Akami Poke and Noodle Bar — Restaurant in Durango

Was grocery shopping in the store next door when we saw this and decided to get food to go. Decent amount of seating inside for a small restaurant, and outside seating also when the weather permits. Ordered Tonkotsu and Shoyu Ramen with pork and an order of Gyoza, however they were out of Gyoza…bummer! Only about a 20 minute wait, and the food was done, packaged very well with noodles, meat and vegetables in containers and both broths in other very well sealed containers. Food was the perfect temp to eat right away by the time we got back to our hotel, and utensils including chopsticks were included.

The Ramen was excellent, very close to the traditional Ramen found all over Japan. Noodles were cooked perfectly, and broths were delicious, but both a bit over salted. Each had a perfectly cooked egg…with the perfect “jammy” center, and each order of noodles had a good addition of vegetables. The only exception from being the perfect Ramen was the eggs were plain, not the traditional Ajitsuke Tamago Ramen eggs which are marinated in a Mirin/Soy sauce to provide that delicious umami sweet/salty flavor. However this did not stop us from devouring the wonderful soup completely, slurping away in the traditional Ramen eating style!

Update…11 months later.

Returned to Durango, had to go here again. Was disappointed in several ways, big let down from 1st visit.

1st letdown was the wait. There were only a few customers when we arrived and ordered, chose the gyoza this time, and once again decided on the Tonkotsu. Unfortunately both the Ramen and gyoza took over 30 minutes to get to us. Wow! In a traditional noodle shop, everything is already made; the broth the day before, the noodles quickly cook (about 3-4 minutes), and then the rest of the pre-made fixings added in. This is WAY too long to wait for Ramen. However this was not just just our table that had the issue, nor with just the Ramen. The customer seated next to us had ordered sushi, and when she was served, she made the comment “wow…that took a very long time to get!” Would hate to see how long you would wait for food if the restaurant was busy!! (For reference, was recently in Tokyo, went to a Ramen shop…5 minutes from ordering to receiving a beautiful bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen…and the place was packed!)

2nd issue was the egg…again….a plain boiled egg. Seriously? One of the main reasons to get good Ramen is the Tamago style egg as mentioned above. It add that pop to the dish, is seriously easy to prepare, and adds tremendous flavor. However a year later and they are still serving plain boiled eggs in the Ramen…obviously they don’t read the reviews nor care about making true Ramen.

The third issue was the Tonkotsu broth this time. Flavorful, but lacked that umami punch you get from a very long period of cooking pork bones down to get that creamy powerful flavor. Not impressed this time, seems like the broth was quickly made, or perhaps made from a pre-made paste.

So sadly, am dropping my previous rating from 5 down to 3 stars. Needs some serious improvements.

Would I go there again…sure, but probably not my first choice.

Would I recommend…sure, but don’t go expecting authentic...

I have mixed feelings about this place. I don't think the price of the food is worth the experience.  The poke was good, but I gave it only 3 stars for these reasons- I would not have eaten here if I saw it while driving by and hadn't looked at the high Google ratings.  It looks like a shack and it's in the parking lot of the Albertson's. (My personal bias is being reflected here). I had a build your own poke bowl with salmon.  I was surprised that it's made in the kitchen. It was good and the ingredients were pretty fresh. I want to see the ingredients and choose based on their appearance/freshness, though. That's how most poke places are, and I was disappointed and a little scared about what I was going to get. The indoor seating area was bland with no personality or interest.  The soda machine kept making noises that were annoying, loud and distracting to our conversation. The restrooms are shared with a rafting tour company next door.  You have to take a key off the wall in the dining room to go use...

This place is great, by far the best ramen in the four corners area! It's a little hard to find as there are no signs, and the place is small, but it is worth searching for. I went there with my family and everyones dish was great. I had ordered the Spicy Kimchee Ramen and the dish was full of flavor the broth was delicious, the amount of spice was perfect! My wife got the tonkatsu ramen and it by far exceeded my expectations. Compared to the other restaurants in the area serving Ramen the dishes here are by far better than any of them. My daughter got the I Love Mango Poke Bowl, the flavors blended perfectly together, everything was fresh and lite. The portion sizes were large but we all finished our food. If we hadn't been so full we definitely would've tried other items in the menu. We will be visiting again soon to try the other items in the menu as they looked...