Yume Wo Katare — Restaurant in Cambridge

Yume Wo Katare is Porter Square's newest gem and popular hotspot. Featuring 16-20 seats in the place which was formerly Zing Pizza, this spot serves up one thing and one thing only: ramen.

The place is owned by Japanese guys who already own a few locations in Japan. This is their very first expansion into our glorious country and hopefully not their last. They run a very strict joint here where no cell phones or lingering is tolerated and where your meal will mostly be accompanied by the sounds of other peeps around you slurping away at their bowl of porky, noodly deliciousness.

But in order to get this far in your quest, you'll most likely have to wait in line, sometimes upwards of two hours in order to score a spot. However they're recently extended their hours and open an hour earlier than before so it's definitely helped relieve that a bit - I personally only had to wait twenty five minutes to get in. And it was totally worth it.

Once you do get in, even before sitting down and eating, you must immediately order your food and pay (and even tip) which was a bit weird but makes sense. The menu is as simple as it gets: there's basically only one dish and it comes in two sizes: Their ramen bowl ($12) is the regular sized-version of the dish and will be featuring two pieces of char siu pork. Their buta ramen ($14) is the large size and will feature five pieces of char siu pork.

I personally decided to go for the former, smaller size not really knowing what to expect, and it turns out that it was plenty. One highlight is that once your noodles are almost ready, the chef behind the counter will look at every individual in your party and will ask if you want raw, chopped garlic on top. The catch? He asks in Japanese so be ready to say "Hai" if you want it. I sure as hell recommend you do, it adds a bit more depth in there and works well with the ingredients elevating it even that much further. One thing I couldn't figure out was what the broth base featured and this despite my ramen eating experience - my best guess would be that it's a hybrid of a tonkotsu broth with some soy sauce in it but I could be slightly off. It's not seafood based though, that's all I know.

The pork was absolutely amazing, divine even, and the broth was rich, salty, murky and paired perfectly with the noodles. And don't even get me started on the noodles - the egg noodles were fresh, chewy and had a wonderful texture. Not overcooked, not bland, they definitely had a purpose in there and offered a great contrast. Each slurp was a symphony of deliciousness just exploding all over my taste buds. I was amazed. I was near silent as I enjoyed this experience.

A lot of people have complained that the broth was very rich, almost too rich because of the pork fat in it. It didn't bother me but then again, I didn't finish my broth. But I did however manage to eat every single other morsel of food that was present in my bowl. The tiny pieces of cabbage, the toppings and the noodles. And it was all delicious and well worth a trip.

Despite having competition just a few hundred yards away where Sapporo Ramen has been reigning supreme for the decade (?), this place is definitely here to stay. They are a bit more expensive but specialize on that one dish and definitely nail it. It was a delicious and pretty quick meal if you ignore the time spent in line trying to get to the seat. I look forward to returning for some slurpy adventures. Getting there is super convenient as it's on the red line and there's also ample parking in the Porter Square shopping plaza. All in all, I was pretty damn impressed with the food and authenticity. Just remember, no takeout and no delivery here although you'll be hard pressed to find any food left in other people's servings once they're done eating. I'll...

Hours after ingesting the regular bowl, I'm still bursting at the seams with garlic lingering on my tongue. Silly me not for reading up on the premise of this place and eating a bit beforehand! I'm glad that my friends suggested we arrive early on Saturday around 4:30pm to avoid the infamous wait. (At this point they said they hadn't even opened yet so we stopped by Panera to get a smoothie, what was I thinking?!) I can definitely see the appeal for many people as this place knows what they are good at (Jiro Ramen) and they have fun with the business.

The moment we stepped into the official line area we were greeted by the Host who explained what Yume Wo Katare means..."This is NOT a restaurant! This is a place for sharing dreams!" He asked us how many we had in our party and seated us by rounds (rows) as inside they have 3 long rows of benches seating 6 people in a school/classroom style. We entered and assembled behind the green line to pay for either a regular $12 or buta (large 5 piece pork) $14 ramen bowl. Near the entrance they also have all the utensils (chopsticks, soup spoon, wet wipe). We sat in the front row ready to feast! The Host/owner introduced us to all of the staff working there including the chef (who has his face immortalized on one of the walls as a cartoon asking customers if they would like garlic). Everyone was very lighthearted and upbeat as they shared their dream for the day. They also encouraged us as we finished our meal to stand up and share our dreams with the room of 18+ people as well. I think this is optional since I understand that some people may not feel comfortable sharing something with complete strangers.

Our host also explained to us the cheering system as they encouraged us all to finish as much of the ramen bowl as we could. The scale goes from Perfect (clean bowl), Good Job (everything but the broth), Almost (I'm guessing more than 1/2 way) and Next Time (less than 1/2?). The rating system definitely goes along with the vibe of the classroom and it's a fun way that ties in with their theme of if you can power through a large bowl of ramen, you can also achieve your dreams.

Personally, the ramen bowl for me started off strong -- tasty, perfectly paired with the bean sprouts and 2 slices of tender pork soaked in the oily broth. Then as I continued to eat more, the garlic and fats saturated my taste buds. I definitely knew that I couldn't finish the broth, since even with the water it was too salty for me so I aimed to get a "Good Job" and succeeded. I wish my camera hadn't failed as I was rushing out to show you the amount of fat floating around in the greasy broth. If you are in the area and there's not a huge line I would definitely stop by for the...

Yume Wo Katare is not a ramen restaurant. Yume is about the people: the challenges overcome, the connections made, and the dreams shared. Jake asked his followers on Instagram to write a paragraph about 1) my preferences on food, so he can adjust and 2) suggestions on how we can improve the Yume experience. At Yume, employees are called Members, and I like to think Jake is extending the shared ownership of making Yume the best it can be to his customers. If you are a customer, you should know Jake is completely serious about tailoring the experience—if you have any preferences, just ask! I once went with a friend of mine who loves garlic. She asked for a ton of garlic. She was served several whole cloves and was very happy about it.

For my ramen, I actually like it when the broth has had a chance to cool down so that I can eat it as quickly as I can. I know Jake likes to make everything as hot as possible (including pre-warming the bowl), but this makes it difficult for me to finish in under 10 minutes. I prefer fatty cuts, but I don't want to force lean pieces onto another customer. I like my noodles al dente, my broth not too salty, and my pork hot if possible.

As far as improving the experience goes, my suggestions all center around making Yume a more inclusive space. I'd love to see the Members who share their own dreams introduce themselves with their pronouns. I think modeling this inclusive behavior is important, and I also want to emphasize that customers should not be required to share their pronouns (not everyone is ready to do that).

Additionally, I encourage Yume to innovate on a vegetarian/vegan option to be maximally inclusive. There are so many amazing vegetarian dreamers with whom I'd like to share Yume Wo Katare experience, but I can't. I dream of the day. Yume serves ramen "just to pay the bills". It doesn't have to be ramen.

Finally, I think it's important to reinforce the idea that no dream is too big or small. I noticed that Members model the behavior of sharing dreams that span a range of mundane "my first dream is to drink more water" to grand "my dream is to start a new business". I think this is great, and I wonder if more people would be willing to share their dreams if the Host put a focus on lowering the barrier to entry for sharing dreams.

Thank you for reading my review. I'm glad we could connect...