Kyuramen: New ramen restaurant in Houston causing buzz
HOUSTON - A new ramen spot has opened in the Houston area and already causing conversations.
Kyuramen is a Japanese-style ramen restaurant that opened at 9126 Bellaire Boulevard and had the soft opening of its first Texas location on March 23. Since then, many people have visited the restaurant to try its delicious noodles, appetizers, and more.
According to the restaurant's website, the founder, Gary Lin, enjoyed ramen so much that he decided to study it and repeatedly visited Japan to taste different flavored Ramen noodles.
FOOD AND DRINKS: Chick-Fil-A spring drinks returning: Watermelon Mint Lemonade, Watermelon Mint Sunjoy, more
He eventually opened his own Ramen shop to make Japanese Ramen a more affordable daily cuisine. Now, Kyuramen has more than 120 locations.
In Japan, ramen is put into three major styles: South Japan's Kyushu Shio Style, Central Japan's Tokyo Shouyu Style, and the Hokkaido Miso Style, and Kyuramen serves up those three styles to their customers.
After opening their Houston restaurant, many people reported the restaurant having three-hour long wait times in order to get a table.
SUGGESTED: Katy ice cream shop employs mostly people with disabilities
I visited the ramen shop a week after its soft opening and can understand why many people were talking about it. I called ahead and was told the wait would be about an hour long.
When we arrived, the inside was bright and welcoming. The seating areas are intimate and shaped like honeycombs. There's also a "wishing tree" hanging above the open space with tiny note cards of wishes.
I ordered the Kyushu Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen Combo. With the combo, customers can get Pork Bao and Thai Iced Tea.
READ MORE ON RESTAURANTS IN HOUSTON
The ramen was the perfect amount of spicy for me personally and the Chashu Pork was cooked well and tender. The ramen, along with several of the other dishes on their menu, also contains a half-marinated egg, bamboo shoots, corn, wakame, scallions, and nori.
MORE: Shake Shack brings The Truffle Table to Houston Rice Village by reservation only
Kyuramen also offers a variety of appetizers such as pan-fried gyoza dumplings, popcorn chicken, shrimp tempura, and Japanese-fried oysters.
Overall, the restaurant is a great addition to the city's food scene.
According to their website, the restaurant will soon be opening a location in Dallas.