Kayava. Fremont — Restaurant in Seattle

As an Eastsider, there’s one thing I’ll drive 45 minutes for if necessary: authentic Japanese ramen. While I missed out on the soft opening day event, I at least wanted to head over and try the spot after seeing it everywhere on my socials. My favorite food in and out of Japan is a good bowl of ramen. This bowl is up there for Seattle, it’s honestly full of lots of potential. We got the chicken paitan and the pork shoyu. The broth on both was great, the noodles were perfect, but I just couldn’t give it a five stars. The complexity and depth of umami felt ever so slightly lacking; it was a one-profile broth and that prevents this from being a true five for me. Don’t get me wrong, it runs circles around Santouka or Kizuki, but it doesn’t earn a five for me. If one more layer of complexity could be added to the flavor profile, I think people would quickly line out the door for this spot. It’s what separates the good bowls from the great ones. I’d recommend the in house chili paste; the server was kind enough to offer it when I asked for shichimi togarashi and it does bring the bowl to a 4.5. If I come again I’d probably get a spicy ramen, and my gut tells me I should give them a couple months to see if they make that next step 🫡 would recommend...

I find that my top picks for ramen as a vegetarian swing wildly from those that are not limited by this dietary choice, but in the case of Kayava, that seems to not be the situation.

Stopping in for lunch with a friend both my spicy veggie ramen and his pork ramen were top notch!

It has a warm atmosphere as you enter and are greeted by the servers and kitchen staff and the space is cozy for any day or night you might stop by. There's plenty of room for the place to get busy, but during my lunch I found it to be quite comfortable. This is likely helped by quick ordering through Toast.

The portion is generous and at a fairly typical price of about $20 a bowl.

The broth is rich and deeply umami with a spice level that adds to the experience rather than becoming it entirely. Toppings are heaping and the mushrooms were a perfect texture. I ordered the soft boiled egg and while I like a jammy center, I can see it being a point of contention for some.

I'd highly recommend this spot if you're in the area or hunting for some quality ramen!

5/5 -exceeded...

It was an alright bowl.

I enjoyed Eve and saw a ramen shop took over the space. I do enjoy paitan ramen and I’m on a mission to try all of Seattle’s ramen spots.

For an over $20 bowl ($18+ $2 egg + tax) it was underwhelming. Noodles were delicious and the star of the bowl. Soup was fine, I’ll agree with another reviewer that it was not bold.

Menma was good but not enough of it. Chashu was super thin which I had never seen before, flavor was ok. The egg was not an ajitama but a poached egg that didn’t do it for me at all, didn’t mesh well. Something in my bowl was at a different temperature from the soup, it might have been the egg or the chashu.

Finally topped with just a little bit of shallot/red onion which I thought did not add much. I wish there was some little jars of add ons that some ramen shops have.

I will come back and try the other variety, some sort of truffle ramen. Menu was pretty sparse but I think that’s the idea. Service was fine but ordered...