Nagi Ramen Ion

[Oreo Huppe]

Myalmost weekly trip to the Shibuya Nagi is always met with a cold beer and a hot bowl of noodles, and also an invitation to their newest shop in Shinjuku. Deep in the heart of Golden Gai, a place which must be seen, is this little ramen shop. Golden Gai will be in your travel books, or easily pointed out by a local host. Hunrdeds of small drinking establishments, most only holding 4 or 5 people at a time line the dark alleys.

The owner is a cool guy named Ikuda. Very welcoming, he was overjoyed that I had come from the Shibuya shop and that I was somewhat of a ramen maniac. But, unfortunately, he speaks crazy fast, so I only understood a third of what he said!

Truthfully, I had never been to Ramen Nagi and I was a bit intimidated about eating in Golden Gai but it turned out to be a good experience. Like many places in Golden Gai, it looked a little sketchy from outside with a hand-scrawled sign in English over the door (and misspelled at that) and a very steep and narrow stairway up to the restaurant. To be fair, if you can read Japanese, it does say Ramen Nagi, open 24 hours on the sign next to the door.

Once inside, you are seated at a narrow counter with about 12 seats. True to ramen culture, your goal is to eat your ramen as quickly as possible and get out to make room for the people queuing up behind you. Fortunately, I went very early so there were not many people waiting to be seated and I was able to take a few photos.

But Ramen Nagi has the mysterious Japanese umami flavor in abundance, and the soup never seems overpowered by fishiness, but rather a nice balance of the smoky, salty broth combined with the fish and nori sheets. The ramen itself is very thick and wavy, a technique used by ramen chefs who want you to really experience the flavor of the broth in every bite. Broth clings to wavy noodles and the thickness absorbs some of the liquid.

Given that Ramen Nagi is open 24 hours, it would be a great choice for those who miss the last train, voluntarily or involuntarily, and want a bowl of something delicious to see them through to daybreak.

The highly hyped Ramen Nagi from Fukuoka opened their first branch in the US this week in Palo Alto. It is said in press articles that they won Tokyo ramen of the year in 2013. We had lunch there today.

There are 5 ramen available today- the Original King (tonkotsu), the spicy Red King, the squid ink Black King, the vegetarian Green King, and the other vegetarian Limited King. We have the first 3 non-vegetarian bowls.

The tonkotsu base is slow simmered for hours with chunks of fat floating on top. The Original is a decent bowl of tonkotsu. Good for Palo Alto proper since its not a ramen town, though there are others comparable in the Peninsula and in the South Bay. Broth is on the salty side. The Red, with a miso broth, has a dollop of pungent chili , while the Black has a dollop of squid ink garlic. The Red is alright- not a big fan of the type of chili used. The Black is the easy standout of the three for me. The squid ink adds a mild sweetness to the broth while the chunks of black squid link infused minced pork and garlic add a savory dimension. All three share slices of tender pork. Broth could be quite a bit hotter.

We got the thin noodles, cooked firm, while keeping all 3 bowls un-customized. In retrospect, we probably should have gotten the thick ones. The thin ones are thinner than typical ramen and slightly thicker than somen. The thick ones are thicker, closer to udon. Get the extra firm, as ours, ordered firm, is already past al dente.

To the above poster, Palo Alto is very multicultural town. Stanford and tech companies pull from all over the world plus California is very diverse. Not surprised to see a ramen place in PA almost completely full with Asian customers.

The southern edge Peninsula or PA itself may not be a hotbed for Japanese/ Korean/ Chinese like San Mateo or Silicon Valley. But its only a 10-15 minute drive from Mountain View and Cupertino, after all, where there are a lot of workers who came from East Asia live and work.

Tonkotsu used to be my favorite ramen broth, but there are not too many places in the Bay Area that do this well. We have options like Marufuku and Ippudo, but they are decent options that slightly misses the mark on being great. This all changed when Ramen Nagi opened in Palo Alto and we finally have legit tonkotsu in town.

Ramen Nagi is a successful Japanese ramen chain that has over 35 locations from Japan, Manilla, and Shanghai. They finally opened in the US in Palo Alto on June 2018 and had immediate success. The restaurant is large, capable of seating up to 60 people, but you can still face an hour-long wait or more at peak hours. For solo diners, they may luck out and get a bar seating in the back much faster than groups, although they still have to line up.

Another awesome aspect of Ramen Nagi is the table condiments to pair with your ramen. They have complimentary takana (mustard leaf) and moyashi (bean sprouts) pickles you can help yourself to at the table. When these pickles are eaten with tonkotsu broth, it elevates it up a notch. I do not think I can eat tonkotsu broth anymore without this pairing.

