Let's Get Noodle Together

As with coffee, food is an important part of the convention experience. When you’re in a new place you owe it to yourself to try the local and regional offerings you can’t get anywhere else. Don’t just grab Dominoes and McDonalds every day; get out there and experience something new. The various convention goers from SpeedGaming Live are good about documenting what restaurants in the area are good and worth going to, so the group I’m with, the Final Fantasy Randomizer community, elected to try a ramen place suggested from that list and, well, it was amazing.

This documents the selections I sampled from Umai Ramen and Rice Bowl in Herndon, VA.

Thai Tea and Lemonade

We start with the beverage I selected. I don’t drink, so while others were trying out sake drinks or regional beers, I went with something non alcoholic: a lemonade blend. Thai tea is great on its own as it has a strong tea flavor and lovely, ruddy appearance. I assumed it would be good in a lemonade, like an Arnold Palmer, maybe just with a slightly stronger flavor. And it was, just not “slightly” stronger.

The lemonade was sweet, erring on the side of having more sugar than a tart lemonade would usually have. That, though, was likely because of the tea and trying to balance out its strong flavor. And it was strong, with the bold, earthy taste I expect from Thai teas. The flavors blended together really well, and created a very lovely, strong and sweet taste in my mouth. Not overpowering, but certainly bold enough to make me sip it. It was actually really nice to have this flavor, at the level it was at, with everything else that was about to come out.

Appetizer Course

The group I was with elected to pick a selection of appetizers and sample a few items. The first was the Karaage Chicken, juicy fried chicken seasoned with garlic pepper and ginger, served with a side of spicy mayo. This fried chicken was great, crunchy and kragley, with a boldly seasoned flavor. It wasn’t overly salted, just finding that right point of tasting like really great fried chicken. Served with that spicy mayo, which added a bold punch, this was a solid bit of food that makes me think twice about getting fried chicken elsewhere.

The second was Takoyaki, battered and fried octopus balls served with bonito on top, cabbage underneath, and a spicy mayo drizzle. The balls were interesting. I found the bonito to be too dry and papery on their own, but when shoved into my mouth with a bite of a ball, the texture and flavor worked. The balls themselves were soft and creamy on the inside, with chunks of octopus in there, too. It made for an odd but good texture, as the creaminess gave way to the chew of the octopus. The flavor was subtle, soft and creamy, but then the octopus taste grew as you chewed, becoming tasty but not overwhelming. I would absolutely devour a plate of these on my own in the future.

Finally we had the Cheesy Curry Puffs, which were this restaurant’s version of a Crab Rangoon, although it certainly didn’t taste like it. Cream cheese and crab meat, with Indian curry seasoning, are shoved into a little pastry puff and fried, and it’s really good. The curry flavor was interesting, adding a new flavor I didn’t expect to a standard rangoon. This wasn’t as sweet as the rangoons I’m used to, more savory and scrumptious than I expected. It was really good, and I would eat them again, although I think I liked the Takoyaki far better.

Umai Curry Ramen

Finally, the main course. Seeing as I was at a specific restaurant, and not a chain, I wanted to try one of their specialties to get a full feel for the vibe they wanted in their food. Seeing a section labeled “Umai Specialty Ramen”, I gravitated there and picked one of the four special bowls they had. Curry in a ramen dish sounded weird, but then this was their special menu so, sure, gotta try the thing they’re selling me.

The soup was great. Curry broth with dark meat chicken chunks, stirred with coconut milk, garnished with a few light veggies and then crispy noodles. I also added on cooked egg when prompted because “in for a penny” and all that. I won’t lie, the veggies were barely noticeable and the crispy noodles felt like an afterthought. Additionally the marinated, soft boiled egg was fine but not worth the price of the add on. However, the main soup was fantastic and absolutely worth the price of admission.

The curry broth was delicious, a rich, yellow curry with strong, bold flavor and a fair bit of spice. I wouldn’t call it spicy, per se, at least not for me. My tongue didn’t burn and my forehead didn’t even get sweaty (I got sweaty sitting on the veranda to eat, mind you, but not from the spice). It was calibrated just right to let you feel flavor but not much heat. The chicken was moist in the soup, and tasted good as a compliment to the curry. And the noodles were soft without a lot of chew. I probably could have been fine with this just being a soup, not a ramen soup, and it would have been just as good, but I liked it as a ramen, too.

This was a great meal and, despite being full halfway in, I still ate all the broth, all the chicken, and most of the noodles. I am very full now as I write this.

Final Thoughts

Overall this was a great meal and well worth the price. My check was just over $40 (with an included auto-gratuity because our party was big) and while that might be high for some I felt like that was well worth the price for the meal I got. I could easily see myself going back again next year, assuming there aren’t a ton of other places the group decides they want to sample. Good food is worth getting again.