Boston Ramen Noodle

I was so excited for the Boston Ramen Noodle Co. popup tonight at Petit Robert Bistro but was severely disappointed. The food was at most mediocre and the service was terrible. Here was the menu:
Amuse Bouche: Snails in a Kimchi Sauce
Appetizer: Duck Gyoza
Entrée: House made Ramen with Chinese 5 Spice Kurobuta Pork Belly, Whipped Avocado, Fish Cakes, Garlic Kewpie, Fried Chicken, Chili, Perfectly Poached Chicken Egg, Nori, Sprouts, Pickles, Enochi, and Togarashi Roasted Cauliflower
Dessert: Katsutera
Price: $ 45/​person + tip
We arrived on time for our reservation and were promptly seated in the basement of the restaurant. There was literally one waitress taking drink orders for the entire group there for the popup. There was one other server who seemed to be the only person distributing the food. He seemed confused and couldn’t keep straight who had and hadn’t been served which courses.
After sitting there for 45 minutes without even a check-​in, our snails arrived. The snails (3) were pretty good — the texture firm and the sauce not actually Kimchi-​like but with a nice kick. It took another 20 minutes for the duck gyoza (3) to arrive which were also nothing special.
After almost 2 hours since sitting down, our ramen arrived. It was messily thrown together and the «perfectly poached chicken egg» was barely cooked at all. I didn’t even realize the chicken was supposed to be fried until I checked the menu to write this review. Furthermore, the broth was salty and the noodles clumped together.
The best part of the meal was the dessert which was a very dense sponge cake with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce drizzled on top. The cake was a bit too dense though — not sure if that was intentional.
Needless to say, the experience was not worth anywhere near $ 45. Two couples walked out while we were there — one who took a bite of their ramen, found it cold, and left; and the other who just got tired of waiting and left before their ramen even arrived. We contemplated leaving several times ourselves but ended up staying.
I had assumed this was the first time this pop up had occurred and that’s why there were so many kinks, but it looks like this was at leas the third time this popup has occurred and there doesn’t seem to have been any improvement from the first reviewer’s critiques.

This review is strictly for the popup at Petit Robert on June 10^th.
Our group of four had a 7:00 — 7:30 arrival time. We arrived a bit early, but were promptly seated and offered drinks. The space wasn’t too large and it didn’t appear as if they had made more reservations than they could manage. They offered two menus; a banquet menu and an a la carte option. The banquet option, priced at $ 45 includes the main ramen dish and three slices of different meats on the side that you can eat in the ramen. The a la carte, priced at $ 20, allows you to choose one meat that is served in the ramen. Let me start by saying that the banquet option is a colossal waste of money. The two extra small slices of meat do not justify a $ 25 increase in price. Do not make that mistake.
So anyway, at this point you can guess that two of us ordered the banquet option and two of us ordered the a la carte option with pork belly. Unlike reviews for previous popups which unfortunately I just saw today, our food arrived fairly quickly. However, it was tepid at best and the noodles were completely overcooked and congealed into large clumps. The broth, although a good try and decent compared to peer restaurants in Boston (but not as good as what we have had in Japan, China or even New York) was off in flavor and the avocado on top just didn’t meld well. The pork belly though, which I had, was flavorful and cooked well, as was the egg. My dining companions informed me that the steak was also flavorful. At the end of the meal, they brought over little takeout containers with «cookies» that reminded us of dunkaroos, except I would have preferred to have dunkaroos; these tasted rancid.
Joe was walking around and asking the diners for feedback; unfortunately he didn’t come to our table. I would have told him that I think he should go back to the basics and perfect his ramen before trying to get creative. Overcooking noodles is not acceptable, particularly when that’s the focus of your dish.

Tried Boston Ramen at the ⁶⁄₁₀ Petit Robert Kenmore popup for the first time, and was pretty happy with it. I thought the broth was really complex with a great flavor (I’ve only had tonkatsu ramen, whereas this was chicken-​based), and the accompaniments were pretty delicious and unique, specifically the togarashi tomatoes and avocado foam (yum). My choice of meat was the Chinese 5 spice pork belly, and it was flavorful and plentiful. I’ve had better noodles, so that was my one complaint (along with the $ 20 price tag, but hey, it’s gourmet). But overall, it was a good bowl of food, and I’d be happy to slurp up that broth anytime.
The service was spotty and a bit chaotic, but given that this was a popup and it seemed like they were also serving their regular restaurant menu (so I thought), it was understandable.

Website needs a lot of work, it’s very inconvenient and rarely updated. I’m not sure if he’s trying to create demand by limiting supply or just really unorganized and incompetent. There’s just too many opportunities being lost with the current or lack of processing.

