Ramen Kazama - November 15, 2015
There’s not a lot of great ramen in this town, and even if you think it’s good, someone else will have another place that they think is better. They might not be able to formulate a reason, or they have their stalwart faves, it’s the nature of food. It’s very similar to the burger situation in town. Whenever a new place opens for a comfort food, especially a hot noodle soup in Minnesota, there’s bound to be a jostling. A chance at mixing up begrudgingly agreed upon rankings which may or may not match our own internal leader board.
That brings us to the opening of Ramen Kazama. Fuji-ya is a sushi restaurant that had a chef that would occasionally do ramen, that chef’s last name? Kazama. I never got to try the ramen at Fuji-ya, I think I was busy on the night of the week it was generally held. So I was looking forward to trying it out. My friends Rachel (a different one than previously mentioned) and Kat were lucky to try the soft opening a week before official opening. They gave it good reviews.
I’ll admit to not trying a lot of ramen in town, I have my favorite pho spots (Pho 79/Caravelle and Quang), and when I usually go for noodles and broth, I gravitate to that area of Eat Street (Nicollet). But now there’s a ramen spot on Eat Street, so I had to check it out, see if I need to fit it into the winter rotation.
There’s a few places that, upon opening garnered long lines before service begins. The shining example of that this year is Revival, long waits, but so worth it. Ramen Kazama has those lines too. The first week they underestimated demand and had to remain closed an extra day to make enough broth, I hope they iron out that wrinkle.
I think the owners definitely picked a good location. It’s the northernmost soup spot and first non-chain spot when heading south from the abysmal K-Mart detour on Nicollet (which is thankfully someday going to be resolved - then we’ll talk about open streets). If the lines are too long here, Hola Arepa and Pat’s Tap are a short walk/drive south.
Once in, you order and pay at the counter. You take your beverage and your brightly colored letter of the alphabet placard and try to find a spot, if it’s super busy, you’ll probably have time to find a spot before your food is delivered. Most patrons are pretty good about in, eat, up, and out. This isn’t a date spot. This is a get in, eat, get up, and get out spot.
Five ramen varieties with a variety of add-ins, a few rice dishes, a bunch of apps. My friend Kat really enjoyed the “Karamiso” magma variety, so I decided to go with that, besides, I’d had the other varieties at other places. We had a large group, and no ill will intended to the organizers who I think the world of, but I think we had too many. I don’t think the kitchen is big enough to drop that many ramen orders at once, so getting served all at once is probably out of the question for a large group. I think the maximum group size here should be 4 people and I think solo or 2 would work best.
Our group ordered a variety of ramen and sides, then tried to find seats. We had to wait a while, but as I said, if they’re busy, you’ll usually find a seat before your food is ready.
Karamiso “Magma” - Spicy Miso Broth, Ground Pork, Gochujang, Toban Dashi, and Miso. Good broth, nice and spicy as advertised, I’m not sure on the noodles and I wonder if a meat ball would work better than the ground meat. You definitely need to pick up the bowl to finish this one if you want all the protein.
Gyoza - good and flavorful, I slightly prefer Zen Box Izakaya preparation, but I’d order these again.
Pirikara Kyuri - spicy cucumber salad: totally solid, I’d order it again. Good heat and flavors.
Wakame Kyuri - Seaweed cucumber salad - a staple at most ramen shops, it was sliced a little thinner than I was accustomed to, almost like a quick pickle.
Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken) with spicy kewpie mayo: An interesting almost nugget like preparation, most versions use pounded cutlets. It was tasty and crunchy, but I think the simple flavored dipping sauce did it a disservice.
I didn’t get the Southside (Tonkotsu), but my friend Andrea let me try the broth. All I can say is ‘wow.’ When I go back I’ll definitely get that one before trying the others.
I don’t know if I’m a huge fan of ranking similar dishes at establishments, but if I have to, for ramen: I’m a fan of Zen Box, meh on Masu, and NO on 1-2-3 Sushi’s ramen, I think Ramen Kazama fits into the fan part of the spectrum, just under Zen Box, but I still need to try more and see how they trend visit to visit.
I might be unfairly judging Ramen Kazama on one visit, and I’m a frequent visitor to Zen Box, admire their creativity in the weekly specials, and consider myself friends with John and Linda, so my lens might be a little clouded. I’ll go back a few more times, soon, to see if things change.
I like the creativity that Spoon and Stable does on Saturday nights with their limited Ramen in the bar area, always a little unconventional, it’s usually always really comforting.
I still need to try Unideli and a few others, I can’t wait.