Kuma Ramen Eatery [Markthalle Pfefferberg] — Restaurant in Berlin

As many other reviewers have already stated, Kuma Ramen offers the best Ramen in Berlin. This was the only bowl of ramen I've had in Berlin which was comparable to the ramen experience that I've had on my three trips to Japan in the past.

We ordered the Triple Garlic Tonkotsu (which seemed to be the most popular item on the menu) and at the chef's recommendation, the Lemon Shio Tori Paitan. Both dishes had incredible depth of flavour which I found was lacking at all other ramen offerings in the city. I've dined frequently at other ramen establishments in Berlin such as Cocolo, Hako, Takumi nine, Buya ramen to name a few and each of these places fell short in one or more aspects, such as noodle consistency, watery broth, lack of flavour complexity or mismatched flavour palettes. Kuma Ramen excels where other restaurants fell short.

The two ramen dishes we ordered were a premium version of your typical ramen offering in Berlin. The garlic flavour in the triple garlic tonkotsu was very rich but smooth and perfectly complimented the incredibly silky tonkotsu broth. The noodles were authentic alkaline ramen noodles made in house and the chef has perfectly complemented the thickness of the noodles to each of his ramen dishes. The texture of the noodles were perfectly chewy and held up quite well in the soup to the very last bite. The Lemon Shio Tori Paitan was also a great alternative to your typical tonkotsu offerings and was offered as part of the seasonal menu. It was the first time I had tasted such a rich and creamy chicken broth with such intensity, and was well balanced by the light lemon notes and the red and green onion garnish. Another dish that I had ordered on a previous visit was a seasonal ramen called the Shiso Miso Mazesoba and that dish was extremely memorable with such a unique flavour and I will be on the lookout for it to return!

If you're a real foodie on the lookout for a premium ramen experience in Berlin, you should pay Nam and his friendly and knowledgeable staff a visit...

After following kuma ramen progress on Instagram for months, we finally decided to try it out for ourselves. Staff were friendly and knowledgeable about the menu and gave us some recommendations. You can pay with cash or card (thank god) haha. There didn't appear to be any cold drinks on the menu but we were having ramen so it wasn't a big deal for us. We ordered the triple garlic tonkotsu and the ribs special. We waited less than 5 minutes to receive our order and honestly the tonkotsu was worth the wait!! An overall great umami flavour- specifically the charred nuttiness of the black garlic oil paired beautifully with the pork and jammy marinated egg. It also tasted like it maybe had some toasted sesame seeds or sesame oil but I'm not sure. The noodles were fresh and had the perfect consistency of chewiness whilst absorbing the flavour. My only little concern was that it is rather on the edge of being too salty so if that's not something you like - I've seen from comments from the owner that you can ask for less salt. Overall I thought it was very well balanced - the saltiness is only rather pronounced when you're almost at the bottom of the bowl so that's something to consider.

We also got the ribs special because why not and honestly my expectations were absolutely blown away. The ribs were so succulent and tasty - meat falling off the bone goodness! It also came with a side of rice and marinated cucumbers which paired perfectly together- thank you for providing gloves you will definitely need them!

We left with empty plates and full bellies but walking off these dishes is a small price to pay for a flavour explosion. I think for the time it has been open kuma ramen is something special and maybe it'll turn into a restaurant in the future. I can't wait to go back and try...

The tonkotsu was the best I ever had in Germany but still not better than a 600 yen bowl in Japan. The noodles were great and had a good chew. I would’ve wished for an option to choose between the firmness of the noodles because for tonkotsu I like my noodles on the firmer side. Presentation could be better with a proper noodle fold. The kaedama was generous and worth the extra 2€. The broth started out good with a nice balance of salinity, savoriness and richness but towards the end hard to swallow due to the increasing bitterness of the garlic infusing the broth over time. Also, the broth was a bit too thick for my taste. The toppings were good but still need refinement. The chashu was tasty but cubic which looks nice but is very impractical to eat. Due to its shape, biting off a piece was complicated and messy. Instead, having a long rectangular piece is more fun to bite off. This way you can get a bite of both meat and fat. Or just slice the cube thinly for a better experience. The ajitama and all the other toppings were good as well. The service was super friendly, fast and knew what they were doing. All in all, not worth 16€ but I guess these are the typical markup prices for a mediocre bowl in Berlin. But given that Germany is not a ramen hotspot and the bar for ramen is quite low you won‘t get a better bowl of ramen anywhere in Germany, except Düsseldorf maybe. Nonetheless, I appreciate the effort, hard work and research that went into the bowl of an ambitious ramen chef. 3 stars for the bowl and another star for the team. Please keep improving and I can’t wait to try the other...