Ramen ‘n’ gyoza

Ramen in Tokyo

Just browsing through my Japan photos and getting nostalgic. Do I talk about ramen enough, ya think?

More about Boom Noodle

Three posts about noodle soup in two days is a bit nuts, but I was really excited about the prospect of getting good cheap ramen a few blocks from my place. Now that I’ve been there a second time, I’m ready to say that it’s nowhere near as good as the ramen I had in Japan — even the pedestrian stuff I had there was better. Boom Noodle has 3 different ramen soups, and I’ll go back and try the 3rd one soon, but their intent is pretty clearly not to offer spicy soup, nor are they trying to offer soup loaded up with lots of crazy ingredients. I’ll sound like a tourist here, but one of the things I really loved about the ramen I had in Japan is that it came with 8 or 10 different “things” lying on and among the noodles: seaweed, naruto, pork, fried things, mushroomy things, etc. Boom Noodle does this, but it’s just a perfunctory showing… the bowl isn’t jam packed with goodies.

The broth is good, but it isn’t complex, spicy and mysteriously wonderful like the stuff I had in Japan. The noodles are thin and definitely al dente… I don’t have a clear memory of the noodles I ate in Japan, but I remember them being slightly larger and more slippery; not quite udon size, of course. The central thing that’s lacking is complexity, with dead-sexy spiciness following close on its heels.

I’ll definitely be going back to Boom a lot… they have plenty of interesting things on the menu that I’d like to try, I like the communal table thing and their wait staff is incredibly nice. But the big picture is that I’m kind of disappointed. On the other hand, I’m less disappointed than I was in Blue C Sushi, a place that doesn’t deserve one return visit, let alone several.

Boom noodle: It’s pretty good!

Ok, I have people-pixels to heal in a few minutes, so I gotta run. But the short answer is that Boom Noodles is pretty good — nowhere near as awesome as real ramen in Japan, but still worth going to. I had something called “Boom Ramen”, which had scallops and chicken, and wasn’t at all spicy. I like more spice built in to my soup. I also had a lovely pot of jasmine tea… I won’t spoil the surprise for you, but you should definitely order it. (Knowledgeable tea people might not be amazed by the kineticism of this tea, but I was.)

They have 2 other ramen recipes on the menu, I’ll go back and order more ASAP. It’s so nice to have this place just a few blocks from my house. Samurai Noodle in the Int’l District is also good, but they are very small and very crowded. Boom Noodle is pretty huge.