[This article written by Reeve Baily. No reason you can’t write for Wallyhood, either!]
On Friday, I wandered into the little retail space in-between May and Issian restaurants on 45th hoping to get the scoop on what they were planning for the new space, and here’s what I found out.
The same Japanese parent company that owns and runs Issian (which is actually a chain in Japan) will be opening “Ramen Man”.
I sat down with Yuta Sugimoto (who also manages Issian) to dig a little deeper.
R: Okay first of all, my knee-jerk reaction is…there are already six Japanese restaurants within a block of your chosen location, did you consider that in your business plan prior to breaking ground for “Ramen Man”?
Y: Yes, you’re right, there are many options for Japanese cusine around here, but we are all doing different things. Miyabi concentrates on Soba…Yoroshiku, while they do Ramen occasionally, is really more Yakatori and Hokkaido cuisine. Kozue does great family style and set plate menus. Shima will have some great seasonal sushi you just won’t find anywhere else. And Musashi, well, that tells its own story. I get together with their different chefs and managers and we have drinks, sharing ideas etc. So we are all good friends here.
R: So you might say you are less competitors than you are peers.
Y: Yes, exactly….and the fact is, since Yoroshiku and Miyabi have opened, our own business (at Issian) has gone up as well. You know if you ask people where to get real Japanese food, they don’t say to go the ID or Belltown or anywhere else, it’s Wallingford. So opening here makes perfect sense.
R: That’s great. When you opened Issian it seemed like you had an initial rush but then it quieted down.
Y: Well of course some of that was the economy…but when we started (Issian) we were really more Japanese fusion, perhaps more tailoring to an American palette. Then after a while we started leaning back towards authentic Japanese, I was born and raised in Japan and that’s really what I know. I think word got around and we have actually been much busier. Having a Happy Hour, a late night Happy Hour has really been a draw, too.
R: So back to “Ramen Man”, I confess ignorance here but when I think of ramen I think of a little hard block of dehydrated dry noodles and little foil bouillon packets. I might not have made it through college without them.
Y: (Laughs) Well this will definitely be a large step above what you are used to then. With ramen the first, the most important ingredient is actually the broth. We went all over the U.S. and Japan to come up with a favorite. Ours will be using a recipe from a famous ramen restaurant in Kumamoto Prefecture. That’s on [the Japanese island] Kyushu. We have asked them to make a special broth just for us. Their owner, and head chef are here, right now to help us open up.
I didn’t get a chance to ask Yuta about the specifics of what patrons will be able order on top of their ramen, but they plan to open as early as Tuesday, October 15th so it won’t be long before we can find out for ourselves. They will be open for lunch 12 – 2:30pm and dinner 5:00 – 9:00pm. Closed Mondays.
Cold winter, hot ramen. Sounds good to me.
I’ve been saying that there needs to be an inflatable giant red torii gate across 45th near I-5. It’s amazing a predominantly white neighborhood like Wallingford can sustain 6 Japanese restaurants (not to mention 6 Thai, and Than Bros, and Satay). With all these Japanese restaurants and the Japanese language immersion program at JSIS, there ought to be a Wallingford matsuri (neighborhood festival) to celebrate that confluence.
I hope Ramen Man success. My family, except for one member, like pho and were happy that Than Bros hit the neighborhood. The one holdout does like ramen.
What the neighborhood could really use is a good Korean BBQ. All the good Korean restaurants seem to be up in Edmonds/Shoreline or on the Eastside. Surely the neighborhood could sustain a Korean restaurant. If someone is networked into the Korean American community, please invite them to investigate the viability of a Korean restaurant in Wallingford.
See Tampopo (1985) for more on Japanese noodle cuisine.
Address? I didn’t see it, scanning. Thanks!
@3: I’m guessing it’s the old All Emblem Company storefront, at… what? 1616 N 45th? Issian is at 1618 and May is at 1612.
Never too many Japanese restaurants for me. When I want a change I can eat Thai or Vietnamese. Korean would be a plus.
Terrific!!! We walked by after dinner at May (Thai) and got the very abbreviated story from the chefs who were busy late in the evening tuning up the recipes. I definitely look forward to comfort food at “Ramen Man”.
Having had a child go through the excellent Japanese immersion program at JSIS, and having worked for a couple of years consulting to a Korean company, I completely agree with Tirapop’s suggestions. A cultural festival is totally appropriate, AND a new Korean barbecue place with in-table grills and all the side dishes would be amazing, and popular I think. I would absolutely love to see that happen.
There are never enough Asian noodles around, as far as I’m concerned! Can’t wait to try them.
@4 is correct about the former tenant (not sure how they were able to hang in for so many years!) And @tirapop, I’m with you on the Korean BBQ, and the Asian culture festival!
Showing my age, but when we first moved here in 85 there was a Korean restaurant with the table grills on 45th. I can’t remember exactly where (or the name). But it was on the north side of 45th, maybe in that area… It was a great little place and there really wasn’t too many choices at that time!
It is located right in between Issian and May Thai. Directly next to Issian. Should be super delicious!
I hope they have beer.
I hope they have beer.
I hope they have beer.
I hope they have beer.
I hope they have beer.
Yay for more Japanese food! I am excited to try this new place, and I hope it thrives.
