Ramen Tatsu - my favorite spicy ramen

When I was young, I loved the independence of making meals for myself.  Cold cereal (with some heavy cream or Half and half), scrambled eggs (this was where I learned salt and pepper weren't opposites - i.e. that you couldn't undo what pepper does by adding salt).  One of my favorite media was Top Ramen.  I could boil water, add noodles and then powder and have a salty broth and noodles.  Being a saltivore (I just made that up), it was great. However, after your 300th pot of Top Ramen, one starts to feel that perhaps there are other flavors to try.  For me, that meant turning my ramen into pasta.  I'd drain most of the water and add butter and maybe some American cheese with only some of the flavor powder.  This gave me another few years of Top Ramen joy.  I assumed this is what real life Japanese people had been eating for years on their island.  Then I found Monta. I'm not posting about Monta today (Monta), suffice it to say that Monta introduced me to real ramen.  Since then, any time I have the time (and/or a companion) I'm in Chinatown in Las Vegas (when I first moved here, I was very skeptical that there really was a Chinatown, but that's another story), trying different ramen shops.

As far as ramen goes, I have not had a bad bowl in Vegas.  I have been to Monta, Ramen Sora, Jinya Ramen Bar, Itsy Bitsy, Moko Ramen Bar and Hiromaru (I think - a fusion place on Spring Mountain).  All very tasty.  One thing I've noticed, though, is that the spicy broths are a little bit one dimensional.  Thanks to an email from Yelp (you should subscribe, they provide lists of top places in various types of cuisine from time to time), I learned that there was a place that had a habanero broth.  

Now, I know that a habanero broth is probably not an authentic thing.  However, I love spicy things and where there is a dish made with habanero sauce (a pretty spicy pepper, making it an uncommon feature), I had to try it.  I was flying solo this weekend and so, after a leisurely walk through the Las Vegas IKEA, I stopped by 3400 South Jones to check it out.  

Geography or Demography note (I'm not sure which this is) - Vegas has a Chinatown.  It's probably smaller than most, centered mostly around Spring Mountain Road from the freeway to around Jones or Rainbow, but it is definitely not a sleepy part of town. I went there at about 7pm on a Saturday.  The mini-mall area where Ramen Tatsu is the location of some other great Asian eateries.  There is China Mama, Hachi, and Ramen Tatsu to name a few.  If you don't Uber or get there early, you might not get a parking spot.

 

It's like Target on Black Friday, cars just driving around waiting for someone to leave their spot. 

Ramen Tatsu is small (I guess all the ramen shops I've been to are small).  It is definitely in the style of Japanese hole-in-the-wall.  I sat down and I was immediately offered water (I bring this up only as evidence of a lack of up selling - they didn't immediately try to sell me beer or sake, which I appreciated).  I ordered a bowl of their habanero ramen.  I thought about an order of takomaki, attracted by what I hoped was the Japanese version of a taco, but wussed out on what turned out to be octopus balls (maybe next time).

Octopus balls, though?  Man, there is so much you could say about that.  For example, if octopi had testicles, they would be so vulnerable.  How many crotches would they have?  Four?  Eight?  That's probably strong evidence for evolution, right there.  If I were an octopus, I'd evolve external testicles away in a heartbeat.  

Anyway, after a few minutes, I also decided I should try their gyoza as well

My ramen arrived first (I had ordered it first, so that made sense).  It looked unremarkable, except for a reddish tinge (nature's sign for danger).

Nothing unusual here.  I started eating and it was way too hot (temperature-wise).  Luckily my gyoza had arrived.  This was when I learned something I didn't know I didn't know.  

The server brought the gyoza and asked if I knew how to make the sauce.  I said I didn't and she said she would come back and show me.  I had always wondered (but not too hard, I don't like to eat with a headache) about what was gyoza sauce.  The little bottles of vinegar, soy and chili oil were, I thought, for the ramen.  I was wrong.  

It turns out you just mix them up to taste.  I felt so Japanese.  I have to say, kudos to Ramen Tatsu and their staff for making me aware of this little cultural tidbit.  It will enhance my every order of gyoza from here on.  

So, how was it?  The gyoza was good.  It tasted pretty fresh and was above average.  It was not the best I've ever had, in spite of my custom gyoza sauce.  I really liked it, nonetheless.

The ramen?  Excellent.  What made me write this post, was that this spicy ramen was quite spicy (not the absolute spiciest I've had), but also rich.  A spicy ramen sometimes is a ramen with spicy tacked-on or spicy with ramen broth thrown in.  Ramen Tatsu's spicy ramen had the best melding of the two - the broth (I got tankotsu) was rich and thick, not far from the best I've had and the spice was well integrated.  

In the end, this is a great place to get ramen.  They have the normal broths (shoyu, miso, tankotsu) in non-spicy varieties.  They have good looking appetizers and the people are nice.  They were also reasonably priced.  

There is simply nothing wrong with Ramen Tatsu and a lot that is very right.  I'll be back for sure.