The first bowl we tried was the original king. Outside of the vegan and special broth, all the ramen options have tonkotsu as the base. The original king is the base tonkotsu with the tare and paired with tender chashu. Our server was very knowledgeable about the ramen and shared that the broth was cooked for over 20 hours, creating a silky, rich, and creamy broth. This is the best tonkotsu in the Bay Area. Additionally, the noodles were surprisingly flavorful. They are house-made Hakata style thin noodles that paired great with the broth.

The black king is my favorite. It may look scary, but the tangy squid ink, blackened garlic, and topped with a black miso ball with minced pork and black sesame. It adds another layer of flavors that compliments the creamy tonkotsu broth.

The last bowl we tried on a subsequent visit was the red king. This is for spicy lovers as it includes a blend of garlic, chili oil, and peppers. It is further topped by a ball of miso infused minced pork and spices. I asked for soft and succulent braised pork belly to pair with it to change up the meat option.

At a sneak preview media dinner a week before the official opening, I had a chance to sample five different bowls of ramen, plus a variety of side dishes, most of which are not available at any other Ramen Nagi locale elsewhere.

The ramen, $13 to $14 a bowl, can be customized to your preference. Choose how strong in flavor, rich in oil, and garlicky you prefer your broth, as well as if thin or thick noodles and how soft or firm you want them. You can also opt for pork loin or pork belly, green onions or cabbage. Extras, for a nominal charge, include a soft whole tamago (egg), extra pork, extra noodles or extra vegetables.

The noodles are made fresh every day on site. They have a noticeable yellow hue to them, thanks to egg powder. These are noodles that make you sit up and take notice. They have character, chew, springiness and flavor all on their own.

The squid ink one is deep, dark and mysterious looking with the distinct briny-metallic taste of the ink rounded out by black garlic. The spicy ramen has red chili oil and a ball of red miso and chiles in the center. The version I tried was moderate in spice, but you can always request the broth be spicier or even order it with a lot more Nagi Fire Sauce to really give the taste buds an explosion.

There are three steps when approaching any bowl of ramen set before you, the chef instructed. First, try the broth by itself. Second, mix in the Nagi Fire Sauce that garnishes the bowl. Lastly, try it all together with the noodles.

When waiting in line, you individually get a piece of paper where you circle what elements you want in your Ramen; There are five base soups; Original Tonkotsu, Red King (Spicy), Black King (Squid Ink), Green King (Basil) and Veggie King. You can then decide how much Tare, Garlic and Oil you want. Type of pork; chashu (pork loin) or kakuni (pork belly). Green onion or Cabbage and then the spice level. You then decide if you want thick or thin ramen and how you want it cooked. Finally, on top of that, you can add seaweed, Tamago (Japanese-style egg) and extra fillings of noodles.

I decided to try the Original, with a standard amount of tare, garlic and oil. I also went with the kakuni, green onions and normal spice level. I chose the thicker ramen and cooked it to a firm texture. I also added a tamago and some nori sheets and tree mushrooms as an extra. When ordering we got asked if we would like some karaage chicken and we said yes.

The karaage chicken came first. My nephews loved the chicken, and so did I. It had a nice extra crunchy coating, and a lightly sweet sauce poured on top, which was potentially teriyaki. It also came with some Japanese Mayo and a wedge of lemon.

Next came the ramen, and I was impressed. The broth looked lovely and thick. I got a whole tamago instead of half, and the kakuni was generous. The broth was super tasty, and I loved the qualities of tare, garlic and oil in the bowl. The Ramen were cooked nicely and I love how they give you a whole piece of nori on the side, and you tear in your nori into the ramen.

Overall very good ramen. My nephew loved it so much that he ate about one and a half bowls of it. The wait time can depend on how many people are in the line outside. However, once you have sat down and the waiter has checked your order, the food comes out pretty fast. Also, I discovered that the karaage chicken was not added to the bill. Not entirely sure how that worked and was happy to give them a generous tip.

Ramen Nagi has developed quite a cult-like following since it was founded in 2004 by Master Ramen Chef Satoshi Ikuta. In fact, the original Tokyo shop is still attracting visits from around the world and remains open 24 hours a day.

In addition to ramen, we ordered a few shareable appetizers. The Snack Gyoza was beautifully presented and the scrumptious dumplings an ideal size for popping in your mouth. We also managed to finish a bowl of Chashu Rice just because it was irresistible.

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