was down in the Chinatown/South Station area at lunch time today. Thought about going back to Asian Garden (there’s a lot of things there I want to try there–I just noticed on the menu they have a crispy fried squab entree!) but it was so nice out I kept walking and headed for this newish ramen place in that weird neighborhood in between Chinatown and So. Station. Twenty years ago this nabe was a wasteland where you could always park your car day or night, but now it probably has some hipster name that I don’t want to know–in any case, it’s a couple of blocks over from Hei La Moon.
The place is nice, clean lines inside with high ceilings and some of your usual ramen joint touches. (I could have lived without the terrible Internet radio Xmas music station, though! But that’s a minor quibble.) Got the shio (aka salt) ramen and it was quite good–base was light and tasty, the chicken flavor both subtle and prominent (if that makes sense) and the add ins were nicely cooked–juicy medallions of poultry, crunchy greens, slices of burdock and a pile of scallions. Accompanying egg was cooked just right. The noodles were good quality and service was efficiently brisk but engaging. Well worth a try-- there are a few other choices beyond the shio on what is a very limited and focused menu.
Given the weather, I tried to get off the T in Central and walk to Union Sq through Inman so that I could check out Highland Fried. But they were closed for lunch because they were getting their smoker fixed! Hope to report on that next week while I’m dogsitting nearby.
