I’ve had some great meals at 106 King St., including at Kushi Bar Muramoto and The Haze. The recently opened Morris Ramen is carrying the mantle now, and it’s worthy of the location.

The short menu leads off with four choices of ramen–including spicy and veggie–plus a daily chef’s special, which was never offered in any of my visits. The namesake Morris ($14) has a very meaty flavored broth, and I loved that you can see the grease in it. I see why additional toppings are priced out, as you only get one slice of pork, which was tender and had the right amount of fat. Meanwhile, the fermented bamboo shoots provided a nice sour crunch, and the egg carried the flavor of its own marinade.

That same pork was in the pork bun ($4.50); beef, chicken and squash are the other options. The pickle was mildly sour and slightly crunchy, which was a good contrast to the soft and moist mantou. Inside was a drizzle of hoisin sauce that complemented, not overwhelmed, the flavor of the pork.

“Not Ramen” is actually a section of the menu. The chicken wings (six for $8) were thick and moist. The Kimchi Ranch sauce was surprisingly muted in flavor, and it doesn’t stick to the meat, so you will likely do a lot of smearing.

Another item on this list is the chashu donburi ($8), a rice bowl that comes with either chicken, pork belly or beef short rib. That beef was a perfect medium rare. I just wish there was more juice from the beef or a sauce with this bowl because of the high rice-to-meat ratio.

My only disappointment at Morris Ramen was its use of those disposable, flimsy chopsticks common to Chinese takeout restaurants.

Among the cocktails, I tried the Starburst Sunrise ($8). The lychee stands out, and the drink has just enough orange vodka flavor to keep you honest. You’ll also find a small sake selection on the menu.

Morris Ramen is open for dinner Monday-Saturday and lunch on weekdays.

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See more photos in our Morris Ramen Flickr album.

I loved Kushi Bar Muramoto, but it was ahead of its time (part of it is now reincarnated at Restaurant Muramoto). Hopefully Madisonians don’t make the same mistake twice, now with Tavernakaya and its izakaya (Japanese gastropub) concept.

It’s best late at night, when you’re hungry again after a few drinks, as food is served here until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Still, I was puzzled on one visit at 4 p.m., which is prime happy hour time, that no food would be served until 5 p.m. That’s dumb; I ended up going to Lucille instead.

The menus have several different sections, including sushi, skewers and noodles. The late-night menu is comprised of items from these sections.

Service and food issues that popped up the first couple of months since its opening in December 2015 have seemingly been eliminated. For example, a large, dough-like clump represented the noodles in the spicy miso ramen ($14) in one of my early visits, but I haven’t heard of a similar case since (I appreciated that the restaurant didn’t charge me for the dish). By the way, the miso-chicken broth was otherwise soothing, and the heat builds up in your mouth after a while.

I was pleasantly surprised by the General Tso’s cauliflower ($11 lunch, $14 dinner). The cauliflower was tender and wasn’t heavily breaded, yet it was still crispy. Plus, there was just the right amount of sauce on top.

The Nueske’s Bacon & Egg fried rice ($11) was a comfort food for me. Good fried flavor and the scattered pieces of soft bacon makes this a crowd pleaser.

The bar sports a full spirits, wine, beer and sake selection. A specialty cocktail I enjoyed was the Chuhai ($6), a sweet concoction of Jinro Soju (fun fact: it’s the best selling liquor in the world), soda, sugar and your choice of modifier (I picked grapefruit).

Tavernakaya is open for dinner Monday-Saturday, lunch on weekdays and late-night on weekends.