High Five Ramen — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

Summary: 6 out of 5, fantastic ramen. If you’re so into ramen that you watch ramen documentaries on airplanes, you will enjoy this. Don’t come here looking for broth that isn’t as rich as Scrooge McDuck (I’m already sorry for that reference)! __ My wife and I moved to Chicago recently. One of the first foods we started researching here was ramen, because we’re obsessed. High Five seemed to be the pretty unanimous recommendation across multiple sources, so we put it right at the top of our list and went as soon as we could.

As soon as we could was our very first evening in town, on a Monday. We went looking for the restaurant and we were just a little lost/confused at first, because High Five is underneath the inside part of Green Street Smoked Meats. You need to walk down the alley past the first few outside tables at Greenstreet, and then there is a door on the left with a handprint marking the entrance for High Five. You immediately turn left and go down the stairs to get to High Five.

So on this Monday, we arrived at 5:25pm, and were told it was going to be a 2 hour+ wait already, even though they open at 5pm. Psyche! So…. take two! We go back the next day, Tuesday, and get there at 4:40pm. There was a small line already, about 12-14 people ahead of us. We ended up being the last party in the first round of seating, because there are only about 16 seats in the restaurant. If you choose to wait, you can sit in the bar area of Green Street upstairs, get drinks, and wait for your name to be called.

We ordered almost immediately upon being seated. I went with the Full Spice Signature Bowl and my wife ordered the Half Spice. We waited about 30-40 minutes for the food and then the deliciousness arrived.

I was in love after one bite/slurp. The broth is rich and cloudy. It’s entirely opaque but for the little bubbles of fat. The pork was tender and perfect; it had a little bit of roast/char/smoke flavor and fell apart in the chopsticks. Eating this ramen felt like how I imagine McDuck felt when he swam in his money (I’m sorry again… relapsed while reimagining the ramen).

The spice was exactly right for both of our preferences. The half spice is still pretty spicy, so if you’re not into spicy food, I wouldn’t recommend even the half spice. The full spice really builds up in intensity as you go. For me it was approaching the enjoyableness frontier by the end, so I would never consider getting the Kanabo spice. The menu says with the full spice, there may be sweating followed by pure euphoria, and, I can confirm this is a true statement. There was sweating, and there was extreme enjoyment. The portion was very large. I can eat a lot and I left very full, and the bowl only cost $14. Best value in America??

This was the best ramen I have had that was not in Japan and, yes, I know how obnoxious I am for making that statement. I mean this as a major compliment though, because it transported me right back to some of the best ramen I had in Tokyo, and it might be in my top 5 best bowls of ramen ever. It’s just hard to find such a rich, cloudy, spicy broth combination over here. For what it’s worth, I have a friend here in Chicago who regularly entertains business clients from Japan, and they always request High Five ramen if they can fit it into their schedules because it’s the only place in the city that meets his...

I was craving ramen so I thought I try this place. Honestly, this is probably one of the most unique and interesting ramen places I've been to. It has a really grungy and moody vibe to it blasting club music while having a super subtle entrance like a speakeasy. It felt more like a small club and I was all for the vibe. Unfortunately that's where the praises basically stop.

I really wanted to like the ramen especially since I'm paying $18 for it ($20 with taxes) but its just flat out an incredibly average bowl of ramen that lacks any flare that can come from more unique ramen shops or authenticity from your more conservative ramen shops. I genuinely question all the 5 star reviews saying this is one of the best ramen places out there. The Tonkotsu Ramen was so incredibly heavy and strong in garlic that it completely overpowers the pork broth if this was even a pork broth. To me, a good Tonkotsu Ramen is a rich creamy pork broth. It can range from a nice light broth to a nice hearty broth. This ramen bowl was neither, its just heavy and almost too salty. I read the other reviews about how salty it can be and I can say its improved because it was towing the line of being almost too salty. Spice levels are western level so half spice is barely a kick so if you want something more, just get full spice.

When it came to the toppings to the ramen, the one redeeming factor of this bowl of ramen was the chasu pork. They don't skimp on the meat and its made incredibly well made. Flavorful with the fat dripping off the meat keeping it very tender. That alone is probably why I'm not giving this place a 2 star because of how well made the chasu pork was. Otherwise there's legit nothing else in the bowl. You get a nicely cooked soft boil egg (a bare minimum), but they overfill the bowl with bean sprouts. In all other circumstances, I would be fine with this but they're charging $18 for this bowl of ramen and bean sprouts are about the cheapest addition to the bowl of ramen with no other toppings besides green onion. There's no nori, fish cakes, menma, corn or any other additions you typically see in a bowl of ramen. I get everyone has their own interpretation but when you're charging this absurd amount of money for a bowl of ramen, I'm expecting so much more than just the cheapest toppings you can add to the bowl.

Overall, if you want a unique dining experience, try this place why not (if you can even get a seat). Otherwise, you can get much better bowls of ramen elsewhere. Not even just better bang for you buck but overall better quality ramen. High Five Ramen has so much potential to edge itself out as a genuinely unique and cool ramen joint but it drops short where it matters the...

ITADAKIMASU!

Time to eat! I honestly couldn't find this place and instead went to Green Street Meats, but as I left Green St. I noticed a peculiar door with a symbol on it hidden in the wall and went in. Did I discover the secret lair of some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Was it a underground government lab where untold horrors take place? Unfortunately, no and no...it's just High Five Ramen.

As I ventured into the dark depths, I realized it was 10 minutes before closing time. It was really dark inside, like a shady hashish room where you meet an informant in, but no smoking is allowed here. In front of me was just a couple, they were playing on their phones while they waited. After about 5 minutes someone left and they seated the couple. A few more minutes past and the host came over to me and said it might not happen tonight seeing how there's 5 minutes left and a full house. He said I could wait a few minutes to see if someone else left...noone did. I turned around a broken man, humiliated, defeated and left...tears swelling up in my eyes as the door closed behind me.

As I walked down the street, I took a minute to check my phone. The sound of a door opening catches my attention and the host rushes to my side, "I was looking for you" he said anxiously. "I didn't want you to leave and found a spot for you" he added.

We scurry down to the dungeon again and I get seated at the bar. I order a half spice Maitake ramen with pork belly. After a few minutes it came and looked DELICIOUS! From the seasoned egg, black garlic, to the pork belly everything was cooked beautifully. The spice was a bit much though and threw off the natural flavor. At the end of everything I was given a hot wet towel, ginger to freshen my breath and some Japanese candies.

Overall I would give this place 4 stars because of the extremely small, cramped space with no lighting, but because of the accomodating host it pushes it to 5.

5...