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| - It seems like ramen places are popping up all over Phoenix area. So far, all but two restaurants have failed to meet the standard of decent ramen in AZ. I just want more places that meet the standard to be in AZ so I don't have to drive so far for good ramen... I'm not even talking about being as good as California or Japan which have top tier awesome ramen. Anyway, it's all about the broth and noodles. I'm just going to be ramen expert here (it says so on my profile) for a second and judge the tonkatsu ramen bowl I had.
I appreciate that the egg was not hard boiled. So I'm glad they got that right. It wasn't running gooey soft (best kind) but at least it was semi-gooey. Another thing that I appreciate is that there were THREE pieces of pork in the ramen, and they weren't skimping on the meat like some of the other places. Might I add... the pork melts in your mouth.
Onto the broth! The broth is primarily the main component I judge when I eat ramen. Is it creamy? Is it thick? Does it have pork fat on top? Does it show depth? Can I taste the depth? So first, I would like to say that it meets the standards of good tonkatsu broth. If there was a minimum standard, it meets it! :) It's not the best when comparing to Japan or even California, but it is way above anything else in Arizona. It has flavor, a level depth and a texture consistent to good tonkatsu broth. (if broth can have texture hahaha). Sadly, no pork fat driplets floating on top of the broth. :(
The noodles were not soggy even to the end of the bowl. SOGGY NOODLES ARE BAD! So I'm glad the noodles didn't loose their structure. With that said, I'm not familiar with the noodles. I have gone through a lot of ramen noodle types but never came across this one. It is a hybrid between Lo Mein and Soba noodles. It didn't taste bad or anything. It was just different... (I seriously think it's thick buckwheat soba noodles).
With that said, I still think this beats all other ramen in the valley in terms of overall quality, toppings and broth even if it has the questionable noodles. There is a minimum standard and it's been met. The service was decent. Food came out pretty fast and the servers were nice. We also had the takoyaki (it was all right) and the fried tofu (tasted good, but more soft than fried). This place has potential to be top tier. I'll have to try the other ramen bowls to confirm that it can be top tier and potentially the best in the valley. So far... at least the tonkatsu is beating every other ramen shop in Arizona.
Actually, I am waiting for the tsukemen ramen which is not available yet in the restaurant. I don't think any other ramen or Japanese restaurant serve tsukemen ramen in AZ either. If they can impress me with that, I'll change my review to 5 stars. ;)
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