Noodle Uchi is a new quick serve noodle store with the same idea as the Chipotle-inspired Sushi Fuku. They have a build your own ramen concept, where you can pick your broth, noodle, protein, and toppings, or you can go with a rice bowl if you came here and actually did not want noodles. It's located very conveniently for CMU students, just a few steps from the intersection of Craig and Forbes. There is a decent amount of seating inside, unlike at their neighbor, the craig st sushi fuku. They have a gluten free noodle option with their brown rice ramen, a vegetarian broth in the miso soup, as well as a few vegetarian protein options. They also have lots of sides, like kimchi salad and takoyaki.
For my first visit, I opted for a classic ramen in tonkotsu broth. It was extremely hard to pick a meat, they had shrimp tempura, salmon, pork katsu, and crispy chicken which are all favorites of mine! I ended up going with the chicken chashu because it looked super tasty. I also asked for teriyaki sauce on the meat. They have a wide selection of free regular toppings - spinach, seaweed, green onions, edamame, bean sprouts, and more! They also have paid toppings, like crunchy green onions and the ramen classic - a medium boiled egg. I went with just edamame this time. The bowl takes longer to prepare than at sushi fuku, since you have to wait for the noodles to cook, but it's still pretty fast. It came out really nice and hot, and I was definitely excited to get home and dive right in. I think they have an option where if you say it's to go, they will give you the broth on the side so your noodles don't get soggy. As for the food itself, the ramen noodles were pretty standard and the teriyaki sauce blended with the tonkatsu broth giving it a bit of a sweet taste which I enjoyed. The edamame was a bit crunchier than I like my edamame. The chicken chashu was a great choice though, it was well cooked and super tasty. I ended up drinking all of the broth, I'm curious of what the regular tonkotsu broth tastes like but that mixed with some teriyaki was a real winner. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of my meal because I was so excited to eat it, but I'll definitely be back to try out the other options since there's so much on the menu that I like.
EDIT: I don't think this deserves a whole update but I've gone two more times and the different things I have had are pork chashu, shoyu broth, crispy chicken, and udon. The pork chashu was amazing, the day I got chicken chashu I skipped it because it didn't look that good but when I did decide to get it it blew the chicken out of the water. You don't get much, only two slices. I got the crispy chicken on the side so it didn't get soggy, and it was juicy and crunchy, and I got a lot. I was hesitant about getting udon because I feel like you get "less noodles" but as I was eating I realized there were a LOT of noodles. The tonkotsu broth was very tasty even without the teriyaki sauce, but the shoyu was extremely salty. I still drank it all, but I would prefer tonkotsu most of the time. The spinach and seaweed were pretty standard, and the edamame was softer and more to my taste if I let it sit in the hot broth for longer.
A note about the steamed buns - 'taco' buns like that pretty common for buns in restaurants, although I cannot vouch for their authenticity. Not sure how they would be able to have build your own steam buns otherwise without it being slow.