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| - At long last, SoSoBa is open for the business. It was a lengthy wait after Centurion closed their doors at this location before Flagstaff's most popular noodle spot opened their second location here in Downtown Phoenix. But now they're here. So after a long work week, I made the short walk from my apartment to this spot during Friday happy hour.
If you've been to 2nd Ave and Roosevelt in the space that used to be Centurion, the exterior hasn't changed all that much. The patio outside has some bar and picnic seating, but otherwise the exterior is the relatively unchanged. The interior however is almost unrecognizable from what it used to be (and in this case, that's a good thing). They've blown out part of the wall that used to separate the front bar area from the rest of the restaurant and have managed to create a pretty spacious sit down area throughout the restaurant with about double the seating of Centurion. The lighting, the colors, and furniture are also a huge improvement. Its quite a startling change as I never knew this space was so big. Anyways, let's get to the good stuff.
I have not had the pleasure of visiting SoSoBa's flagship location in Flagstaff so I did a little research before making my way here. From what I read, it appeared the Mic Drop is the bowl that put SoSoBa on the map. And it reads like a pork all-star team. Pork Belly, Carnitas, chicharron, bacon, and ham fries in a slow cooked pork broth. To boot, there's a soft boiled egg, kim chi and scallions. Oh and some nice, soft thick cut udon noodles. Took a little over 5 minutes for them to make. I'll admit, this thing was pretty intimidating when it arrived at my table. The bowl is huge and I didn't think I stood a chance. But once I put the first helping of it in my mouth, there was no stopping me. The broth was out of this world. And the combination of different types of pork was fantastic. Admittedly my chopsticks game could use some work as it took me a bit to get some of that deliciousness in bulk. So by all means make sure your chopsticks skills are on point for this.
Super psyched from a delicious bowl of noodles and pork, I decided I've give dessert a go here as well. So far there's only two dessert items on the menu. A miso carrot cake and a grasshopper cheesecake. I'm a sucker for cheesecake and something cold and dense like cheesecake sounded perfect after a warm spicy noodle bowl. The specs on this cheesecake incarnation: A green tea and mint semi-freddo cheesecake with Oreo crumble and cocoa nibs. The presentation was a bit surprising in that it was served almost like a sushi roll would be served. As for the taste? Slight disappointment on this one. The flavor was very light and almost herbal which was surprising, but not altogether a bad thing. But it didn't have the cold density that my mouth was craving so that was a bit of let down. The texture was almost more of a custard than a cheesecake. It wasn't terrible, just a bit of departure from what I'd expected and hoped for.
Despite a somewhat subpar dessert, I left SoSoBa nevertheless impressed. Total cost for my meal including tax and tip came to about $25. The staff was super friendly and they also encourage you to leave a note in the little customer notebook that comes with your check. So all in all a great successor to Centurion at this prime spot on Roosevelt. They've done some amazing work with the interior and have given Roosevelt Row its first true ramen spot. So if you've got a hankering for noodles and a readiness to bring your chopsticks A game, SoSoBa might be right up your alley.
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