Ramen at Ra-men Restaurant

I love lazy Sundays.  I love it especially when the weather is not so warm outside and there are Christmas songs playing wherever you go.  I love the feeling of not having to rush anywhere or having to be at a certain place in time for an appointment.  What better day then than to go explore a new restaurant and find something good to fill our stomachs?   Today, Alex and I went to a new ramen place recommended by my brother.   Thank you.  The ramen was absolutely delicious.  It's name is easy to remember.  It's called Ra-men Restaurant.   What do they serve? Ramen.

The ramen I have to say was one of the best ramens I've had in Bangkok so far.  Chabuton was good but slightly too salty for my taste.  Ramentei is delicious, but the ramen at Ra-men restaurant was good. Very good.  The soup wasn't salty and the noodles the right consistency.   I had "Hiyashi" which is the cold ramen noodle topped with vegetables and pork. I loved it, and despite it's huge portion size, I finished it all.    Alex had the pork ramen with soup.  His was also delicious and the soup tasted wonderful.   You can tell that this wasn't mass produced.  The ramen at this place gets top stars from me.



Now for the ambiance.  I wasn't really expecting anything fancy or super nice for a ramen restaurant but I have to say this place was quite unexpected.   It's a small restaurant, which is acceptable.  I understand the lack of space, but there are certain things that somehow I just cannot quite overlook despite the wonderful food.  The first thing that hits you is the smell.  The place absolutely has a problem with ventilation and the smell hits you smack in the face even for someone with a blocked nose like me.   It's not a place you'll take someone out on a first or second date.  Both of you will come out smelling of food. The smell stuck for quite a bit afterwards.

I might be a bit picky, but when I see glass used for doors and walls, I like that glass to look clean.  The glass here wasn't.  Some cobwebs were spotted.   Looking at how inventory was arranged or how clean the place was, I felt like this place was perhaps a restaurant that the owner opened up a while ago.  He/She probably got it up and running and haven't really been around to look at it much.  While these thoughts were flowing through my head, I did hear the telephone ring and the lady picks up to talk to the "Boss."  I hear her reply that the flow of customers was steady and mention something about noodles.  I wonder if they are brought fresh here from somewhere.

Other than the decor, this ramen place was also quite amusing.  The staff were trained to be very japanese-like. Whenever the head chef said out the order, all the other staff would reply and say "ka" in a very japanese style.  They sounded japanese while working, and when customers left you would here the customary "thank you" in japanese.  It all sounds japanese until they start relaxing and then I start hearing the North-eastern dialect.  It's funny.

Where is this place? It's right next to Emporium Department Store on Sukhumvit Soi 24.  It's on the same side as the department store, and if you exit the department store from the perfume section its on your left.

Okay in conclusion, food at Ra-men Restaurant is top quality, price range on the high side,.. (270thb for a Hiyashi Ramen, 230thb for the Pork Ramen), but ambiance is....hmm... you read it.  If you aren't too picky about smell and ambiance, but love good ramen then this is the place for you. 

For me, this is one of the places that Alex calls "A place where you love the food, but can't stand the ambiance."   Do you know any other places like this?  Please share :)


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