One odd thing about the interview, however, was the comment about Yoroshiku “do[ing] ramen occasionally.” I often eat there, and my impression is that ramen is one of their core specialties (and they nail it, in my opinion.) The comment sounded a little misleading and dismissive … But, I will still visit Ramen Man and wish them well in our neighborhood.
Thanks for the interview, Reeve!
I find Yorishiku’s ramen is bland and ordinary. I’m super excited for this place. I travel to Japan just to eat ramen almost every year. We need more than just Samurai and Aloha. Kukai is decent but in Bellevue.
Where is the best ramen in Seattle?
@10: I walked by there a couple of weeks ago and am pretty sure I saw a beer and wine application posted on their window.
Ryan, it’s pretty subjective, obviously, but I’d say Aloha has the best traditional bowl (Greenwood) but it is a tiny hole in the wall and vitally, doesn’t have beer. That’s not me being fussy, Ramen works GREAT with beer.
After that I would say Kukai and Samurai in the International District are on par – with the former having much better ambience and variety, but it’s pretty deep in the Bellevue hinterlands.
My favorite kind is Tonkotsu (pork bone) and a spicy Hokkaido “tanmen” variant. Ultimately I like ’em all – but the quality of execution is pretty varied. In Japan, the best places tend to order their noodles fresh from local noodle suppliers (and the best ones are in highly competitive demand) and it’s not clear to me where Ramen Man will get its noodles.
Now I am also confused because I spoke to a Japanese lady there this morning, who knew VERY little English, but she said it was a chicken broth – but both Kyushu and Kumamoto prefecture are famous for thin noodles and PORK broth. So hopefully it was a translation error, because Pork broth is the richest and most complex of all the ramen soups.
Please tell me that the interviewer knows more about ramen than is suggested by this article. Otherwise, maybe such assignments should be distributed on the basis of some form of knowledge beyond the grocery store aisle & college days. It is not folksy or interesting to come off as that uninformed and ignorant of a popular (and delicious) culinary mainstay.
Did someone say BEER?
My favorite beer can be bought at Ethiopian restaurants and even at some local Ethiopian stores. One regular beer store on 105th in Seattle, just East of Aurora, had it. But keep in mind (restaurant owner!), you want it fresh, not off a shelf where it may be old. (Wine may keep, unopened. Beer often does not.) When I bought it there, it did taste different from the restaurant. And after several years, a bottle of beer had spoiled. Fresher, it’s great.
FAVORITE: Hakim.
It’s made, I presume, by the Harar brewery in Ethiopia. They maybe should call it an Ale but they call it a Stout. To me, it’s more like a rich, smooth ale. Yum. 🙂
It goes great with a Veggie combo. Oh, but I’ll bet it would go great with a good dish from this new restaurant too!
S.
Just ate there and here’s the report:
The broth is based on a famous Kumamoto restaurant recipe, famous in part because it eschews the normal Kyushu Tonkatsu broth in favor of a very rich chicken bone and marrow stock. It’s creamy, silky in texture and very, very rich.
Noodles are traditional thin Kyushu style, supplied by a famous LA place that creates noodles for a few Japanese places in SoCal. Perfectly cooked with just enough bite.
There is beer, Sapporo in cans to be specific, and maybe teething troubles, but it wasn’t served with a glass, which was suboptimal.
Couple of sides, including rice and (not today) Kimchi. Free unlimited hard boiled eggs with a bowl for peeling (but no soft boiled Ajitsuki Tamago, which is a shame) for eating on their own, cool Hand Luke style, or better yet, put the cold, peeled egg right in your broth and eat it a few seconds after it’s immersed. Which is a Tokyo tradition.
There are also Gyoza and a delicious Sukyaki Don (beef over rice) .
The ramen is offered in a few variants – traditional, garlic, shoyu and spicy miso. I had the latter and it was spectacular. Probably one of the best bowls I have had in Seattle, so we’ll see how consistent they can stay.
The Char Sui pork was fatty and meltingly good, as it should be.
Ambience was interesting. They decorated the front in the traditional Japanese style with “bowing” curtains and lamps. so it looks festive and fun. Inside, the front part is actually a lot like a real Ramen joint, and even the slightly dank basement seating section feels like many a Tokyo ramen dive. Not a date place by any stretch of the imagination, but fun. It was completely full, by the way. Not bad for 58 minutes of business.
Service was in practice mode, but helpful enough. Here’s what they need to be perfect:
Ajitsuki Tamago
Glasses for beer.
Juice or milk or something for kids (just soda and tea right now)
Prettier menus (which is weird because they had cool custom bowls and t-shirts) with better descriptions of the food and broth.
But I loved it. My favorite restaurant on 45th, overnight.
Chicken Kara age (this is optional lol)
And I said “Tonkatsu” which was typo. Tonkatsu is fried pork, I should have said “Tonkotsu” which is pork bone broth.
Thanks for all the info Frankie — did you happen to notice if they offer veggie broth as well?
I checked out the Tonkatsu article on Wikipedia. I thought it could sometimes be made with something other than pork, but it might be called something different then. 🙂
Erica – yes! They have a veggie broth apparently. If I recall from listening to another table, it wasn’t ready yesterday at the soft opening.
Awesome review, Frankie. I can’t wait to try it. I love Aloha (they’re moving to Lake City next month), but it’ll be great to have a local ramen joint.
thanks so much
are they open lunches?