Michi Ramen — Restaurant in Austin

Alright, buckle up for a wild ride 'cause I've got a story for you about Michi Ramen and how we got there.

So, picture this: my wife and I are in town for the Jo Koy stand-up gig, right? We're pumped, ready to laugh our socks off. After the show we didn't know getting an Uber was like trying to summon a unicorn. Four cancellations and an hour and a half later, we finally snag one, mind you we're in 40-degree weather, drizzle, and wind that could blow you over the border wall.

But hey, my wife's a tropper, so we roll up to Michi Ramen, the only ramen joint open 'til midnight (that I saw on Google lol). Now, my buddy had the audacity to call it "trash," so you know what? Telling me something is trash only makes me go there faster. #ChallengeAccepted.

Turns out, no dine in, take out window only + there's a 20-minute wait – maybe 'cause the food's so good or the chef's taking a blinker break, who knows? But let's get to the juicy part: our order's up, and our Uber's waiting outside like a getaway car.

Back at the hotel, we dive into our ramen, and guess what? It's freakin' delicious! My buddy's dead wrong – that egg was the MVP, and the karaage? Still crispy despite its travels in a take out box.

The broth? Heavenly. Rich. Deep. The noods? I could taste EACH one. The protein? Thick. Even the little veggies were on point. So, here's the kicker: the wait? It's 'cause the food's bomb, not 'cause the cook's tuned up off his dispo pen.

Long story short, Michi Ramen, you proved my friend wrong, and we're lovin' every slurp of it! Cheers to good eats and even...

I drove by here a few times and it looked totally legit from the outside, being close to 99 ranch, 85 degrees, and other Asian places so finally I decided to stop by. Going in, we were greeted with loud cantankerous music that already killed the potential ambience of this place. They would have been better off playing JPOP or anything else. Whatever, this place is about the food.

Ordered a Sapporo ramen and their Michi ramen. The broth was salty on the Sapporo ramen with just mediocre flavoring. Should have asked for a lighter broth which is great you have the option. It wasn’t bad but wasn’t great either given the price paid for it. And then the Michi ramen broth was actually good in my opinion. The chashiu meat however was rubbery and tough, not tender as it should be. And the noodles on both our ramen were about a step above what you would get from instant noodles, maybe not the cup noodles but just a little bit better than the packet ones. It was not a good feeling paying over $30 for both me and my wife for the quality we got from here. If it was $8-$10 a bowl range then it would have been worth it.

You know it’s really hard to find a variety of good ramen in Austin, me coming from California it was a dime a dozen but so far I’ve found about two good places... which are Jinya at the Domain and Whole Foods also at the Domain. If you want to count Torro at San Marcos about 45 minutes to an hour away then that would be three.

Michi Ramen isn’t bad, and you may like it, but to choose ramen at Whole Foods over a ramen restaurant says...

This was the first place I ever had ramen that wasn’t Top. Went right after they opened years ago, I loved it and and kept going back. It’s been a little while since I was last here because I moved further away and now there are many ramen restaurants, but we were in the area and so were able to go to Michi tonight. I was excited and then, left disappointed. Got there around 8 and it was very warm. Like really warm inside. Not comfortable for eating ramen. It’s hot outside and the a/c didn’t seem to be working. The place seems…under construction? Not sure but it was an off vibe. Seemed run down and not in a cute way. Styrofoam cups for what tastes like tap water that you serve yourself. Order at the counter (just wasn’t expecting, this used to be a place with waitstaff). Menus were sticky. Food was overly salty, to us. The fried chicken app (chicken was also chewy, not like I remember it being here) ajitama, and broth (I eat ramen out regularly now and I know it’s probably supposed to be salty but this was too much for me). It’s BYOB which it didn’t use to be, and I was looking forward to a drink, so was a little disappointing for me. The employees seemed nice, brought our food out but didn’t take away the plates from our apps. Again it’s a small thing but would have been nice. It wasn’t busy. Overall I just hope they get the remodel done soon and start offering real glassware and maybe waitstaff again, but with a/c on in the summer for sure! I may not be back but I wish...