Neighborhood Ramen is my number one Ramen place in United States.

I have been to many Ramen places in United States. I lived in Bay area and been to many famous establishments, Santa Ramen, Ramen Dojo, Ramen Nagi and many places in Mountain View. I stayed in NYC little while and been to many places, Ippudo etc. I have been to Hawaii, Los Angeles and tried many Ramen places there too. To me, nothing come close to Neighborhood Ramen.

Unfortunately, the place is permanently closed. The owners, a couple of Chef and operator, decided to venture into opening Ramen places at the heart of Tokyo. They said they have found a spot in Shinjuku area and are waiting on their Visa. Fortunately though, they opened a popup style Ramen shop called Eso Ramen Workshop, Eso is for Esoteric.

While Neighborhood was operating, they did not have any fixed menu. They occasionally changed the menu. Whatever they put out as the menu, the quality and taste is beyond anything available in the Philadelphia area.

It all comes down to details. Whether it is Chashu or Menma or Aji-Tamago, they are top notch. Typically, for a Ramen shop they can be sloppy on some toppings. Not at Neighborhood. They maintain consistently high quality toppings through their operation. It is all because the co-owner and chef takes time and pay every attention for every bowl he puts out. When I first visited the shop, I noticed the slow serving time. Why does it take so long to put out a bowl? Isn’t it just as simple as boil the noodle, pour the ready made soup and put some toppings ? Yes, but the chef pays keen attention to every noodle. He checks if the noodles are perfectly cooked every time. He then put the noodle in the bowl with great attention. He then checks the soup again and again. Then he puts one topping after another, checking everything again and again. Then he puts out a bowl. It is just a bowl of Ramen but Neighborhood’s bowl is not just a bowl. It is consummate love and effort of a Ramen loving chef.

I regret that owners decided to venture and challenge the original Ramen place, Japan. At the same time, I wish every success for them. I applaud their desire and love of Ramen. They are that serious.

These days, they operate Eso Ramen Workshop for limited days of the week. It has only 6 seats and the serving is again very slow. However, as I describe at length, it is worth the wait. You won’t be disappointed.

At Eso Ramen, currently they serve Kyokai Tonkotsu Ramen. The best I’ve ever had. The soup has strong fish flavor (anchovi? or Katsuobush?). Then you feel the Tonkotsu flavor too. Make sure you try their Ajihen. Ajihen means ‘change of flavor’. After you enjoy fish flavor, you add Ajihen. Then the flavor completely changes to Curry flavored Tonkotsu Ramen. Because the Ajihen has strong Curry flavor. You feel like treated two Bowls of Ramen from one Bowl. This reminds me of Korean soup rice. Koreans add Spice flavor called ‘dadegi’ after eating the soup as plain.

One of the ways to see if a restaurant is good is to see if the owner really eat their own food. At Eso Ramen, you can see the owners eat their Ramen after the operation. They love making good Ramen and then they enjoy their own creating. A beautiful scene.

The place where they have Eso Ramen is where they have been making Noodles for their Neighborhood Ramen operation. So you can see their Noodle making machines there. Also, I recently found that they supply their noodles to other establishments. For example, at Mawn (a Cambodian place, which I would write later), their menu said they get noodle from Neighborhood for some items.

Try Eso Ramen while it lasts. RIP Neighborhood Ramen. And, when I visit Tokyo, I would love to try their new venture.