You will not be disappointed having a meal at Strings Ramen–unless you eat the Level 5 Hell ramen, but more on that later. The Chicago-based restaurant has perfected the ramen bowl, from the broth to the noodles to the toppings. I happily accepted an invitation to experience the ensemble first-hand.
The egg noodles are handmade in Strings Ramen’s Chinatown location and shipped up to Madison twice a week. The noodles are cooked for 45 seconds to reach al dente, and you are told to finish your bowl in 10 min.
The menu is more in-depth than other ramen places, which is obvious when the servers have to explain each section of the menu. On the backside, you can learn about the various kind of ramen served in Japan. For example, the Hakodate area features clear broth made with sea salt.
The broth in the Tonkotsu ramen ($13.95 with kurobuta or spicy clam & pork) is creamy and has a delicate pork and sesame flavor. The big piece of heritage-breed pork belly (kurobuta) absolutely melts in your mouth. I could’ve eaten another slab, especially because the bowl had a high noodle-to-broth ratio.
The Miso ramen ($12.95 with turkey, $13.95 with kurobuta and $15.95 with spicy crab) is equally enjoyable. The broth is slightly thinner but also more flavorful. It included an incredible amount of real crab meat, which made the added ground pork a bonus. The server was upfront that the crab is not that spicy, and I concur.
Yaki soba ($13.95) is stir-fried noodles with sunny side up eggs and, surprisingly, pepperoni slices. I chose turkey over kurobuta and spicy clam & pork. The dark meat turkey is shredded and super moist. It pairs well with the lightly fried noodles and the runny eggs; after you take a bite, sip some of the accompanying dashi broth. The pepperoni seemed out of place, not following the flavor profile.
On a future visit, I swear I will try the Hell ramen, with Level 1 ($13.95 with red chili, Szechuan chili bean sauce and Thai chili) the “easiest” and Level 5 ($23.95 with red chili, Szechuan chili bean sauce, Thai chili, Piquin chili, Ghost peppers and Scorpion pepper) the most difficult. These days, I’m confident I can do at least Level 2. The assistant GM told me about 60-80 people have tried the challenge–Level 5 in 20 min.–and only one person has succeeded.
I ended my immensely enjoyable meal with green tea ice cream mochi ($3.95), a pink lotus cake wrapped in a tea leaf that gives you both sweet and tea flavors.
Strings Ramen serves dinner every day and lunch Friday-Sunday. I recommend arriving early, because once the broth is gone, that’s it for the day.
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See more photos in our Strings Ramen Flickr album.
