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Robin Garr

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Ramen Inochi offers a fine, warming noodle bowl

by Robin Garr » Wed Oct 24, 2018 9:27 am

Ramen Inochi offers a fine, warming noodle bowl

LEO's Eats with Robin Garr

Ramen Inochi’s spicy veggie miso ramen is fiery and delicious, especially with an added order of kimchi.
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Thoughts upon dining at the amiable new Ramen Inochi, latest in the city’s growing circle of Asian soup eateries: If you’re ever in the mood to start a foodie fight, ask your friends whether ramen or pho is better. I tried this on Facebook and Twitter the other day and had three dozen arguments going by lunch.

But you don’t have to be a social media troll to love these traditional Asian soups, and Louisville clearly knows this. In the past few years we’ve seen a mini-tsunami of restaurants that specialize in these memorable soups.

So what’s the difference between ramen and pho, anyway? You might have a hard time guessing which is in your bowl if the server didn’t tell you. You get a big bowl of steaming rich broth, noodles, and interesting add-ins. But you can count on a few near-certainties. Pho has tender white rice noodles. Ramen has squiggly, jiggly but firm wheat noodles. Pho broth is usually clear, often scented with star anise and cinnamon. Ramen broth involves long simmering with beef or bones, and comes in five or six traditional styles.

Your pho will usually have thin-sliced meat, poultry or tofu resting on the noodles; more goodies, including leafy herbs bean sprouts, and hot sauce, come alongside. Your ramen bowl, conversely, has all the goodies built in: You’ll probably get thick chunks of meat or tofu, a halved egg, and seaweed, veggies and corn.

We checked out Ramen Inochi the other day and found owners Jonathan Chiu (whose Hong Kong-born parents own Oriental House) and Jonathan Ham turning out fine bowls of ramen and more. Completing a sort of ramen circle, it’s located in the small Highlands storefront that once housed Rumplings, the eatery that kicked off Louisville’s love affair with serious ramen.

If you remember Rumplings, though, you’ll hardly recognize this stylishly renovated space. ...

Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/ramen ... -fine-bowl

You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly's Food & Drink section today.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/

Ramen Inochi
2009 Highland Ave.
785-4199
https://facebook.com/RamenInochiLouisville
https://instagram.com/RamenInochiLouisville

Robin Garr's rating: 88 points

Noise level: The sound level rises when a loud song comes on and bounces off the hard edges in the small room, but the music is good. Most selections were more moderate in volume, so we could talk easily. (Average sound level 78dB, in a broad range from 68-83 dB)

Accessibility: A single, short step at the front door is still a barrier to wheelchair users.
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Deb Hall

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Re: Ramen Inochi offers a fine, warming noodle bowl

by Deb Hall » Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:28 pm

More fighting words:
How does it compare to Mirin??
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Robin Garr

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Re: Ramen Inochi offers a fine, warming noodle bowl

by Robin Garr » Tue Nov 06, 2018 5:09 pm

I don't think the Mirin guys would consider it a fight. :) It's good. Mirin is different. It's run by folks who know what they're doing - I think the review mentions the connection to Oriental House's "new" owners from Hong Kong. Griffin and the gang are insane, in a good way, and it shows in their food. Inochi is possibly more true to the Japanese ramen tradition because they aren't as experimental, but that's not a good thing or a bad thing. I would happily eat at either place, but Mirin probably excites me a little more. That's about as far as I can go in comparing these apples and apples. :)
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Re: Ramen Inochi offers a fine, warming noodle bowl

by Iggy C » Mon Apr 22, 2019 10:52 pm

I think Ramen Inochi has closed. When I was there a few weeks ago, they said they were moving to a new location by Baxter theater this summer, but suddenly their social media is shut down and there’s a closed sign during normal dinner hours. It’s too bad — I liked their ramen.
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Re: Ramen Inochi offers a fine, warming noodle bowl

by Robin Garr » Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:00 am

That's really disappointing. They were good. :(
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James Natsis

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Re: Ramen Inochi offers a fine, warming noodle bowl

by James Natsis » Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:38 am

I saw a sign on the door of the former Bazos Fresh next to Baxter Theater. It stated that a ramen restaurant was opening. That is likely the Inochi folks.
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Steve Eslinger

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Re: Ramen Inochi offers a fine, warming noodle bowl

by Steve Eslinger » Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:38 am

James Natsis wrote:I saw a sign on the door of the former Bazos Fresh next to Baxter Theater. It stated that a ramen restaurant was opening. That is likely the Inochi folks.


This would make my day!
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Re: Ramen Inochi offers a fine, warming noodle bowl

by Iggy C » Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:42 am

Let’s hope so! I don’t get why they’d shut down all their social media accounts, though. I guess they’re rebranding, but it seems like a bad idea to ditch all their followers when they could have used them to announce the new place instead.
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Re: Ramen Inochi offers a fine, warming noodle bowl

by James Natsis » Tue Apr 23, 2019 1:44 pm

Iggy C wrote:Let’s hope so! I don’t get why they’d shut down all their social media accounts, though. I guess they’re rebranding, but it seems like a bad idea to ditch all their followers when they could have used them to announce the new place instead.


It does seem odd that one would cut ties like that. We'll see if any updates are posted regarding this case.
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Re: Ramen Inochi offers a fine, warming noodle bowl

by Steve Eslinger » Wed May 15, 2019 8:45 am

There is now a sign in the old Bazo's spot for Ramen House, opening soon. A quick google search revealed a menu remarkably similar to Ramen Inochi. I think it's safe to assume they've relocated/renamed. That makes me happy. While their ramen may not be quite up to Mirin's standard, their pork bun is fantastic. I was gonna miss that.

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