This review is for the 2÷24÷14 pop-​up at Petit Robert in Kenmore.
For $ 50, no way.
Amuse bouche was too heavy and too filling and nothing deep-​fried should ever be served cold. Everything was too salty. Proteins were overcooked. Broth was somehow off. Noodles were okay. Mooncake was good but that wasn’t what we were here for.
Like most things, mostly hype with little substance. I’d like at least a $ 35 refund. Thanks.

This review is for Joe’s first Pop-​Up restaurant at Petit Robert in Kenmore. I was really excited because I haven’t been able to partake in his ramen delivery service yet. I still can’t wait for it, however, the night did not run smoothly.
The wait between courses was long which made the dinner run about 3 hours long. Scarlett O’Hara has already been left on a staircase and the credits are running.
1^st Course: Duck Dumplings, Scallion Pancakes, Oysters in a Sake Mignonette
To be honest, the duck dumplings and oysters were good but I was starving after waiting for 30 minutes for the first course. The scallion pancakes were very dry and hard like eating old pita bread that has been left out for weeks.
Sides: We didn’t finish any of the sides and everything was very salty.
Quick Fried Chinese Chives & Bean Sprouts, Gingered Bok Choy
Chinese 5 Spice Pork Belly with a Pineapple Gastrique
Miso Braised Skirt Steak with Whipped Avocado
Seared Sea Bass with a Singapore Sauce
Vegetable Frito Misto with Garlic Kewpie
Ramen: the moment I was waiting for! Sadly, the worst part of the meal. The broth was very cold and the noodles had probably been sitting for while where the noodles were stuck together. It was a cold bowl of dry noodles.
House Made Ramen with a Pork or Vegetable Broth
Plus:
Miso Buttered Grilled Corn
Seasonal Pickles
Perfectly Poached Chicken or Duck Eggs
Pea Shoots
Dessert: House Made Moon Cakes
Not bad, but very sweet and an interesting take on the moon cake. It was almost like a very flaky almond croissant and less like a traditional moon cake.
Overall I’m excited for Joe of the BRNC and attempting to have more of a brick and mortar rather than just a delivery service. I do plan to try his delivery service and now that he is off to his 3^rd pop-​up attempt, I only hope it has improved!

After a long back-​and-​forth with the chef/​owner/​culinary genius, Joe, of BRNC, we finally got our ramen delivery this past weekend. Now before you go thinking I’m burning him at the stake for being hard to schedule, let me clarify: I’m WELL-​outside his delivery radius. Not only that, but I’m over the now-​partially-​closed bridge between Boston and Cambridge, adding another layer of complication to the must-​be-​served-​hot ramen delivery system. Yet, the man, a freaking saint among men, insisted on bringing his ramen to us on Friday night, fighting the weekend traffic and the Cambridge loiterers in front of my apartment, all so Mr. HG and I could try it in our own home. Plus 1 for that, Joe.
SO, let’s start with the to-​be-​improved category of this mostly-​awesome experience, and get it out of the way. The pretty-​obvious pitfall of home ramen delivery is the heat situation. Ramen really is best served steaming hot and freshly made. The travel component makes preserving its just-​prepared-​awesomeness a tad difficult, but not impossible. Joe finagles a solution by putting the noodles in a takeout container (thus slowing but not completely stopping the cooking process on the way) with the other «dry» ingredients (meat, pickled veg, etc.), and ladling the broth and soy sauce egg into a plastic takeout container. The two are combined upon delivery, nearly good-​as-​new. Unfortunately, the noodles looked like they were put into the Chinese takeout box while still hot, because when we dumped them out into the bowl, they held the square box-​shape for quite a while. Honestly, it’s damn near impossible to get ramen delivery as perfect as a steaming bowl straight from the kitchen of a ramen bar, and I argue that the buyer should already know this when he orders.
The one other issue is the price — another reviewer mentioned it: it’s $ 20 per bowl. The serving size is about the same as you’d get from Yume Wo Katare or any noodle joint in NYC, but it comes a bit less hot and deconstructed at your doorstep. As a restaurant without a physical location, I wonder why the prices aren’t on par with the other ramen joints, as BRNC doesn’t have the overhead of a brick and mortar — no payrolls or employee insurance or lease payment to cover, but you know what? I haven’t seen the books, so I can’t really confirm that this should be cheaper than running a brick and mortar restaurant. That’s just speculation. Regardless, at $ 20 a bowl, and the necessity to sign up will likely make some customers re-​think ramen delivery and instead opt to go to one of Boston’s few ramen bars. Bringing the prices down just a few bucks will likely be a game-​changer.
NOW, onto the good stuff. There’s nearly nothing better than getting your favorite food delivered STRAIGHT TO YOUR HOME. I love ramen. So do you, else you wouldn’t be reading this review. There are very few ramen spots in Boston (yet another reason why New York, that spry little temptress, is a superior city), and the ones we do have here come with ridiculous rules (no taking away leftovers on the food you PAID FOR, and put that damn phone away while you’re eating 4 seats over from your date). A great bowl of ramen without the dog-​and-​pony-​show is damn near impossible here, and BRNC is changing the game.
The ramen itself is actually quite good. The broth, a deep dark brown color, is rich, almost buttery, and dripping with salty, porky flavor. The noodles are chewy (i think the food snobs would call it «toothsome») even after being en-​route for a while (a secret to the cooking, perhaps?), and the portion size is perfect for the amount of broth delivered.
The toppings on our delivery order included bacon. Sadly, the bacon was not crispy or thick-​cut, but rather thin and holding the apparent consistency of having been boiled. While the bacon itself wasn’t too appealing to eat (it’s a consistency thing for me), it added great fatty bacon flavor to the dish. The steak pieces in the bowl were tender, flavorful, and pulled apart easily, nearly melting in my mouth. We were unable to try any of the other ramen varieties, as we deferred to chef’s-choice, but I know they offer a dancing plethora of tasty meat options.
The bowl is littered with what looked and tasted like enoki mushrooms (but i’m no forager), grilled cob-​corn disks, and pickled veggies. All were delicious, though the mushrooms stole the veggie-​show (as fancy fungi tend to do). Would have loved to see more vegetables loaded into this dish, because the few pieces of pickled veg I was able to dig out of the nested tangle of noodles left me wanting more.
On the side, we were given a tasty little condiment container of grilled pineapple. It had been reduced to a blackened chutney-​like paste with pineapple chunks, and was delicious enough to eat standalone (which I happily did).
Overall, great ramen with a few kinks to iron out still, but they’ll get there for sure. Worth a try right now, all kinks aside.

