Maybe it’s the shorter daylight hours or the recent downpours, but Seattle is ready for ramen. Diners have plenty of options in the city, from food truck Midnite Ramen’s Abashiri Kani Miso Ramen with crab-flavored broth to Ooink’s garlicky Kotteri Ramen with noodles made with local spring water, whether ordering takeout.
Many restaurants offer to-go ramen kits — or braving the weather to huddle over a bowl of hot pork broth and silky noodles.
From north to south, here’s our guide to some of Seattle’s top ramen eateries.
Ramen Danbo
Ramen Danbo provides tonkatsu ramen in the Hakata style, with shio, miso, and Negi-Goma (scallion with toasted sesame) variations. The thickness and hardness of the noodles, the thickness of the broth, the quantity of fat, and the amount of spicy sauce may all be customized.
Takeout orders may be placed over the phone, and delivery is available via Uber Eats, GrubHub, or Chowbus, with limited indoor seating. One of the best ramen spots which offer rich pork and noodle thickness in its chashu pork dishes for the average Noodle lover.
Stroll along Harvard Ave and definitely check out Danbo. Taste great food like a steaming bowl of ramen and enjoy the day. There are similar restaurants also in the Los Angeles area.
Kizuki Ramen
The unveiling of this, the first of the Capitol Hill Five, in 2015 was welcomed with great enthusiasm and lengthy lineups. (Branches existed in Bellevue and Northgate at the time; they were all known as Kukai, which was altered the next year since it meant “poop” in Hawaiian.) Kizuki is now open in West Seattle and Southcenter.)
The bustling, modern interior features bits of wood sticking into the air, giving the impression that the chairs are up and the door is closed from the outside. Three separate staff directed us to the garlic tonkotsu shoyu ramen, which had too much going on, much like the décor.
The soup had a powerful mix of flavors: porky, vegetal, and fishy all at the same time. The typical marinated soft-boiled egg came close to salty-sweet, creamy-rich perfection, while the thickish noodles were chewy but not fresh-tasting.
However, the overwhelmingly strange-tasting soup, as well as the unpleasant sides, grasy karaage, and mushy gyoza, were disappointing. Before the better venues came along, it was great!
Hokkaido Ramen Santouka
Santouka unveiled its first free-standing American restaurant in Bellevue in 2014, and has since expanded to University Village. Santouka introduced its first free-standing American restaurant in Bellevue in 2014, after operating many locations in Japanese supermarkets around the United States and Canada.
This Japanese import provides top-notch tonkotsu ramen with wavy noodles that capture more of the broth. Takeout, limited onsite eating, and Grubhub, Uber Eats, and Doordash delivery are all available.
Yoroshiku Japanese Restaurant
The shoyu and shio ramen are also good, but the miso ramen is the genuine standout, with its amazing depth of earthy flavor. Yoroshiku provides some of the fattest pork of any ramen shop in the neighborhood, and it’s worth upgrading to additional chashu. Yoroshiku East (in Bellevue) offers the standard ramen menu as well as the tsukemen dipping style.
The fisherman ramen is our recommendation. Takeout, limited dine-in, and Grubhub, Uber Eats, and Doordash delivery are all available. The fattiest pork is produced from the Gyoza machine which is featured in the food cart located on a inconspicuous spot with a puget sound.
The good twist is that great cuisines and a popular dish can also be product by a food cart. So along with Yoroshiku, our recommendation is to check out also some food carts. There are different varieties of Hellz Ramen and Nuna Ramen with garlicky flavor and a thickness of broth which is inresistable.
Ooink
Ooink makes a nod to chef-owner Chong Boon Ooi and his renowned silky pork broth, albeit he doesn’t refer to it as tonkotsu. This unassuming location serves some of Seattle’s greatest ramen, thick and delicious thanks to a choice of tares and two kinds of noodles prepared on-site.
These days, the noodles may taste even better. During the epidemic, Ooink began making their noodles using local spring water, which they discovered increased the texture and overall quality.
Customers may purchase takeaway kits, have them delivered by Doordash, and eat on the premises, however there is limited seating.
Arashi Ramen
Arashi, which started in Tukwila and has now grown to Ballard, specializes on tonkotsu ramen from Kyushu Hakata, despite the fact that the restaurant’s chef is from Kyoto. The porky broth comes in shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), miso, and spicy miso flavors, with black garlic serving as a nice variation on tonkotsu miso.
Takeout, limited dine-in, and delivery via Postmates, Uber Eats, and Chownow are all available. This North Seattle spot features electronic music and a crowdfunding campaign for half orders from time to time. We recommend to try the pork slices.
Teinei
Teinei is a ramen and sushi restaurant in South Lake Union that’s known for its handcrafted noodles and chicken broth choice. The Tokyo Shoyu, made from yuchoy, bamboo, leek, and pork, and Goma Miso are necessary Teinei (meaning “with care and civility”).
Kenichiro Tsushima, the executive chef, was formerly the resident chef at the Japanese Consulate General in Seattle. Teinei serves lunch and supper, as well as takeaway, which includes a ramen kit.
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