Top Ramen

This ramen joint has been around for a bit but I never had the interest to stop in here because this strip mall is always empty on this end even though Sweet Hut on the other side has brought a ton of traffic to give this dump more visibility. But nope, all the restos and shops on this end are still being treated like a red-headed stepchild... No hut, no love. After passing this by time after time, I guess it was time to see what's the deal with this place. Parked right up front since there were no cars and walked over and kept walking when I saw no one in there, not even a staff member... I checked out the other Chino restos a few doors down and they were also dead as fuck. I doubled back to this joint and said fuck it, just do it, do it, do it, pouch... Stop being a fucking pair of inflamed meat flaps.
Walked in and the place was nice and modern, in other words, it looked clean enough to eat there. But there was not a soul in here, then this creasture limped out from the back alley exactly at high noon like Quasimodo... I didn't see an Arby's bell for that mofo to ring but he did drag over a menu. I looked at the menu and noticed that it was eerily similar to Lan Zhou Ramen. I mean the menu was exactly in the same format with the same dishes and all the wrong spelling and grammar, too... Like "Hond" Pulled Noodles. I was looking for the "Shranghai" buns but it looks like someone proof read that item. I had a 'hunch' that it was the same owners and that Quasimofo confirmed that indeed it was. I was getting kinda excited now because I love Lan Zhou Ramen and their hand pulled knife sliced noods are so guud.
Let's see if they are just as good as the number one son or just a red-headed stepchild that needs to be beaten, ignored and sent to a church basement.

Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Bun. I asked the server if this had the nice thin webbing of crust found at Lan Zhou Ramen...He said, yes, it da same. Then this bullshit came out... Ok, they gave you 6 buns instead of 5 at LZR to make up for the missing crepe layer. He says, sometimes the cook do it and sometimes he don't want to. Come again, Quasimotherfucker? Was this the chef's choice... Did I order the fucking omakase? I don't see goddamn California rolls on the menu, yo! They were nicely pan fried but I was still so disappointed, what a total sham and let down... I had a feeling that the correct spelling would fuck this up. I ate like two buns and got depressed. Time to move on...

Fried Crunchy Chicken. I just can't get past fwied cheekan if it's on the menu. They were prepared different as well... That fucking omakase menu again. They were kinda like the Japanese chicken kaarage... Little ultra crispy nuggets with more batter than meat and barely any seasoning. Some pieces were chicken soft bone which was a nice surprise but in the end, it was nothing craveworthy. I got screwed again. Next...

Beef Tendon Knife Sliced Hond Pulled Noodles. Ok, let's stick with something that they do best, the noodles soups... There were a lot of slices of tendon and they were tender as expected. The broth was nice but not as good as Lan Zhou Ramen. The knife sliced noods didn't have that wavy noodle texture, seemed more like they used a pasta cutter to cut long strands of it on a table. Let's take a closer look...

These knife sliced noodles were not as thick and ribbony like at Lan Zhou Ramen but still tasted pretty good. The tendon was great, the noods acceptable, but the broth needed a little more work to be on par with LZR. It's not bad but not good enough to get the pouch back here any time soon and by the looks of this sparse space and parking lot no one else is coming back either.

2180 Pleasant Hill Rd
Duluth, GA 30096
www.topramenduluth.com

Maybe it's time to go back to the number one son for some redemption... Who is this fat fuck kidding? Of course, the pouch is going back... Like right now. What? It's on my way home. Don't hate, congratulate.

Lan Zhou Ramen.

Shranghai Pan Fried Pork Buns. Fuck yeah, ese! The "R" makes all the difference... It was prolly spelled with a "L" initially but you know they can't pronounce L's. Now, these are the buns I have been looking for... This was perfect with that thin layer of crackling goodness... And the buns were juicy and flavorful. So damn guud.

Of course, I had to get the same noodle bowl to compare between the two spots. This bowl looked so much better, the broth had a better color and sheen, full of veggies and tendon and the knife sliced noods were perfect ribbons and had great texture. Just a perfect bowl on a cold winter day in da ATL. Skip Top Ramen and the drive to upstate GA and stay ITP for a proper bun and bowl at the number one son of hond pulled noods.

Jesus, who the fuck eats two lunches in a row? And the same exact lunch back to back. This stout specimen of a beast, that's who.

Squirt.

5231 Buford Hwy
Doraville, GA 30340