Ramen Co by Keizo Shimamoto, Financial District

Remember when everyone was flocking to Smorgasburg for the ramen burger? Now you can enjoy Chef Keizo Shimamoto’s creation at Ramen Co, and there’s no risk of them selling out. Chef Keizo created the burger as a hybrid of Japanese and American cultures, and the rest is the history. Fun fact: Chef Keizo started out as a ramen blogger with dreams of spreading ramen love throughout the world. Sounds like he and I could be BFFs.

I asked Angela and McKinney if they were interested in grabbing a weekday lunch at Ramen Co with me since they both work nearby. It turns out that Angela comes here for bento bowls, but has never tried the ramen or the ramen burger (what?!).

Angela got her usual bento bowl, and McKinney tried the ramen ($11.94). I believe he got the Brooklyn Blend, which has tonkotsu and black garlic oil. Looked and smelled amazing, and I like that they have thin noodles here. I believe they have a miso broth, but I’m not sure if it’s also pork based. If it’s pork free,  you know I’ll be back to try it.

I obviously had to try the famed Ramen Burger ($8.95). Previously, I had assumed that they only offer meat patties, but I learned from a vegetarian Instagrammer that there’s a tofu patty! It comes your choice of chips or coleslaw. I would have liked to see some kind of Japanese side (maybe tempura?) as an alternative side too.

The tofu patty was nicely seasoned and had veggies mixed in there. Real tasty with the shoyu sauce, but would have liked more sauce with the ramen. The ramen bun was interesting. It held together very well, but the noodles still retained their bounciness. I’ve made ramen burgers at home, and my buns don’t have the same bounciness. Need to experiment more!

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