If your only experience with ramen is a little plastic packet of wavy noodles and an even smaller foil envelope of salty seasoning, that is a grave injustice. Real ramen noodle soup is soaked in a sassy pool of culture, big flavor and, yes, charm.
Enter Ramen Kumamoto, the Delaware contender on the ramen scene. The Newark spot is an authentic, inspired step across the ocean, where the mysterious traditions of Asian food go beyond your local place on the corner’s General Tso chicken and bland fried rice. It is everything an enriching meal should be: the experience of dining in a room that looks nothing like a typical Western space, a beautifully succinct menu, speedy yet not rushed service (akin to the hustle and bustle of busy noodle shops in Tokyo) and food that makes a statement without ever trying to do so. Kumamoto is a serious noodle shop.
Partners William Chong and Sam Ho, along with restaurant group president Kenji Kurimoto, are broadening the spectrum of Main Street’s eateries. Setting out to “offer authentic and different—not sushi,” according to Ho, the noodle shop occupies a former retail spot that was completely razed to allow for the genuine feel of a Japanese space. The fifth outlet in the group’s restaurant collective, Kumamoto joins Philly’s Terakawa Ramen as the second soup shop for the group.
The space feels real. Traditional wood blocks with the shop’s menu hang over the minimalist room. Directly over the eight-seat bar, a pop-art piece in the manga style—a product of Chong’s 13-year-old niece—looks over eaters.
The menu is genuine ramen, like the shoyu variety, with chicken broth, bamboo shoots, bean sprout, fish cake—that crazy swirly-looking thing—chopped scallion, a soft-cooked egg and “yellow wavy noodles.” How does broth get like this? The elixir does not feel like other broths; there is a silken butteriness that caresses every sense as it is absorbed into your soul. The flavor is unrelenting and almost a little unsettling. How can flavored water be so much? Isn’t it merely hot water with some stuff in it?
Rather, it is magic. It is the thick-noodled Udon variety with bok choy and tempura shrimp. It is the little but mighty seaweed salad, studded with toasted sesame seeds and glistening sesame oil dressing, which packs more flavor than should be allowed for one simple dish. It is the crispy tempura shumai dumplings: little bites of shrimp, pillow-style, dipped in parchment-thin batter, crispy fried and painted with a piquant bean paste sauce. Dessert is mochi, of course—rice cake wrapped around ice cream varietals like red bean, green tea or mango.
Next for Ramen Kumamoto is a spread of Japanese-only beers, intended to further the real-feel of the spot. Thankfully so. Holding true to the Japanese space, Chong and Ho insist on keeping the authenticity of the place.
Ramen is not nuanced. There is nothing subtle about lava-hot broth, the strategic placement of every ingredient, the rehearsed slurp of squiggly noodles. Ramen Kumamoto is the real deal. Gentle only is the warmth of a tummy’s fullness with weep-worthy broth and an experience that is priced sweetly enough to come back tomorrow. This place will knock you out of your comfort zone and onto your pile of little plastic packets of instant noodles—to be used again only for insulating packages or gifting to tight-budgeted students looking for dorm room hot pot sustenance.
Find Ramen Kumamoto at 165 E. Main St. in Newark, Del.; phone: (302) 733-0888. Hours: Sunday–Thursday, 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m.
- Photography: Jim Berman
