Roast — Restaurant in Southern Pines

I am giving a 5 star rating because I know how important theses kinds of ratings are for local places like Roast. However, I am going to write a critical review on the ramen, because it really was not good.

Before the ramen: roast uses quality ingredients and takes care to give the best food it can to this community. As a transplant here, I appreciate what they are trying to accomplish. We adore their sandwiches, and we eat here often.

I have studied ramen, and have eaten more ramen than I should probably admit. I have eaten it all over the world, and I have developed my own method of creating an excellent ramen bowl. I usually don’t order ramen at places like roast because i know I am bound to be disappointed. And I really was. So here is my step by step review of the ramen. Like I said, this isn’t meant to do any harm, and I still give a 5 star rating due to their amazing sandwiches.

Broth: life blood of the ramen. Usually the broth takes days to make properly. I would be shocked to learn if this broth takes more than a few hours. It didn’t have a rich ramen type broth flavor. It didn’t seem like the broth was prepared like it usually is with a proper bone boil with a good tare. In fact, it seemed like the tare broth combo was missing and it was really just a mix of spices meant to mimic true ramen broth.

Noodles: this was the most disappointing part. The noodles were totally and utterly mush. Ramen noodles are made from a very dry flour mixture. Because of this, it helps to make sure that the noodles stay firm and bouncy when they are placed in a soup. These noodles were melt in your mouth mushy. Probably the worst noodle I have ever had in ramen. That includes cup-o-noodles.

Egg: the egg was marinated properly. So I give them a big thumbs up there. Especially since many places will just throw a boiled egg in their ramen and call it good. However, the yolk was completely chalky. It should not be that way. It should be soft and slightly runny. Now, it may have been proper when placed in the bowl, but the time that I ate it, yolk was over cooked.

Meat: the meat combo was a little strange. It was kind of like an Asian southern ramen fusion. Smoked pork belly and chicken chunks hidden around in the bowl. I mean, I love their smoked pork belly it’s amazing. It was just weird to have it in ramen. I much prefer the braised pork belly.

Overall this didn’t scream authentic ramen to me. It wasn’t bad soup (minus the noodles), it’s just not ramen as much as it was some kind of...

Good food and great workers, but the owner/manager was hanging around the cash register area and talking out loud on the phone while loudly chewing somebody out. Since the place is basically one giant room, definitely didn’t contribute to a feeling that I should stay. I really loved the menu and the workers I interacted with, but incredibly saddened if the workers are subject to this everyday. I shouldn’t have to hear somebody get threatened with termination while giving my order to the sweet older lady at the till. LOVED her so much, she really embodied hospitality for me, she deserves a raise. Couldn’t remember her name, but she was manning the register 4/27 at dinner time :)

I got the roast beef sandwich and sweet potato tots. The sandwich was amazing, and the sweet potato tots were also good but I’d skip out on that to get the brownie instead, I was plenty full after all those three, next time I’d just go with an entree and dessert, or maybe split a side between two people. I got the banh mi to go, and had it the next day as my lunch. Was extremely tasty even after being in the fridge overnight.

Hate to say that one single manager really took away the magic for me. I was hoping to get at a fine dining location, but was just reminded me of how I was treated as a low-wage worker countless times in fast food and mom and pop restaurants. Will continue to go because I love the food and the workers, but management please reconsider your managing style! Hoping to go back and have a nicer...

I dined here Tuesday for lunch. I had the Prescription Chicken ramen and my partner had the roast beef sandwich. I had been wanting to try the chicken ramen based on raving reviews and I was disappointed to say the least. I will give the dish credit for great ingredients. The bokchoy, chicken and pork belly bits were great components. That said the siracha, ham hock broth is %100 wrong for a ramen soup. It's super salty and distracted from the other components of the dish. I would describe the dish as the kind of ramen one makes who has no real clue how to make ramen. The broth is almost more important than the components of the soup. The ramen broth sets the stage for a culinary experience. It should be a perfect marriage to the ramen and all the other ingredients. It should not be so salty that it burns your mouth and lips. You should be able to drink the broth. I have lived in Japan, so I have legs to stand on with my critique in this case. The good quality ingredients in the ramen are the only reason I am giving the food 3 stars. It should probably be closer to 2.5, but that's not an option. Lastly, my partner did not care for the white gravy on the roast beef. He says that the gravy simply did not "fit" for a roast beef sandwich. He took it home and re-dressed it. He did say that the roast beef itself was good quality. For $15 an entree, I expected better. ESPECIALLY because the ramen is probably the most HIGHLY rated dish there. I am not easger to try the rest of the menu, if this is the...