RAMEN KAZAMA

Reviews 6

YI

Yifu Chen

Went to Ramen Kazama with my wife for the first time this past Friday night. The place was very packed at about 7pm. The ordering line was very long. Once you do get your food ordered, you have to wait some more to get seated... Once you get seated, you will wait at least another 20 min. to get your ramen. Therefore, from entering the restaurant to getting our food, we waited about 65 minutes. We finished our food in about 20 minutes... Environment: I believe that the owners rushed this one. The place looks like a mini version of a run-down college cafeteria. Most tables are different. The one we had was rocky. All the bowls are different too, so are the spoons. For a new restaurant, I would expect the owners to invest in its own bowls and spoons. Very disappointed. Food: On a Friday night at 7 pm, 2 out of the 5 ramen were sold out?!?! Unbelievable. Also do not expect to get the beer you want either. Only 1 out of the 3 beer selections was available. When the ramen arrived, it came in a tiny little bowl ($12.50). It had half an egg, two tiny pieces of meat, noodles and that is about it. The broth tasted fine, but the portion was "ugly". My wife ordered the rice bowl. It had zero flavor. :( I should have taken a picture of the extra 2 slices of pork belly that we ordered ($2.50). They were so tiny... Price: Extremely overpriced for what you get. The environment doesnt help either. Oh, and please do not use the bathroom. You wont want to use it... Verdict: 2 out of 5. Take your money and spend it elsewhere. If you are looking for better portion size and price, go to United Noodle. If you are looking for a better atmosphere and food taste, go to Zen-Box.

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NI

Nic Por

Went there last Sunday for dinner with some friends and this place was a total disappointment. I really wanted to like their ramen so I could justify the $59.02 I had spent there, but I just couldnt do it. So I ordered the #3 "Karamiso - magma" and my girlfriend had the #1 "Shoyu - old school" and we ordered some side dishes including a small jap style fried rice, jap style fried chicken and some potstickers with a bottle of hot sake. The ramens were pretty much the same, they look different in color and presentation but both were way too bland. The magma was advertised as spicy and by looking at the red hot broth you think this would burn your tongue off, that was not the case. I found my self looking for condiments and spices to add into my ramen for more flavor and spice but there was none to be found. The only thing that I thought was even remotely enjoyable was the tender pork that was cooked to perfection in my girlfriends ramen. I could stop by the local asian grocery store and pick up a box of shin ramyun ramen for 16.99 and make way better tasting ramen than Ramen Kazama. My friends who came with me had ordered similiar items and one friend couldnt even finish her bowl of ramen. Okay , to wrap up this disappointing choice to eat here, the broth was not as flavorful and delicious as a lot of reviews on here had said. The rest of the other food items we ordered were mediocre at best. IMHO the taste to price ratio is not worth it. We will not be coming here again.

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JI

Jimmy Wong

First inpression: The hype and excitement drew me to try this place. Was surprised how packed it was. After examining the small menu, I was able to easily choose what I wanted. The wait for food + seating is brutal. Took well over an hour before the apps even showed up. The appetizer: had the chicken and the gyoza. The chicken was very good, but to put it in perspective to the price, I would never buy this dish again. The gyoza felt like it was frozen or at least prepared with cheap flavorless ingredients. Grew up in a restaurant owning family, this was sub-part even before you include the price into the equation. The main dish: tonkotsu ramen and the karamiso ramen were both ordered during this trial. The dishes looked good. First taste of both broths, the ramen was bland and lacked flavor from any of the added ingredients. The noodles were a good consistency but without the flavor, it wasnt worth the premium price tag. The portions are medium sized. I felt like I could eat somewhere else right after. Overall: Great if you have no palate but want to try Japanese ramen. I would not go back. For great ramen, I would still recommend Uni-delis Dramen over this place anyday. Edits: - Owner says the gyoza is freshly prepared by the kitchen every week.

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JO

John Carroll

In a town with Kyoto and Zen Box Izakaya already serving up some pretty amazing ramen, this cute spot on the corner of 34th and NIcollet is here to stay and gives Minneapolis another option for delicious ramen. Walk in and notice the cozy atmosphere, nice music, and its simple style-- the place isnt flashy- they leave that for the food. Get the Old School Shoyu with a pork and chicken broth that is out of this world! Rich and flavorful, yet well balanced with no one flavor overpowering another. Seriouusly, I could live in that broth. The handmade noodles were perfectly delicate, too. Add the pork belly for a tasty addition. The Japanese fried rice with pickled ginger was a great example of savory/salty, fat, and sour/sweetness all playing nicely together to bring about a perfectly balanced dish. The gyoza were piping-hot, fresh out of the oven, delicious dumplings. My only knock was that there werent more of them for the price. I cant wait to go back.

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LU

Luke Lee

I had high hopes for this place but was disappointed after trying it. Probably one of the better places to get a bowl of Ramen in Minnesota though. For the prices, we should be able to sub items out. They force you to buy extra items on the side. I like spicey broth too and they dont offer anything to spice my broth up. Ask for some of their Tobanjan(chillie bean paste) on side but they wouldnt give a side of of the sauce. They do have a spicy miso ramen which is what they use Tobanjan and some other chillie paste to make it spicey miso ramen but what if I wanted a tonkotsu ramen and wanted it spicey or the vegan ramen. Ramen was good for MN ramen shop but if you compare it to other places in the nation, its average. Minnesota is far behind when it comes to Ramen. I would say the ramen is at par would Unideli found inside United Noodles. Conclusion: Go try it for your self. The place is worth trying.

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TS

ts1234

So I went to Ramen Kazama for the first time the other day and just loved it, its the first place Ive been in a while where I was fully satisfied with my dish. Now I try to get there at least once a week! My favorite dish would be the Veggie Curry along with rice noodles, and is a dish I for sure recomend. Something I really liked about Ramen Kazama would be the look. Its really nicely put together and I found out they built it using recycled materials which I found really cool. The whole place gives out a really chill atmosphere and I would really recommend it. Even though the place was a bit busy I was able to get my ramen in a reasobale waiting time, loved the staff too, super friendly. I really suggest you guys check this place out!

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