my favorite type) which will come in three varieties: basic ($12), chashu ($14, with five slices of pork), and Jiro-style ($17, with a double portion of noodles and “a mountain of everything”). You’ll want to call the restaurant to reserve, as seating will be limited. Soma says she’ll continue ramen pop-ups if these two are successful—based on her standard of quality, I’m sure they will be.

While ramen in Seattle still lags far behind what you’ll find in Vancouver/Richmond and Japan, at least the bowls (most, that is) are better than a ramen experience I had last week in Tokyo. I happened to be in the city during a brief promotion of ramen burgers at Lotteria, a fast-food chain. At a hefty 634 yen (as with 4649, there’s wordplay happening, as 634 can be read as “musashi”—the noted Menya Musashi chain is providing the ramen for the promotion) per burger, it served notice that I much prefer my ramen noodles in a soup bowl than in a bun, whether in Japan or here in Seattle.

Food, Restaurant

New “Nihonmachi” Bring Japanese Food (and Morimoto!) to Seattle and Bellevue

While Seattle’s original Nihonmachi (“Japan Town” or “Japan Street”) is, of course, in the International District, the popularity of Japanese food may be creating new “Nihonmachi” in the area.

Take, for example, 45th Street in Wallingford. Here there’s been a trio of Japanese restaurants: the ever-popular sushi joint Musashi’s, the classic-cooking Kozue, and the fairly new izakaya called Issian.

Now you can add two new places to the mix.

Yoroshiku has quietly opened in the old Joule location on 45th. Visit their website and you might think the restaurant name is 4649, but this is just a bit of Japanese wordplay. 4649 can be read as yoroshiku, roughly translated to “nice to meet you.” (Check the Wikipedia page for other examples, including my favorite: 3.14159265 (pi), which can be read “san-i-shi-i-ko-ku-ni-mu-ko” [産医師異国に向こう], meaning “an obstetrician goes to foreign country.”)

The restaurant is serving some Hokkaido specialties, as well as yakitori and other kushi (grilled food on skewers). The items are less daring than even Kushibar’s offerings, which I don’t think are interesting enough (in Japan, I’ve eaten diaphragm and uteri and other crazy parts, with an eye on a restaurant serving “oppai teats” and vocal chords), but early reports are that the quality is good.

Scheduled to open next month is Miyabi on 45th. This branch of Miyabi Sushi in Southcenter will be located in the old Rain Sushi location and will feature “Japanese Northwest” cuisine, with a special emphasis on handmade soba. At the helm will be Mutsuko Soma (pictured, above), who has been having soba pop-up meals in the past months (see my two reports), and of late has doing soba in the Southcenter restaurant. She currently has a target opening date of December 20, challenging herself to be ready for New Year’s Eve to serve the traditional toshikoshi soba.

But it’s not just Wallingford where you’ll find new Japanese food, as Bellevue is also getting into the act. It’s there that Kukai will open next month, becoming the first Japanese ramen chain to come to the Seattle area. And based on this recent job posting on Craigslist, it looks like Morimoto will be bringing his brand to Bellevue next year, which is sure to be a big deal. To all of this I say “Ganbare, Nihon-ryori” –and bring on more Nihonmachi.