Anyone who has been around long enough will know that this joint was the site of the previous BJ Roosters... It was not a sports bar, but they had water sports and complimentary knee pads. From the name of it you would think they would have some sick fwied cheekan... Do not eat anything that might sound like chicken inside a banana hammock, it might spit in your face. So, they finally moved down the street where it's more their demographics and at a more appropriate area for their activities... Somewhere in my sick and twisted mind, I still kinda wanted them to stay and watch all these super straight crackers coming out of the Tara and walk in thinking it's a sports bar and come right back out and vomit on the sidewalk. That is fun for me, I could do that all night.
Continuing the trend of the great ethnic migration, more and more Asian restos are moving intown... This new ramen joint by the Umaido crew has finally set up
shop and serving all sorts of bowls of ramen and snacks that include
chicken karaage... I like cheekan. The interior is totally redone and there are no signs of the previous Go Go Boys bar... It's open and full of cement and wood, so there's nowhere for the twirling Speedos flying across the room to hide. They're in their soft opening stage (touche), but the full menu is available. I have sampled some of their ramen at Japanfest where they were doing a preview of this new ramen shop... But now, I can finally try out some other stuff on their menu. Will eating their fried chicken nuggets here bring back
haunted visions of a cock in a hammock? Let's go find out if the pouch will come
running outside and vomiting on the curb after the first bite or will it actually be good and not water down like all the other ethnic restos that wants to cash in on the hipster trend intown passing off really shitty food as authentic...
Tori Karaage. Fried yardbird? Yes, pweez. Presentation looked pretty decent, the colors on this dish were nice. They obviously thought this out but will they continue to do this multi step presentation if they get popular. The chunks of chicken were pretty large, not like the karaage found at most joint where they're more nugget size. If there are gonna keep it this large, might as well keep the bone in and fry that fucker whole. The batter was pretty crispy and light, I kinda liked it... But the large chunks of chicken were more than a bite full. A chicken karaage should be bite size. It's a pretty good fried chicken but work on the smaller pieces which will make it look like a bigger portion and more nuggets mean you can share with the table. And the salt was really good and a must with this dish. They had a Japanese Chicken Wing app but it literally said on the menu "Cook Time Too Long"... Come back 5 hour, maybe they will be done by then. No thanks.
Tonkotsu Ramen. "Umaido original tonkotsu broth" with slices of roasted pork, tree ear, garlic oil, bean sprouts, seasoned 1/2 hard boiled egg, scallions and sesame. You can also make it a "Rich soup" for an extra dollar... I would recommend doing that for that extra richness of fat and collagen. The broth itself was pretty good, but could use more stickiness from the collagen... C'mon, who am I to complain to have only one of a handful of places that does tonkotsu intown? Errr, I should just keep my fat mouth stuffed with more spoonfuls of noodle, broth and pork. They also used the correct thin and straight noodle for the tonkotsu broth... Their housemade noodles were toothy but it didn't have that spring to it like the superb Sun Noodles. It was not bad but I just hoping they would get the all important noodle correct. This bowl of tonkotsu was totally acceptable and the location and convenience played a big part of it. Was it one of the best bowls of tonkotsu I have ever had, fuck no, but I would totally get it again if I needed a quick fix.
Honey Miso Ramen. "Umaido original tonkotsu broth" with honey soy bean paste, slices of roasted pork, sweet corn, seaweed, bean sprouts, seasoned 1/2 hard boiled egg, peanut oil, scallions and sesame. This bowl was just with the regular strength broth, no rich soup option with this one because it would drown out the honey miso aspect of this bowl... It's suppose to be sweeter. And it was. The broth is their standard base with the sweet honey miso paste mixed in. The corn gives it a lil sweetness as well. The noodles were the same thin straight ones used in the tonkotsu but for a miso ramen the noodle should be a bit thicker and curly. Since, the noodles they make in house looks to be only thin and straight, you really don't have an option for this bowl. It's a light sweet bowl of ramen, good for warmer days.
Ultra Spicy Ramen Level 2. "Umaido original tonkotsu broth" with Umaido original hot sauce, chilli oil, slices of roasted pork, seaweed, white onion, bean sprouts, seasoned 1/2 hard boiled egg, scallions and sesame. A buddy got this level 2 version which wasn't spicy at all... They don't do level 100 anymore, it's only up to 50 now. But they do do a chef's spicy ramen challenge for $20, it's twice the size of a normal bowl, they won't tell you how spicy it is and you have 20 minzies to finish it, if you complete it, it's freeeee... Yelpers eyes just opened up real wide. If it's free, it's for mee! If you're just gonna do the regular spicy ramen bowl, start at level 25 and work your way up to 50... Anything under 25 is just too weak. Oh, the spicy ramen noodles are also red, yeah, the color of the noodle is red, well more like a dark pink and they're also thin and straight.
Japanese Chicken Wing.. "Cook time Too long". Fucking hilarious... I really wanted to see a "King Crap" on the menu, too. Will be back to try the other dishes.
I think they will do good business here since there's not many places that have ramen on a consistent basis... It's intown and in an area that is still old school hip with a little bit of skanky even though most of the area has seen massive new development. They also make their own noodles which is kinda respectable... They got a noodle room full of bags and bags of high gluten flour... I guess that will keep a lot of that self made condition people out of this place. The noodle options are limited but I hope that will change as time goes on. I do like that they opened a spot intown because no one wants to drive all the way upstate to Suwanee for a bowl of ramen but let's hope they keep their game up on the product. It still needs work but it's on the right track... Keep working on it and don't die on me or else there will be hell to pay.
2345 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE #101
Atlanta, GA 30324
http://hajime.us/
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