Nuna Ramen — Restaurant in Seattle

We visited Nuna Ramen on a busy Saturday and were seated right away. The lone host was kind and courteous, efficiently managing seating, orders, serving food, and cleaning tables for the entire restaurant. Despite her being the only one managing the floor, she handled everything with grace.

We ordered karaage chicken, sea salt edamame, charbroiled chicken, chicken ramen, and shoyu ramen. The food arrived reasonably quickly. The edamame and karaage chicken were delicious, with perfectly salted edamame and tender, juicy chicken.

The chicken ramen was good, with the egg and garlic oil (an add-on for an extra charge) adding a nice touch to the flavor. Both ramen dishes were enjoyable, though a few more add-ons could have enhanced the depth of flavor. The prices were reasonable, making it a good value for the quality of food.

However, parking in the area was a nightmare. The place is busy with lots of tourists and locals, making free street parking almost impossible on weekends. With some luck, you might find a spot in a paid parking lot.

Pros: Quick seating and courteous service despite being understaffed Delicious edamame and karaage chicken Reasonable prices

Cons: Parking is very difficult in the area, especially on weekends Ramen could benefit from additional add-ons for enhanced flavor depth

Overall, Nuna Ramen offers good food and service, but be prepared for parking challenges if you visit...

I did not have the best experience here. When I first walked in it took a while for anyone to notice and seat me. When I was seated, the tables were so close together that I had to physically move my table to get to the inner booth. They were not particularly busy, but it then took a long time for the server to come to my table. Two of us ordered the chicken karaage, garlic tonkatsu ramen, and a shoyu ramen with no bamboo. I was pretty clear about no bamboo, and even asked the server a clarifying question.

The chicken came out first and was delicious, but the rest of the meal was exceedingly underwhelming from there. The shoyu came with LOTS of bamboo, to the point where it seemed like she placed my order with extra instead of none, even more than was in the garlic tonkatsu. Our waitress then proceeded to ignore our table for the rest of the time we were eating, so eventually I just gave up and resigned myself to picking out little pieces of bamboo from my soup.

The noodles and eggs were well made, but both broths were quite bland. The shoyu is described as a “light broth” but the garlic tonkatsu was described as “rich pork broth” but both had about the same complete lack of flavor. Perhaps it was an off night, but both of us have had better and more consistent ramen else where and have not been back since. we do not...

had the garlic tonkotsu ramen but subbed for wavy noodles. I have to add a bit of a caveat as I was very hungry when I ordered, and that may have influenced my experience, but it is impossible to have each restaurant experience with the same level of hunger, so I just mention it.

The bowl came out very fast, with nice looking garnishes. The egg was probably a bit overcooked, but not unpleasantly so, and was flavorful. The broth was properly hot. I have had a number of local ramen experiences in Seattle where the bowl shows up at the table with almost lukewarm broth. Ramen broth should be scalding hot when served. This was properly hot.

The reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is that the broth was kind of brown and the garlic was left in big raw chunks, like a child chopped it. Tonkotsu broth must have the bones blanched, drained and scrubbed before the hours-long boil so that impurities don't discolor the broth. While the broth was quite flavorful, in a restaurant, I expect milky-colored broth. And the garlic has to be grated or at least finely chopped.

The ambiance was very nice, and the wait staff were very attentive. Food was served piping hot very quickly and the server checked in to see how it was within two or three minutes of serving the food. Overall, the best bowl of ramen I have had in...