부산 돼지국밥 Busan Daegee Gukbap — Restaurant in Duluth

I ordered here after having a TERRIBLE experience at Sushi Osaka in Duluth the day before. Usually I will not write in depth food reviews but this restaurant (Samurai Ramen) did NOT disappoint. Extremely satisfied doesn't even describe every aspect of my lunch experience here today! From the easily placed pick-up order, the 15 minute estimated wait time, and even on a busy Friday afternoon while nearly all of the tables in the restaurant were full, my order was ready 5 mins early! The food was amazing, I was too hungry to get before pics, lol. I ordered the cashu bun (pork rice bun), seaweed salad, and chashu don (pork rice bowl) that came with miso soup and a small house salad that had tons of chili sauce marinated in the lettuce. Food was amazing, the bun was steamed just right, the rice bowl was the best rice bowl I have ever had. They had tons of small additions which blended together perfectly! This restaurant is 10 mins from my place of work, I will def be ordering from here regularly and recommend you do too! I couldn't even finish all of the rice bowl, and all of it was less than $25 which was literally cheaper than my disappointing lunch from Sushi Osaka the day before that left me still hungry and feeling like I had just eaten gas station sushi. Samurai Ramen gave my taste buds the exact refresh they needed today! Give this place your service! And remember to tip your service workers :) Next time I think I will try the tokontsu ramen (pork) :) Looking forward to...

Limited parking by the restaurant. It’s in the same plaza as Vincent bakery.

I believe they are still in their soft opening phase. Still in the process of obtaining their liquor license.

Chashu bun: very flavorful, the meat melts in your mouth. The bun is fluffy. Make sure to eat it while it’s warm!

Fuji apple house salad: the portion is smaller than I had imagined given the price. But the acidic taste was perfect to help balance all the other more heavy food. I had imagined there would be visible apple pieces, but you don’t see any. But you can taste the subtle apple flavor.

Ebi tempura: highly recommend! Nice and crispy on the outside. Not mushy at all. Nice subtle flavor on its own, but paired with the sauce tastes even better!

Gyoza: pork filling. Nice and crisp wrap. Nicely seasoned filling. Would have perfect a spicy dipping sauce.

Tonkotsu ramen: good portion size, chashu is the same as the one in the bun, super tender. Had I know the flavor is similar, I would have skipped the bun. Too much meat. The broth has good flavor but very rich. I wasn’t able to finish all of the broth.

Spicy tonkatsu is the same as regular, except for the spicy paste. But the spiciness makes the broth more drinkable. I would probably order just the spicy and ask for the paste on the side. So we can try more appetizers or a rice dish.

Overall excited to try more items! Hoping they will expand their menu too. I’m guessing there will be more ramen options, since right now...

Update: RIP Samurai Ramen.

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Another ramen place in Atlanta, and I'm not complaining.

The restaurant is all in on the ramen. You order at the counter. Water is self-serve, as well as seating. The restaurant's vibe is best described as "rustic." But not dirty rustic. Hope that makes sense.

I've gotten the tonkotsu ramen, as well as my friend, and we've also ordered takoyaki and tori karaage. They were all delicious. Ramen, you have a choice of thick or thin noodles, and as I forgot to specify, I ended up with thick noodles. It's nice and chewy but ultimately it tasted shipped in. It's not a bad thing; it just means it's ordinary. "Mid" is probably the right word here. But the broth--oh. It's good. Rich with what I'm assuming is the extra umami kick by the way of some fish added in. I'm not too fond of fish, so it wasn't exactly my cup of tea (or broth), but I do appreciate it when it's done well, and I think it is. I'm debating if I like the chashu though, as it feels like they tried too hard and torched it when it by itself was perfectly soft and juicy without having to go the extra mile.

Karaage was interesting. More bready than I'm used to, but still dark meat and cooked perfectly; it was quite juicy. It came with the wasabi mayo and ponzu on the side. Takoyaki was also good.

Since it was only one visit, take this review with a grain of salt--but I feel like it was a good enough visit to warrant a second try. Maybe I'll try the spicy...