|
Monday, 12 July 2010 03:02 |
|
By Bruce Rutledge
By one estimate, Japan has 45,000 ramen shops. We’re not talking restaurants with ramen on the menu — that’s 45,000 shops that serve nothing but ramen ... and perhaps a side of potstickers. In contrast, you can count the number of ramen-only shops in Seattle on one hand.
Yet after several weeks of sampling ramen everywhere from Greenwood to Capitol Hill to the International District, I must respectfully disagree with the foodies who write on Yelp and other restaurant review sites that you have to go to Vancouver for a good bowl of ramen. Not true. What I witnessed in the last few weeks of slurping ramen noodles, besides an expanding waistline, was plenty of innovation and dedication to getting ramen right in Seattle. I also witnessed chefs that were more than willing to go out of their way to accommodate vegetarians, vegans and others with dietary restrictions — I’m betting not a lot of those 45,000 shops in Japan do that.
While ramen is still relatively rare in Seattle, it has reached a critical mass. Expect more innovation, more choices, more competition. As one restaurant owner who asked to remain anonymous put it: “Ramen is like pizza. It could be everywhere. It could be bigger than sushi.”
A sign of this critical mass is that ramen shops are looking for ways to stand out. Chef Lorenzo Rangel of Aloha Ramen in Greenwood tops his steaming bowls of noodles with delicious fresh bamboo grown in his garden. Chef Jonathan Hunt of Boom Noodle eyes trends in Japan and riffs off them. When he heard that Tokyo shops were starting to serve salt and yuzu ramen, he came up with a delicious egg-drop yuzu ramen for Boom. Kushibar in Belltown serves up a tasty vegetarian bowl with shiitake and enoki mushrooms, asparagus, corn and green onions.
Traditionalists can find their fix too. Whether it’s a bowl of shoyu-butter ramen served up by Mr. Kuroda at Maekawa Bar in the International District, the perfectly grilled potstickers at Fulin across the street, the tasty bowls of shoyu ramen served up from 12 to 2 on Fridays at Tsukushinbo or the creamy-white tonkotsu ramen at Samurai Noodle and Kaname, the staple ramens of Japan can be enjoyed in Seattle.
The east side is getting into the act too. Dozo Cafe serves steaming bowls of ramen without a hint of MSG. New Zen Japanese Restaurant serves tonkotsu ramen, and Kiku Sushi of Bellevue delivers the hearty Nagasaki chanpon ramen.
In short, ramen has arrived in Seattle. And it’s going to get better and better. As the competition heats up, chefs will look for that competitive edge that keeps ramen lovers coming back. Seattle, the ramen slurping has only just begun.
We highlight some of the restaurants serving ramen in the greater Seattle area.
Seattl
Eastside
Related article:
|
|
Last Updated on Thursday, 07 July 2011 13:07 |
