7/9/24
Today on the ramen saga we revisited iNoodle Ramen and Dumpling. Mohan and Caleb join me as we once again come to a place that I felt was a particular favorite of mine. But don’t let that spoil the review for you, the real joy is in the experience itself. Let me tell you a bit about the experience I had with my friends at iNoodle.
The Establishment
The restaurant is cozy and has a friendly atmosphere. Wooden tablets adorn the walls with Kanji emblazoned on their faces. The staff informed me that this kanji was actually the menu! After this revelation, it became more clear. There were images carved into some of the tablets to accompany the sections of the menu; ramen, sake, tea. I fell in love with the tralatitious convention. Perhaps someday I’ll come by again and order from the wooden tablets instead. The logo of the restaurant is proudly lit up in plain view of the front door, so as to be the first thing one lays eyes on when they entered iNoodle. Custom graphics on the wallpaper were also an entertaining sight. However as my company and I inspected the place further, we noticed that the air vents had a dark coloration about them that suggested they hadn’t been cleaned in a while. This wasn’t enough to ruin the dining experience, but noteworthy nonetheless.
The front window has bowls with plastic food inside to showcase the various dishes that they offered to passerby. These were paired with various sake bottles as well, I would assume to suggest a drink pairing. More likely this was just to show the breadth of their offerings, but I enjoyed the display.
The waitress had good suggestions and was very helpful. She was happy to hear of the joy we had from our various dishes, especially the compliments we had on the tea. The dedication of the staff is a good indicator of the general expectations one can have of the establishment.
The Menu
The menu itself was plain and succinct, in a good way. This made it very easy to know what you were ordering. No over use of foreign words that you would need to sheepishly look up (Insert link to ingredient guide). Definitions were provided in line, however there were no pictures. You could easily make an argument over design choice, and say that no photos in the menu creates a more discreet and mature impression, but I prefer plenty of photography for clarity on what you’re ordering.
First Course - Drinks and Appetizers
The rose tea here is divine. I would recommend visiting this restaurant for the tea alone, especially the rose. It is very fragrant and sweet, sure, but they provide free refills and bring you the whole pot along with delightful clay cups to enjoy it with and all for a generous price. We also ordered the jasmine tea to give us some variety throughout the meal. They have a wide selection of drinks available in general, and a rather broad array of sake to drink your whims away to. Prices for these rice wines ranged greatly for everyone from the connoisseur to the penny-pincher.
The drink selection made sure to note that there were non-dairy options, which is good for those without lactose tolerance. Mohan got the non-dairy mango boba milk tea. He recounted it as a very sweet drink with plenty of boba but too much ice. It became hard to finish the rest of the boba in the glass! In his words “It had a challenging amount of boba”. I’ll let you decide whether or not this was a good thing.
Since we already knew we were going to stay as long as possible, we ordered a wide selection of appetizers in order to get the most out of our visit tonight.
The Appetizers
– Pickled Daikon (radish): Very firm texture, with a kick of vinegar throughout. Honestly not my favorite, but my companions thoroughly enjoyed this one.
– Smashed cucumber: A dish that doesn’t present itself well, but has a lot of flavor to make up for it. Caleb’s take was that the spice level was tolerable, warms the back of the palate without being overpowering. The waitress informed us that this one would be spicy, but everyone has their own idea of what constitutes “spicy”. Again, not my favorite. This one didn’t seem to go as well with the party.
– Veggie spring rolls: A simple dish available at most Asian-themed restaurants. I liked the ones here because they were cut at a jaunty angle that made them easy on the palate, and the flavor was of course delectable. A flakey wrapping with a fresh and tangy vegetable filling. Excellent choice if you cannot decide on a meat selection.
– Chicken skewer: Speaking of meats, this one was an excellent choice. Our first impression was that this appetizer was a bit small, but was big on flavor. Lots of seasoning, the aroma captivated the nostrils and the browning was pleasing to the eye as well. It had a tangy, almost citrus quality while promoting a sort of Cajun style seasoning. This was a table favorite, and everyone was pleased with the flavor. Great kind of appetizer for someone on the go!
– Chicken dumplings: We simply had to put in an order of dumplings, these were the house specialty. These dumplings are hand made and seared on the bottom. This light browning added a little bit of crunch to them. Provided with a good variety of sauces; a thin and sweet soy sauce, a thicker duck sauce, and a spicy chili sauce. The ingredients blended together well and they were quite chunky and filling. Certainly worth getting alongside your ramen for the full house experience.
