Green Wasabi is the Newest Ramen Disappointment in Town

Green Wasabi just opened this week, replacing Delicatessen with Japanese bento boxes, sushi, and ramen. Eager to find out how the ramen stacks up, I ran over and was surprised with the lunch time crowd. I waited patiently to try 2 of the 4 ramens offered; the tonkotsu and the shio.

Tonkotsu ramen, made from pork bone broth, is the classic I always order. It came out with an egg, scallions, greens, bamboo shoots, pork, and fishcake slices  (that I promptly removed). The first thing I noticed was that the broth was lacking the fatty richness I expect to find. I added some hot pepper to spice up the flavor. Noodles were springy, but not at the level of chewiness I like. The pork was tender but flavorless. All of the ramen bowls cost $10, thought there is a 20% off promotion for an unknown limited amount of time while they are still knew. The portion was fair for $10, bigger than a bowl at Ramen Boy. If I had to make a comparison based on flavor, Ramen Boy, though far from perfect, wins.

Shio (salt) ramen was similarly dressed, with the addition of sweet corn kernels. The broth had a stronger flavor than the tonkatsu but it was slightly chemically in nature.

Outside of the ramen spectrum, we tried the wasabi shumai which were so wasabi filled that my eyes teared up too much to be enjoyable.

I have yet to try the bento boxes or sushi, but based on my one lunch here I don’t know if I will be back to do that.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

  • 20% off for now

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

  • Disappointing ramen
  • Overly wasabi-ed shumai
Green Wasabi, 703 Chestnut St, 215 922 1320

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