Ramen fans in Miami have another reason to rejoice: A new spot for noodle soup has opened in South Florida.
InRamen Asian Street Eatery is already open for business, but a grand-opening celebration and ribbon-cutting are planned for Wednesday, November 13, at 5829 SW 73rd St. in South Miami.
Headed by chefs Johnny H.K. and Bill and David Jiang, InRamen offers a hybridized take on ramen with a pan-Asian twist.
Purists can try the traditional chashu ramen ($16), but the menu offers plenty of interesting noodle bowls. There's the pan ramen ($17), whose noodles are pan-fried and served with bacon, shrimp, and mixed vegetables. The Asian smoked brisket ramen ($16) includes slow-smoked brisket in a beef broth with baby bok choy, cilantro, and egg, while the ramen scampi ($17) places shrimp pan-seared in garlic, butter, and white wine over noodle soup. Vegetarians can go for the mushroom ramen ($15), offering an assortment of fungi in a shiitake broth.
The menu doesn't stop there. In the section of signature bowls, InRamen offers a spicy crab bowl ($20), an unagi don ($17) with Kabayaki eel served over avocado and seaweed salad, and a variety of Korean bibimbap bowls such as short rib ($18), spicy chicken ($15), and octopus cooked sous vide ($18). A full list of craft beer, wine, and sake is also available, as are a variety of dim sum dishes such as Parmesan-crusted gyoza ($10) and fries ($7) covered in yuzu mustard, spicy mayo, eel sauce, bonito flakes, and furikake.
The 2,000-square-foot dining space combines a neighborhood aesthetic with a high-tech mobile system that allows guests to order from their smartphones, eliminating the need to split the bill.
Along with exposed brick and hand-painted street art by Miami-based muralist Ivan Roque, the open kitchen is the centerpiece of InRamen's presentation, according to chef Johnny H.K. "We are the first handcrafted ramen eatery in the immediate area where guests can watch noodles being made fresh to order," he says.
The partners behind the restaurant are childhood friends who dreamed of opening a ramen restaurant together. Johnny H.K.'s resumé includes work at New York restaurants such as Balthazar and the Oak Room, and Bill Jiang has worked at Nobu and Sushi Samba in New York.
A second location is in the works for InRamen, which enters the Miami food scene facing competition from other ramen upstarts. Last month, the Broward noodle shop Shimuja opened a pop-up in Miami Beach.
InRamen Asian Street Eatery. 5829 SW 73rd St., South Miami; 305-639-8181; inramen.com. Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.