Ki Ramen - Pinch Hitter from Pittsburgh
For today's post, we'll take a detour to Philadelphia's sister city, where A and I were during this past weekend.
We stayed at a very nice AirBnB in Lawrenceville, which according to a couple uber drivers and bartenders we met during our stay, is the young and happening neighborhood in Pittsburgh. We were staying 2 blocks off the main drag and walking around on the weekend, it felt extremely comparable to Fishtown or Passyunk in Philly. A lot of shiny new shops opening, a lot of renovation and reconstruction on old houses, and a lot of yuppie and hipster young people mixing with folks who looked like pre-gentrification holdovers.
Just up the street from our place, there was this cute ramen stop called Ki Ramen. Generally, I'm a sucker for ramen, but since I've been burned by trendy ramen stops before I had to yelp it before pulling the trigger on a meal there. Except it had no yelp page! With some googling, it appeared that we had arrived in town just in time for it's soft opening.
Atmosphere was fun. We were seated on the second floor, overlooking the main dining area. An area I always love given its propensity for people watching.
Drinks menu looked pretty good. Was very intrigued by the cocktails, but since ramen is already a rich food, decided to go with a Sapporo for the more classic pairing.
Food menu was apparently limited given the soft opening, but still a pretty decent selection with three different types of ramen and some sides to choose from.
A is currently trying to go carb-less, so he ordered all three side dishes (perfect since I get to sample off his plates) and the two different preparations of eggs, while I, the carb-queen, got the Chicken Shoyu Ramen.
In terms of the sides, all three were great. My favorite was definitely the cucumbers. The sauce they were drenched in was the perfect mixture of tangy, spicy, sour, sweet that I love. Miso eggplant was great too; eggplant was very soft and soaked up the sauce. The miso sauce was a bit too sweet for me though, but my palate tends to veer towards salty. Still a strong contender, but my least favorite, was the cauliflower, which came in a giant head coated in a thick sesame based sauce. Texture of the cauliflower was good, but again sauce was a touch too sweet, and I wish they had pickled the cauliflower a bit or rubbed some salt on it because even coated with the sauce it seemed a bit bland.
For the ramen, noodles were definitely the highlight. Springy with the perfect amount of bite. Broth was good, but lacked a certain "ahh" factor. I am definitely no broth expert, but it felt like it didn't have the same depth as some other bowls I've tried. Maybe because it was a chicken based broth instead of pork? Unclear, but it was helped with some hearty shakes of the hot pepper seasonings on the table. To be clear, I also finished everything, including all the broth, in the deep bowl I was given, so obviously I enjoyed it even given my slight critiques. [Sorry about the photo quality, lighting was very dim on the second floor.]
TL;DR - seems like a great addition to the neighborhood. Fun atmosphere, stellar service, great food, solid price point. If I'm ever back in Pittsburgh, will definitely be back to try the cocktails and the full menu, or if I just need some satisfying Asian soul food.