Hanabi Ramen

Waddup my Buds! Wanna learn about some flaky tuna and fried puffs of octopi? You know what to do, keep scrolling!

Hanabi Ramen

Just another Wednesday night for me. The usual, go find a restaurant and write about it night. I found a small Japanese restaurant right on Wilson Blvd. in my favorite spot of Arlington, Clarendon. Let me tell you about what my tastebuds learned.

First off I consumed some Takoyaki. Takoyaki is so delicious; since I can not always pronounce the name, I like to call them The Little Balls of Delight. What are these little balls of delight you ask? It sure beat the hell out of me at the time so I did some research while I was chowing down.

Now Ima be honest I was a little nervous at first because it did not look the same as the picture I first saw on google. I kept reading a little bit about Takoyaki. The scrumptious little snacks are dope! The outside is a nice fluffy batter can be filled with tako (octopus) and tempura scraps, with the nice presences of ginger and green onion. Then they apply the Japanese method of Yaki (fry) to cook up the Takoyaki (fried octopus). It literally means fried octopus--can’t get more simple then that my buds.

The takoyaki was dashed up with takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise. What made the takoyaki super fun was the small flakes sprinkled atop of it. I asked the chef at the bar what the flakes were. He told me all about the flakes, which are called Bonito. Bonito in this case does not mean beautiful, but it is thinly flaked pieces of tuna. Yes, light flakey tuna meat. As he cooked and I sat the bar, he told me a bit about him and the restaurant. I asked him about some of the dishes and what he might suggest to have.

As a good chef and sales man he loved all his food. He did tell me tho to always get pork with the dishes because it suits better with the ramen. Even just random small talked over food gave me a new friend at a new restaurant. It made the resturnate feel so much more relaxing and homie. This was a big plus for me as I began my evening at Hanabi Ramen.

Now let’s dive into a pool of soupy goodness. I dug into two spectacular ramen bowls that night, Spicy Ramen and Tonkotsu Ramen. So both dishes were ordered with pork. Both came with an egg and of course some awesome broth and ramen noodles with it. But the difference was the noodles and broth. Let’s figure out which one is the winner. (Hint: they're both the winner).

The Tonkotsu Ramen was fantastic. It was one of the more simple ramen dishes. In reality the broth was good but nothing special. Though, it was easy and savory on the taste buds. My favorite part of the Tonkotsu was the noodles and pork together. The noodles were perfect. Thin round noodles, and there were a lot of the to. The noods were at the bottom, at the top, under the prok, the noods were everywhere! I had so much fun find noods wherever I looked in the bowl. I knew I was getting my money's worth.

What do you see first in the photo? The orange broth, and BAM! Thats exactly what you taste first as well. The Spicy miso had the most delicious borth I have ever had. I don’t think I have had a soup that good before. The tangy flavor came in like a roundhouse kick to the taste buds. It was awesome! Whatever was in the broth made the rest of the ingredients a hell lot better. The broth was definitely the best of the night. However, the noodles were a different story. The noodles in the Spicy Miso were real thiccc and dense. For me I am more of a thin noodle kinda guy when I am eating ramen. If you like your noodles thicker then you will probably enjoy them.

I have never walked away from a meal feeling so comfortable with the food and service. I knew I was in good hands with the gentleman behind the bar. Definitely a place I'd want to go back too and take people. An experience like this one is always one to remember.

Quick Tips:

Tip 1: Ask for help if you are having trouble with the noodles and pork at the same time. I asked my man behind the bar and he taught me how be efficient and enjoy the most of my ramen.

Tip 2: When you are going to eat the boiled egg, bite it in half then let the egg bathe in the glorious broth. The broth filled egg is so much better, because you have can feels two extreme textures: one from the boiled egg yoke and the other from the flavor filled broth.

Tip 3: Have fun and enjoy yourself, maybe make a new friend while you’re at it.