EAK Ramen is located on 6th Ave close to 14th. I used to venture here all the time pre-pandemic, and there was always a line or people. I was curious to see how the restaurant was like since. Back in September 2018, I thought it was one of the better ramen places, but now, EAK also has a ton more competition all over the city. We were able to walk in on a Sunday early afternoon around 4 PM. We were the only diners, so we thought it was cool that we can eat at non-prime times.
Ambiance & Service
There is a lot of maple wood accents all over the place. I’ve eaten several times at the counter tops and at the tables. The service itself has always been pretty fast and speedy for me. During the pre-pandemic times, the restaurant was quite busy and noisy, so sometimes it was a little difficult to hear your small table unless you lean in. Regardless, when it comes to ramen, I really just care about the food.
Food
This is the Oh So Spicy Ramen. It was actually pretty good. I think the thick noodles had a nice chew to it, and the broth is pretty rich and tasty. The bowls might seem small, but it was actually pretty filling.
Added July 2, 2023.
The Chicken Karaage ($10) came with ponzu sauce and spicy garlic. They definitely were not stingy with the chicken pieces, and the sauces were quite good. The spicy garlic was just oil with little garlic crisps. That in combination with the ponzu was a nice balance between the salt and spice.
The Tuna Poke Bowl ($16) came with warm rice, tuna, edamame, dressing, and lettuce. There were some other garnishes in there, but I don’t remember. I was quite surprised to see this on the menu considering that pre-pandemic, they did not have poke bowls at all. My partner ordered this and liked this. I tried the rice, and it was not sushi style rice, but the flavors of it were pretty decent.
The Zebra ($18) came with their signature Yokohama style pork and chicken broth, shio tare and thick noodles, topped with spinach, chashu, butter, garlic oil, and nori. The broth was pretty flavorful, full of umami punch to it. The butter was an interesting additive, as if this wasn’t fat enough already. Regardless, the broth was absolutely delectable even by my partner who normally is not a fan of ramen broths. The noodles were the thick cut style, which is what I preferred. My only criticism is I thought the chashu was pretty darn salty compared to what I remembered. It still wasn’t as salty as the chashu as Ivan Ramen.
Final Verdict
EAK Ramen in 2023 is still a pretty good ramen restaurant. I’ve always liked the noodles the most, and the broth hasn’t degraded at all in the 5 years this has been around.
Yelp Jabs
When I got the Zebra ramen, I felt it was an OK ramen. It was not bad, it was rich… but left much to be desired in terms of “best ramen.” I definitely have tasted tonkotsu with a deeper flavor. Some places add red ginger, which I think gives a greater dimension of flavor to the tonkotsu by adding the tart and spiciness.
This elitist probably is used to a different type of ramen. The ones that give ginger are usually the shinsengumi type with the thin noodles. If you care about that, then yeah be disappointed. If you don’t like rich flavors, then avoid this place and go back to blander broth bases.
Only based on the veggie ramen. The broth was lame and lacked any flavor. I get it it’s veggie but other ramen places get creative and the broth can be the shit. Staff were friendly. Inside is cozy. Vegan is boring.
I feel that ramen restaurants offer the veggie ramen just so that non-vegetarians will give their vegetarian friends an option close to theirs. But seriously, vegetarian ramen is the epitome of boring.
Revisions
- Jul 2, 2023 - Added Zebra, Chicken Karaage, and Tuna Poke bowl.
- Sep 16, 2018 - Initial revision.