Batten Ramen

From Fusion Meals

Miso Ramen

From Fusion Meals

Batten Ramen

From Fusion Meals

Fried Squid

Background:

Flora and I had lunch at one of our favorite ramen restaurants in the area.  The restaurant is Batten Ramen in Fort Lee, NJ.  She had the miso ramen, and I had the signature dish - Batten ramen.  

While the dishes are similar, there are important differences to the ramen aficionado.  

Both noodle dishes have the slices of braised pork, bamboo shoots, thinly sliced seaweed and 1/2 soy braised egg.  I prefer the Batten ramen as it has a shoyu (soy sauce) based soup and the noodles are the straight "hand-pulled" variety.

This time around, the sliced braised pork was a bit "off".  It was as if someone had left it in the fridge a day too long past its due date.  While still edible, the pork had a funky taste.  It was just within the acceptable limits though, and we didn't bother to send it back.

I enjoyed the fried squid tentacles though Flora thought that they were too tough/chewy.

All-in-all, it was a rather mediocre meal due to the slow service and issue noted with the freshness of the sliced braised pork.  I hope that this is a rare lapse in quality on Batten ramen's behalf or we'll soon have to patronize other ramen restaurants - however reluctantly.