Not Your Average Ramen
Ingredients to a delicious meal...I love eating, but then, who doesn’t? My dining partner, Gail, and I recently ate at the Miyagi Ramen Bar located in the Safeway shopping center. Miyagi Ramen Bar opened in August 2017 and is owned by Jeong Hoon "Kim" and his life partner, John Anderson. Sarah and Gi were the hosts and greeted us with their kind smiles.
Miyagi has an open bar with a recently expanded array of sake (Japanese alcoholic drink made of fermented rice). Miyagi invites one in with an open and warm atmosphere with high ceilings; and a choice of bar, table, or booth seating designed to allow for privacy when dining. We were able to laugh and hear one another while talking.
Sarah, our main server, was attentive and extremely knowledgeable about every entree on the menu. She patiently explained each dish and asked about our preferences before making her recommendations.
For appetizers, we chose gyoza and edamame. Both were amazingly delicious, and our taste buds craved more of the same. The timing was perfect between appetizers and our main meal.
Gail, who is trying to be a vegan—at least that week—chose Bibimbap with vegan tofu, a dish with organic Asian mountain root vegetables over rice, a spicy sauce, and topped with a sunny side egg (she opted to skip the egg). I chose the special, Tom Yum Ramen, homage to Thai Tom Yum soup. The dish is a spicy chicken broth topped with tomato, menma, red bell pepper, cilantro, scallion, and a wedge of lime. It’s served with your choice of shrimp, chicken, or pork. Both dishes were served at the proper temperature with Western utensils provided along with the hashi (Japanese for the Americanized chopsticks).
We ended 
with sharing mochi ice cream (green tea, mango, and strawberry), which provided a soothing chill for our taste buds. We highly recommend the mochi ice cream from their variety of desserts.
The evening closed with a warm conversation with John Anderson, co-owner. "Everything we make is from scratch. Kim has this incredible ability to recreate something and make it taste better," said John.
We also shared stories about our love for our dog companions. John shared stories about Kim and his love of cooking since childhood, growing up as the son of a restaurant owner in Korea, and his relationship with his mother who is sharing some of her family secrets. One of the beauties of living in our small town is being able to keep our bellies full of good warm conversation and authentic food.
Miyagi is open six days a week during the winter months and every day during the summer. There’s plenty of free parking.
Winter specials include Wednesday night $10 ramen and all-day Sunday $10 wings at the bar.
Eating at Myagi’s was a fun, affordable, friendly experience around authentically flavorful and well-served food. It was a great dining experience which we highly recommend. ▼