Through the miracle of Unilocal,we found Boston Ramen Noodle Company (BRNC) and ordered delivery tonight. I got the Skirt Steak Braised in Red Miso and my fiancée got the Garlic and Olive Oil Poached Prawns.
BRNC is intended to be upscale ramen dishes delivered to your doorstep as late as (possibly) 3 am. After we ordered for dinner around 8 – 9 pm, we saw that the site was no longer accepting orders. So maybe delivery is until the ingredients run out, not sure how it works? Or maybe we got the end of the early shift?
Found some information online about this place and it looks like the chef (chef Joe) is an instructor at Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and claims that he has been told that his ramen is better than Momofuko and Yume Wo Katare — whoever those people are, I bet they make good ramen. Another site claims that Chef Joe brews his beef/​pork ramen broth for 18 hours.
The steak was cooked well and had a guac sauce that was also really good. Both ramen dishes had corn (charred nicely), pickled beet (we think), and an assortment of other stuff, all of which we enjoyed. The noodles were well cooked. We each ordered the duck egg, which is one of the many free garnishes you can add and a nice touch.
We are not sure how long BRNC has been around but it seems like it is fairly new (3 reviews, all within the last week) or at least new to us. We are factoring the newness into the star rating.
Some (well intentioned) feedback for the chef/​owner & those ordering…
1. On the website, It would be helpful to explain the broth (s?) and note if they are vegetarian or not. A seafood or vegetarian broth option would probably be a good thing to have. Perhaps this would not be as authentic, but provides an option for many people that currently don’t have one which in turn provides more potential customers.
2. The price point seems high to me. You can tell a lot of effort and quality ingredients goes into the meal, but over $ 20 for ramen (no matter how good) is hard for me to wrap my head around. Coming down a few dollars to stay under the magic $ 20 threshold would make it more reasonable.
3. For those ordering… It is probably best to schedule delivery times way in advance, rather than order at the last minute. Our food took a while to arrive. I suspect this is because of the amount of effort that goes into cooking each dish. If we were to order again, we would probably schedule a delivery time so that we are not sitting around waiting. It is however a nice feature to be able to schedule delivery times.
4. Much more explanation on the website would be helpful, especially explaining the hard work that obviously goes into each dish. If the broth is really brewed for 18 hr, seems like a good thing to advertise.

For serious Asian food lovers. If you have been to Japan and eaten authentic ramen noodles here is a unique opportunity to experience the real thing from an imaginative chef.

The best ramen I’ve ever had. It was a little pricey but worth every cent, this stuff is gourmet in all regards. The chunk of pork was huge, tender and delicious. Veggies were fresh and the corn was on the cob and grilled, a fun surprise. Give it a try, you won’t regret it.