We arrived a few minutes after start time, and was astounded to find a long line out the door! So many people are eager to eat RAMEN! Once entered, we were given a voting ballot as well as a complimentary drink voucher. I opted to try the new Marz Brewing What the Pho Porter. I heard about it a few weeks prior at the Tastes Talk event, and have been eager to try it ever since. It was a collaboration between the brewery and Bill Kim, and had essense of Pho spices in it, so it was a guarantee good time! I actually had 2 cups, and the first taste was very mild and more like a normal porter. However, after eating many, many bowls of ramen, my second cup was a lot different. I can defiintely taste the pho spices in this one and I liked it. I'm not sure if this is due to the ramen tastings, or because the first cup was from draft and the second was from the bottle, but either way, I'd defintely get another bottle of this whenever I can.
Anyway, moving onto the ramen (cuz that's what we're here for, right?) 27 restaurants showed up to this Ramenfest. The first one we tried was from Acadia, and we immediately love it! It tastes very traditional, with broth that were so full-bodied, and porkbellies that were so tender that it melted in our mouth! It actually won the Chef's choice award!
Another favorite of mine was the Honey Butter Fried Chicken Ramen, which included a whole chicken wing in each tasting cup. I loved that restaurant to begin with, but this chicken was different. It was crunchy, honeyed, and reminiscent of Korean-style chicken, which has a soft spot in my heart. It's my absolute favorite chicken.
A few restaurants showed up with cold-noodle ramen, and that didn't appeal to me much. Another dislikes were the ones that steered too far off the path, like the pastrami ramen and the cabbage ramen. Those flavors just didn't go well with noodles.
Big thanks to Nico Osteria for bringing variety and having the most fun table. They provided wine to pair with their ramen, as well as cups of Pistachio Gelato and Snow Maiden Sake Affogato, to allow us a break from all the ramen slurpings.
Overall, we ate 10 different tastings in the first hour because we went a little nuts. After calming down a little, we paced ourselves and only had room for another 5 tastes or so. There was defintely a lot of ramen! Each tasting bowls were about 4-5 scoops, so 15 bowls was a tremendous feat! I wonder if anyone actually finished all 27 bowls...
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| Pigging out at Ramenfest 2014 |
We left there full to the brim, but already dreaming of next year's event. Check here for more pictures of the event, courtesy of Raney Images, and consider going next year, like I am!
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