Ramen Cowboy — Restaurant in Ketchum

If you don’t want to read all of the rest, the tl;dr is that the food here was clearly designed to be practical, efficient, and eye-catching with no real substance, quality, or flavor. It’s a media clickbait article in restaurant form. The food here is genuinely horrible.

To begin with, we ordered the Wagyu Shabu Ramen and the Short Rib Ramen with a side of Pickled Things.. The Short Rib Ramen broth was so disgustingly salty that it was inedible. The short rib meat did have a bit of flavor from how they cooked it, but even the bits not covered in the salty broth were plain, to put it nicely. In contrast the Wagyu Shabu Ramen broth was a dictionary perfect example of “Unremarkable”. I’ve had instant ramen with more flavor. The lady at the counter said their Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen was their most popular, and it's probably because with the addition of chili oil, it might actually have at least one flavor.

Quality ramen often has a variety of toppings that give you some depth and complexity to the broth. A strong broth and you have milder soothing toppings. A lighter broth and you have sharper more flavorful toppings. Ramen Cowboy had neither.

This ramen feels like it was made by someone who was called by a distant friend who went to a ramen shop for the first time and excitedly told them about it. “It’s got noodles, and some meat, and this weird undercooked egg, a weird strip of green on the side, and some onions on top!” I imagine upon hearing this basic description someone with no experience went “I can do that too!” and thus created Cowboy Ramen.

At no point did anyone tell them that the soft boiled egg shouldn’t be taken from a refrigerator but freshly made. If you haven’t had one before, very cold soft boiled eggs are gag inducing levels of disgusting.

At no point did anyone tell them that if you put FROZEN beef in a small amount of already not very hot liquid, it will make that liquid cool very very quickly. Shabu Shabu is often room temp or slightly cold, put into very hot liquid. The frozen wagyu strips, which still had frost on the tips, couldn’t even slightly cook even after being submerged for minutes. It cooled the broth so much it was still raw even as we left.

At no point did anyone tell them that the pickled veggies on the side are often meant to be a contrasting flavor point to ramen that can, while yummy, be a bit one dimensional. The Pickled Things had the flavor of… Vinegar. That’s it. No, I'm not exaggerating. It had bok choy, the leftover scallion bits from the bottom of the stalk, purple Romanesco cauliflower, and something else I was so disappointed with I can't remember. There was no flavor to it at all, it was monotone vinegar flavor. It’s like they needed a way to use their unused veggie bits and their old veggies and added the cauliflower to make it seem like that's not the case. But they didn’t want to make an effort of adding any flavor like garlic or chili, so they just submerged it in vinegar.

Honestly I’m beyond disappointed because I had such high hopes for this place. I’m not sure of the exact reason as to why this place came into being, a lack of experience, or maybe a lack of care for food, or an unusual palate, but the outcome is pure disappointment. In the event it’s someone who truly is trying their best and loves food and wants others to have something amazing, I’m sorry for the review, but without any changes I’d genuinely be surprised if this business lasts. If you truly care about food and want to improve, I would tell you to look into WHY things are part of normal ramen. You have changed a lot of things compared to traditional ramen restaurants in Japan, without ever considering why they were done in that way in the first place.

For example… Pizza is bread with a tomato sauce, cheese, meat, and veggies. But if you take all of those things at face value with a more western style, you get… a burger with ketchup! Either way, as it stands, I would recommend everyone to at least avoid all three things I ordered, if you still want to eat...

Tasted like ramen day at a hospital cafeteria. Please read the one star review by Casey P. It is perfect write up/review of this restaurant. I didn’t have much hope for a ski town ramen restaurant in middle of no where Idaho. Despite my better judgment I gave it a try. After eating I think the cowboy should stick to what they know best. I can’t think of one thing I liked about the ramen. The broth lacked any flavor and depth, the “house made noodles” were a distant second to maruchan, and the egg was very strange. The broth tasted like store bought vegetable broth with added pasta water . I refuse to believe any effort went into the dish. The ventilation in the restaurant was very poor. Expect to leave smelling like you did a shift in the kitchen. The restaurant is small and cramped. They will continue taking orders despite no available tables, leaving customers hovering over you waiting on your table. Microwave a pack of ramen from the grocery store and save your money. This place is so overpriced for the effort they put into their food. The experience left a bad taste in my mouth literally and...

Why is there not a line out the door at Cowboy Ramen? This is top-of-the-line ramen, with a subtle outdoorsy twist, right here in the middle of nowhere Idaho!

I kept it fairly straightforward with the miso ramen, but a little chili kick kept my palette buzzing with layers of flavor and warmth.

The noodles are excellent, with an authentic bite of density. They could use being de-starched a little before being added to the bowl as they were clumpy, but a few stirs and all was good.

My only complaint on atmosphere was the really loud "background" music. It really was too in your face for me, and if I would have been there with friends, made conversation challenging.

But, small quibble and easily fixable. The main attraction, the ramen, is...