It’s been almost two years since my last review of a ramen-centered meal in the Twin Cities metro (well, if you exclude my report on El Sazon Tacos & More, which included a bowl of their birria ramen). That last ramen report was from Itton Ramen in Bloomington. We were not terribly impressed. I noted in that review that there is better ramen available in the Twin Cities but it has taken me almost two years to get around to writing some of it up. This is partly because it’s been a busy two years with a lot of time spent outside Minnesota; but frankly, it’s mostly because a good chunk of that time spent outside Minnesota has been in places with far better ramen and so eating ramen here has not felt like a huge priority. When looking for noodle soup here we’re more likely to look in a Southeast Asian direction. That said, Ramen Kazama in Minneapolis is a pretty decent option. I’ve eaten stray bowls of ramen there over the years while running errands in the area; here, finally, is a report on a larger meal with the family.

Ramen Kazama is located on the corner of Nicollet and 34th St. in whatever that neighbourhood is called—South Minneapolis? I guess I should be more embarrassed than I am to say that after nearly 18 years here my grasp of Twin Cities geography is barely better than it was in 2007. It’s a bright restaurant with a large’ish dining room and some outdoor seating (for when it’s not bone-chillingly cold). The interior includes a four-seater ramen bar but most people eat at the various four-tops and booths in the dining room proper. You can order at the counter as you walk in and go look for a table; or you can just seat yourself and order and pay from your phone via the qr code on the table. We did the latter and our food was brought out to the table when ready. You get your own water and condiments from stations near the kitchen.

They can get quite busy and so it’s a good idea to either be flexible or arrive at opening time at popular periods—like, for example, lunch on a Saturday, which is when we were there. Their billed opening time is noon but when we got there at 11.55 they were already open with one booth seemingly well into their meal. By the time we were done they were pretty full and so we were glad we didn’t arrive later than we did. There being no one near the counter when we arrived, we grabbed a table and got down to bidness quickly with the qr code thingy.

We placed what has become our standard family order at ramen restaurants in the US: a starter pack of karaage (fried chicken) and gyoza and then a bowl of ramen each. We liked the gyoza fine and thought the karaage was mid at best. The ramen was better. They have five options: a veggie curry ramen and four with meat. We got the four with meat. The older boy got the tonkotsu ramen. The younger got the torishio ramen (chicken broth with fried chicken floating on top). The missus got the karamiso ramen (spicy miso ramen with ground pork). I got the shoyu ramen (chicken broth topped with pork belly etc.). Our general feeling was that while all four broths were tasty enough, the noodles were nothing to write home about. The karamiso was probably the pick of the four (though not particularly spicy). All were improved by the addition of crushed garlic and chilli oil from the condiment station. We appreciated that portions were not over-large; though people with midwestern expectations may be disappointed.

The restaurant connects through the dining room to it’s neighbour, Ichigo’s Crepes. I assume there’s a formal affiliation between the two. The missus and the younger boy got an ice cream burrito from there to eat at our table for dessert. They thought it was okay. Adjoining them on the other side—though without pass-through access—is their other restaurant, Tokidoki Burger, which opened in 2023. If you’ve eaten there, please let me know what you make of it.

For a look at the restaurant and everything we ate, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see how much it all cost and to see what’s coming next.

There’s no service to speak of other than the food being brought out to the table, and that was done in a friendly manner. Price? With tax and tip the total came to about $106 or just about $26/head. Not unacceptable for the quality (though I have to quiet the voice in my head that tells me we paid almost exactly the same in Los Angeles last summer for a far better iteration of almost the exact same meal). Ah well.

I think my favourite ramen in Minnesota continues to be Doug Flicker’s take-home kits from Bull’s Horn. I reported on a couple of these kits during the pandemic (here and here). We recently got his first-ever udon kit and enjoyed the hell out of it. I’ll report on that after we’ve got at least one more kit from them in the weeks ahead. Odds are good though that I’ll report on more Twin Cities ramen this year. Not next week, however. Weather permitting, we’re hoping to get to a Pakistani place this weekend. Let’s see how it goes.