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| - I may have been hungry enough to eat a horse, but I'm sure I would have enjoyed my food tonight regardless.
With Jennifer L.'s months-old rave review still lingering in the back of my mind, I finally took the opportunity to visit Niu-Gu Noodle House tonight when it appeared near the top of my Yelp bookmarks (sorted by distance). After getting lost and asking for directions from a local barber who professed his love for Niu-Gu's noodles as well), I found it on the opposite end of the plaza from its current Yelp map spot. Look for this restaurant in the southeast corner next to Imperial One, which still is called HK Star on the facade.
The restaurant was devoid of customers except for yours truly, and the lady running the front of house seated me at a booth and brought me their menu on an iPad. After quickly scrolling through the options, which included a fair number of traditional beef, lamb, and pork dishes and some appetizers (including chicken wings that apparently would take 20 minutes to prepare), I settled on what I came here for: the miso noodle soup.
I can't remember the exact name of that dish, but it wasn't outright named "ramen." Nevertheless, it did have a very ramen-y feel, starting with a moderately rich and mildly spicy miso beef broth that was very slurpable. The thin noodles were cooked perhaps a touch above al dente but are definitely reminiscent of ramen, as are the diced green onions and kikurage. The beef was very tender and flavorful, and it made forget momentarily that chashu was even a thing. The bean sprouts were a nice touch, and I didn't miss the lack of bamboo or egg (the latter available at additional cost).
Despite the fairly modest portion (lunch-worthy, easily), this is a reasonable deal at $9 for one of the better noodle soups that I have enjoyed in town. Ramen or not, this dish is enough to put Niu-Gu on the map, so keep an open mind and try it the next time you want a hot bowl of goodness.
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