We took our time enjoying the appetizers and catching up with each other. Everyone had a blast taking in the lovely decorum and aromas of the establishment, and our conversation this time was a bit more situated around the blog itself. The Ramen Saga was shaping up to be an interesting project for us all. Whether there was any real success didn’t matter so much as it was an excuse for us to get together and enjoy a good time. When the gracious waitress came around again we placed our dinner orders. Once the table was cleared, we were ready to dig in to the second course. Mind you, the entire time we’re sipping on tea! They keep the pots coming, and a quick glance inside shows you that they’re using real whole herbs. Here come the entrees!
Second Course - Entrees
Miso Ramen with Chicken: Housemade miso paste in chicken broth with soy boiled egg, broccoli, wood ear mushroom (kikurage), and scallions. The chicken cuts were not my favorite visually, but they did not have gristle nor were they a dark meat. I still felt unimpressed. The wood ear mushrooms are always an excellent addition, providing much needed texture. Fleshy yet crunchy, providing just a hint of umami. The egg was the star of the dish, delivering a pop of green with finely cut scallions piled on top. The broccoli provided another dash of color and the flavor paired well with the miso. The miso was well made, and forgave any misgivings I had about the meat. I’d probably order tofu next time, but still a good dish.
Angus Ramen: Taiwanese style soy sauce base with beef bone broth topped with slow cooked angus short ribs, pickle daikon, bok choi, soy boiled egg, corn and scallions. A welcome surprise was the mustard greens, which were not mentioned in the menu. These were pickled for two weeks, according to the staff. They nailed the pickled egg, which is an excellent quality for ramen to have. The ribs were soft and tasty.
Shoyu Ramen: Shoyu tare (Soy sauce), chicken broth, chicken breast, soy boiled egg, bamboo shoots, fish cake, and scallions. Mohan noted that the chicken could be improved upon if it was cut into smaller slices, as it is, it’s too separated from the other ingredients and takes away from the cohesion that ramen seeks to have.
The entrees were visually, very impressive. They were served quite hot, with mismatching bowls. I enjoyed the presentation with the eggs being presented in the center of each bowl covered in finely chopped scallions. This adorned the hot and tasty soup, and it was hard to wait to dig in while we took the necessary pictures for the blog. Oh the sacrifices one makes for work! Kanpai!
We had some light conversations during the meal, however this is usually the time when everyone quiets down and chows down on the labors of the restaurant. And what a labor of love these dishes so often are! I was particularly taken by the number of handmade items, and custom decorations. A lot of soul went into this place. Mohan was curious about the ingredients, in particular, bok choy. Caleb explained how it was like a mix between celery and spinach. I myself find it to be a bit cabbage-like with the thickness of the leaves, though I think he was on the mark in terms of the flavor. This conversation actually gave me the idea to make a handy reference guide for ingredients! I invite you to read more here.
Third Course - The Desserts
Time for desserts! We noted that the dessert menu was a bit limited at iNoodle, however they had good choices regardless. There were three dessert items. I recall they used to have a third flavor of mochi, but it had been a while since my last visit. Thankfully this time, we’ve immortalized the menu!
Vanilla Mochi: Now if you aren’t already familiar with mochi, I could probably write an article on this dessert alone. However a lot has been said about mochi already, and it enjoys a bit of popularity worldwide these days, but then again, so does ramen. I like mochi a lot, but that is also because I generally like ice cream a lot. Mochi is interesting because of the rich tradition behind it, like so many Japanese things. The mochi here is delicate and smooth, creamy and sweet. This is what one should expect from a decent mochi.
Strawberry mochi: The ice cream was creamy, with a very sticky outer layer. These worked together to keep the rapidly melting ice cream together. I appreciated the way they were sliced and presented in halves like a bisected fruit.
Chocolate Pancake: very flavorful, however, it can be a bit dry. This mixes perfectly with the mochi, so much so that iNoodle should really consider just serving these two together in some fashion.
The waitress gave us a small cup of chilled honey tea as a refresher, and refreshing it was! The honey and lychee flavor came out in spades and danced on the tongue in a melange of cooling bliss.
Final Thoughts
Upon parting, we left a generous tip and made sure to leave the table as neatly as possible. No sense in making extra work for such a helpful staff, especially since they allowed us to stay after closing. I highly recommend this place. The food is lovely, the atmosphere is a delightful mix of traditionalism and modernity, and the staff is especially patient and helpful. In Mohan’s words “We came for the ramen, stayed for the tea”. This wraps up another chapter of the Ramen Saga. Kanpai!
