Terakawa Ramen Opened, Raman Boy Closed. What do you think?

[Chemicalkinetics]

As some of you may know, Raman Boy is closed due to poor business and bad reputation. The same owner (Nelson) has now opened Terakawa Ramen at the same spot. It is run by operators from Kumamoto, Japan.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/th...

I have not tried it, but intented to try it tomorrow. The words of mouth are that Terakawa Ramen is better. How about you? Have you tried the new one?

[Chemicalkinetics]

I went there Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, I had the Shoyu Ramen -- good. Business is definitely much better than when it was Ramen Boy.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Just came back from Terakawa Ramen, and tried the Teriyaki Ramen. They are improvements. The menu is slightly bigger. Now, you can also order the noodle in four different "wellness". So if you like your noodle a bit more raw and chewy, you can do that. I did. There are also different thickness of noodle to choose from -- if you desire. The biggest improvement is in the eggs. In the Ramen Boy era, the eggs are hard boil eggs. Now, the eggs are Nitamago:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3204/2...

The pork pieces are now finished with a torch to give them some grill and burned taste. It is unique, and I welcome this change. The soup base is much richer. I thought the original soup was a bit too thin, but now I think it is too rich. :) Still, it is a personal thing.

Same owner, same waitresses. I talked to Nelson and he told me that he has bought the "franchise" and is running the Terakawa Ramen recipes. He also told me the business is much better than before. He told me that he listened to customers and decided that he needed the change.

On yelp, people said that Terkawa Ramen is 1000X better than Ramen Boy. I won't go so far. That is mainly because I never thought the previous Ramen Boy was horrible to begin with.

I recommend people to give it a try.

[barryg]

Thanks for the report. Have you tried Nom Nom on 18th St? I am interested in hearing comparisons between the two.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Yes, were you the one who recommended me to Nom Nom? Yes, I have tried Nom Nom, and I like it too. Nom Nom has a much smaller menu as you know and basically focus on just 3-4 type of Ramen. Nom Nom executed the noodle, and the eggs very nicely. I also like its broth.

Terakawa Ramen offers a larger menu and more "customization". It also is more up-scaled. As mentioned, you can order noodle in different degree of "doneness", and you can request noodle thickness.

Nom Nom is slightly than the previous Ramen Boy for two obvious reasons. First, Nom Nom eggs were better. Second, Nom Nom did not overcooked the noodle. However, Terakawa Ramen has improved the previous two shortcomings.

In term of broth, it is a tough comparison, since I had the miso ramen at Nom Nom, and the Teriyaki ramen at Terakawa. Yes, I could tell you that the Teriyaki noodle has much richer soup base, but that is comparing apples to oranges.

To be honest, I will have to go back to both places again :)

[Delucacheesemonger]

Went to the NY one and my sentiments are quite similar to the yelp reviews. Felt Ippudo was way better, especially due to the noodles. Will wait to hear your experience before committing to this one.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Well, I have never been to Ippudo, so I won't know how to compare them. :) Thanks for the feedback.