As an impoverished American who came of food age in the 90s and beyond, I had always looked to ramen — the 25-cents-a-package staple that could serve as breakfast, lunch, dinner and, usually, fourth meal — to be my saving grace when times got hard, bills were looming, and my belly was empty.
It was my standard nourishment with a little hot water, some starchy seasoning, and a full brick of the pseudo-Japanese noodles. With all the pennies I saved, I went to the bar comic book store and, of course, didn’t have any sex for a long time.
Thankfully, I don’t roll that way anymore, at least with the processed ramen.
Yes, these days, I prefer distilled water as my drink of choice, usually sipping on one while toasting by the fireplace, reading a piece of non-comic literature.
I’ve also upgraded to a more distinguished class of ramen — typically topped with a whole soft-boiled egg, which I’ve learned is a true mark of sophistication — and now even occasionally have sex.
That’s why I fully endorse Tamashii Ramen in Midtown, 321 NW 8th St., the grown-up choice for real ramen.
My wife and I went last weekend, based on her urging. It was lunchtime and, of course, it was buzzing. Though they have a complete dining room, we sat in the covered patio and were immediately greeted by our server with two menus and two glasses of water.
As the waitperson took our orders — the menu was somewhat small but very descriptive — we sat and conversed over the water, checking out the table next to us and swooning over the sheer artistry that Tamashii seems to put into every dish.
After a few minutes of mouth-watering jealousy and avarice, that feeling was fully satiated with our appetizer…
We started with the traditional Karaage ($6.50). Though it sounds like a heavy metal band from Japan, it's actually boneless fried chicken, with a side of miso dressing. We added spicy mayo and truffle mayo for $0.30 more. Yes, please!
Served with my wife’s milky drink of choice, the strawberry-flavored Calpico ($4.25), the chicken was expertly fried and definitely delicious. The meat was crispy and crunchy, but with a solid spurt of juicy musculature that made me look at chicken a little differently, with the spicy mayo cutting through the salty nuggets.
Honestly, if I weren’t anxiously awaiting the main show, this could have been my dinner.
My wife got her favorite dish on the menu, the Garlic Fried Rice ($9.25), a skillet-fried rice with egg, butter, garlic and negi, or green onion. Additionally, she upgraded the dish Chashudon style ($5.00), adding braised pork and a sweet and savory sauce to the mix.
And what a taste! I see why this was her favorite item, because, much like the karaage, this take on fried rice was expertly mixed at the table, with the scrambled egg and butter making it tasty, but the chashu giving it an ample push with the new way to eat fried rice. Seriously.
But, at a ramen house, I went old-school with the Tonkotso Ramen ($12.75). Utilizing the Tonkotso Shoyu-style of seasoning with soy sauce, it had braised pork belly, grilled tofu, noodles, and, always an Avalon of modern ramen, the Nitamago, or the soft-boiled egg.
Forget the old ways of pre-packaged ramen, as once you taste Tamashii, you’ll never want anything else again. The base of soy sauce and soft noodles was already wonderful, but the braised pork belly — my favorite cut, mind you — and the grilled tofu were paramount to a meal that was hard to forget.
And the egg? That was the best part.
Finishing the meal, we chose one of my favorite dessert treats, the mochi ball ($2.00 each). Mochi has distinct, if not unusual, taste and texture sensations, but in a good way, and I would like more, especially the mango variety.
I immediately want to go back to Tamashii Ramen, not only for the fast pleasure of another bowl, but also as penance for all the good ramen that I could have been slurping, instead of the “top” variety dreck. Never again!
Cómpralo ya!
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Follow Louis Fowler on Instagram at @louisfowler78.
