Thursday, January 31, 2013

First Date- Momi Ramen (Miami)





I grew up in New York eating pizza, pasta, deli, Chinese food and bagels on a daily basis.   I've also devoured tons of sushi, burgers and foie gras along the way.  As a result, I'm comfortable commenting on and writing about those types of cuisine.

However, I can count on one hand the number of bowls of ramen I've had in my lifetime.  I've never been to Japan and thus have zero reference point.  The couple of bowls I've had in Miami were okay but nothing special.

I know ramen has a fanatical following in certain areas, even outside of Japan, but I never understood why. Who waits in line for a bowl of soup?!  Thus, I wasn't planning on writing a "First Date" post prior to my visit to the recently opened Momi Ramen located in downtown Miami.  But after the first taste of their wonderful broth and the first bite of their house-made noodles everything changed.

This is awesome stuff I said to myself and then the waitress.  I immediately whipped out my iPhone and  started taking some quick one handed shots.  No way was I putting the chopsticks or spoon down.

Anyway, I don't know jack about ramen.  But I do know about flavor and Momi's broth contained some very deep and rich flavors.  I also know a thing or two about fresh pasta and their noodles are fantastic.

I don't have a clue if ramen traditionalists and experts will love this place but I suspect that they will.  Nevertheless, if you are a novice like me, I would highly recommend paying Momi a visit.  And make sure you bring cash.  No cash, no ramen for you!



The Ramen Shack! And I mean that as a term of endearment.  I'm not sure what the seating capacity is but I would guess that it must be in the 20 range.


The menu on my visit.  I hear that it changes often.


I was there for the ramen but there was no way I was going to bypass the bone marrow.  This was happiness in a bowl.  This featured a very tasty tonkotsu broth.  The waitress instructed me to pour the broth into the marrow and then drink it.  Boooya!




The Oxtail Ramen, featuring a spiral te-momi style ramen with braised oxtail was the ramen call on this first date. And it was a great call.  As I indicated earlier, this broth has really deep flavor.  I have zero clue about the process that went into it but I will simply tell you to try this dish.  The broth, noodles and oxtail were all outstanding and the dish as a whole even better.


       
Look at those strands of noodles.  My only complaint is that there weren't enough in the bowl.




Oxtail fans will love Momi's braised tail.




A View of the ramen kitchen.




The wall of sake.  Sapporo beer is also available on draft.

The world of ramen has a new fan thanks to Momi.  I look forward to eating a lot more in the near future and learning a thing or two about ramen along the way.

Momi Ramen on Urbanspoon


5 SW 11 Street, Miami, Florida 33130
(786) 391-2392

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