RanKen Noodle House — Restaurant in Gaithersburg

*4 year update: they added an udon noodle dish with the Inaniwa premium noodles from Akita, Japan and WOW. It’s worth the price to at least try once so you know. It was the best udon I’ve ever had and I’ve slurped udon in the streets of Tokyo.

*3 year later update: the place is just as unassuming as it was when I first entered it. At this point it’s strong suit is starting to show and it is definitely it’s highly comforting feel along with its great food. It has HEART!

Other places may feel overly trendy or more upscale, but this one strikes the feeling of a small family owned Japanese diner with its roaming friendly and super sweet owner, classic songs, availability of fun snacks and deserts, and the addition of comfort food onigiri. It’s a very unique aspect that none of the other ramen places really have, as much as I love them all. Small, unassuming, and comforting, and cozy just like the ones I visited in Japan. The owner gave us some candy for new years, too :)

The inside decor looks great, a nice minimalist wood style. We sat outdoors, the alleyway is great during sunset time. We got the shoyu ramen, super spicy ramen, and gyoza. Food was served within 7 minutes of ordering, and all came out at once (one by one as the server had to go in and out for each dish but that's fine).

The shoyu ramen broth was great, you may see reviews speaking about how it tastes under-seasoned, but that's because the USA in general loves overly salty foods, and that has affected how most restaurants serve ramen here. Example: Jinya is highly rated but it's the worst ramen I've ever had; it's just a bowl of salt. It is American-Ramen, which is fine if you want that, but RanKen more of a Japanese style. Their RanKen's shoyu ramen is perfect to have as a classic ramen workhorse since it is so balanced, I honestly think most people would be ok with this one for a good experience. I would recommend to add more descriptions to the ramen, it appears people are not ordering based on their seasoning preference. The super spicy ramen broth was, well super spicy! It was great as well.

The ramen noodles were really good, too. Egg was perfectly seasoned. The gyoza was excellent with a great texture of the dough. The portion size of the ramen was good, not too much so you overeat, but enough to be full. The meat is a BIG standout to other places. I’m not a cut expert so I can’t say exactly what it is, but it is NOT the fatty cut other places use. It’s quite nice actually and feels a bit healthier, I like it a lot. I can’t say either is better than the other though!

We'll be back 100%. Great addition to that area, and at a price that's perfect for what you get. Very well priced and large portions. It's been a long time since I've had ramen since moving into the DMV that tasted right. Left feeling full, content, and healthy. Perfect for a quick casual ramen fix.

Edit: I’ve been back after a long home made ramen phase. Management has updated to include description cards, I have posted them. We had the shoyu ramen again as well as the tonkotsu ramen. Tonkotsu broth can be very overbearing, however this was not the case. The shoyu was an elegant and light broth as usual, while the tonkotsu was a filling savory broth. Very well done on both. Food still came out quickly and hot.

8 months later and people are still saying it tastes water down, read the descriptions people! If you’ve lived your life loaded on flavor and salt you’re gonna want a heavier...

Maybe we caught them on a bad night? We have a friend who is a regular and swears by them, but I'm not sure why our experience was so bleh?

We came in on a Friday evening and it wasn't super busy. The restaurant is small, but also offers outdoor seating. We were able to snag an outside table without waiting.

We ordered...

Seaweed Salad Ika Geso Karaage Miso Ramen with Tofu Cold Beef Udon

The server forgot to put in the order for the appetizers, so we got our soups first. And ended up canceling the seaweed salad but keeping the order for Ika Geso Karaage. However, I wouldn't have missed much if I cancelled them both. The squid was seasoned well but fried to a burnt crisp. If it wasn't burnt, I think it would have been delicious.

Ramen was okay, but the broth wasn't as rich and flavorful like I'm used to in Japan. It was watered down and bland. The Udon broth however had good flavor, so I would suggest the Udon over ramen.

The service wasn't good. It was VERY slow and orders were being lost and forgotten all around the restaurant. The server was nice but clearly struggling. The owner stopped by every table to apologize and offer resolution with the exception of us and one other table who also encountered endless issues.

The prices are on the moderately higher end.

I'm not sure we will be back. It wasn't worth the...

I used to live in DC and have eaten at many of the ramen/noodle restaurants like Toki Underground, Haiken, Daikaya, MomoFuko, Jinya, Sakuraman, Ramen by Uzu, Chaplin’s, Reren, etc. I moved to Gaithersburg recently and needed to find my ramen fix. RanKen by far is my favorite because the broth is still full of flavor without being high in sodium and all of the ingredients taste really fresh. Broth isn’t overly fatty/greasy either. Noodles are cooked perfectly and you can order extra toppings. The shoyu ramen is my favorite and I always order their spicy sauce on the side. My mom has ordered their super spicy ramen and it truly is super super spicy but they will offer it to you on the side so you can set your own heat level.

Our family has had and enjoyed the tonkotsu ramen, miso ramen, tempura udon, and beef inanwa udon. I can definitely vouch that these were all delicious as well!

The owner is also extremely accommodating and friendly. We overheard her speaking with a customer that couldn’t eat certain meats so she took the time to explain the different noodle dishes and their broth base and was willing to switch out the beef for chicken.

Note: our experience was dine in. Noodle dishes are best when served hot from the kitchen to the table. It’s kind of like sushi, it’s never quite as good if you’re not eating it...